Teams of FBI Agents and Metro Detectives fanned out all over town early Monday morning to round up more than 20 suspects believed to be part of a Eurasian organized crime ring that specialized in counterfeiting, credit card fraud, and identity theft.
No one from law enforcement will comment on the record about the operation just yet, but the I-Team first learned back in July that a taskforce was focusing in on the suspected mobsters.
Today the hammer came down. A steady stream of handcuffed suspects were led into jail facilities around the valley.
An unassuming home on Peppermill Drive in Las Vegas was one of the first locations to be searched. The house owned by a local realtor named Gary Ambart-Sumyan. A man fitting his description was led out of the home and was transported to a Metro Police location.
Sources say that inside the home, agents found an unusual assortment of computers that might have been used in identity thefts and the creation of stolen or phony credit cards and debit cards.
At least three suspects were already in custody when the warrants began being served, including two in southern California.
Law enforcement sources say the suspects are Albanians, Bulgarians, Armenians and Russians, many of whom live in California but carry out their dirty work in Las Vegas, sometimes stealing as much as a million dollars a week, according to one well-placed source, ripping off local casinos and businesses with bogus and/or stolen cards and identities.
A law enforcement source close to the investigation said the influx of Eurasian gangsters, especially eastern Europeans, into Las Vegas has been dramatic in recent years and that their financial impact is "overwhelming."
The official also said these new organized crime groups are different from the traditional mafia, loyal only to money, not to any family.
A total of 23 suspects are named in a criminal complaint that will be unveiled Tuesday. Nearly all of them were in custody by 4:00 p.m. Monday afternoon.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Anthony Doyle, Former Chicago Cop in the Family Secrets Mob Trial, Pleads for Release from Jail
A former Chicago cop who secretly worked for the Chicago mob says enough is enough: he should be released from jail.
He is Anthony Doyle who was convicted of aiding and abetting the outfit in Operation Family Secrets.
One-time cop Anthony Doyle hasn't even been sentenced yet, but according to a motion filed late on Monday by his lawyers, he's been punished enough by waiting 15 months at the federal lockup for his court date.
When the Family Secrets mob trial started, Anthony "Twan" Doyle was portrayed as a poor city sanitation laborer who worked his way up to the Chicago Police Department.
In a motion filed Monday, Doyle's lawyers described him as a police hero who should be immediately freed from prison despite last year's conviction as a mob associate.
He was born Anthony Passafume but reputedly changed his name to "Doyle" to fit in with a historically Irish Chicago police force. After Doyle retired, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 2001 and volunteered as a county sheriff's deputy.
Among the acts of heroism Doyle's lawyers cite in Monday's get-out-of-jail request is this: Doyle claims that he rescued a Japanese bicyclist who was stranded in the desert under a cactus and survived by drinking his own urine.
Doyle also asks for the court's mercy so he can tend to his wife who lives condo about 60 miles from Phoenix. When the I-Team recently paid a visit to Catherine "Cassie" Doyle, she declined to speak with ABC 7.
In Monday's motion, Doyle contends that his wife had two strokes and has heart trouble and that he stands to lose his $30,000 a year city pension which supports her.
Doyle was originally scheduled to be sentenced on Monday and the other four major 'Family Secrets' defendants were set to be sentenced before Christmas. But in a ruling late Monday afternoon, Judge James Zagel has postponed all the outfit sentencings. Defense attorneys said they were entitled to more time because the government made last minute changes in pre-sentence reports.
That means Doyle will stay in jail along with lead defendant Frank Calabrese who we learned Monday recently had heart surgery.
A hearing is scheduled for today.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie
He is Anthony Doyle who was convicted of aiding and abetting the outfit in Operation Family Secrets.
One-time cop Anthony Doyle hasn't even been sentenced yet, but according to a motion filed late on Monday by his lawyers, he's been punished enough by waiting 15 months at the federal lockup for his court date.When the Family Secrets mob trial started, Anthony "Twan" Doyle was portrayed as a poor city sanitation laborer who worked his way up to the Chicago Police Department.
In a motion filed Monday, Doyle's lawyers described him as a police hero who should be immediately freed from prison despite last year's conviction as a mob associate.
He was born Anthony Passafume but reputedly changed his name to "Doyle" to fit in with a historically Irish Chicago police force. After Doyle retired, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 2001 and volunteered as a county sheriff's deputy.
Among the acts of heroism Doyle's lawyers cite in Monday's get-out-of-jail request is this: Doyle claims that he rescued a Japanese bicyclist who was stranded in the desert under a cactus and survived by drinking his own urine.
Doyle also asks for the court's mercy so he can tend to his wife who lives condo about 60 miles from Phoenix. When the I-Team recently paid a visit to Catherine "Cassie" Doyle, she declined to speak with ABC 7.
In Monday's motion, Doyle contends that his wife had two strokes and has heart trouble and that he stands to lose his $30,000 a year city pension which supports her.
Doyle was originally scheduled to be sentenced on Monday and the other four major 'Family Secrets' defendants were set to be sentenced before Christmas. But in a ruling late Monday afternoon, Judge James Zagel has postponed all the outfit sentencings. Defense attorneys said they were entitled to more time because the government made last minute changes in pre-sentence reports.
That means Doyle will stay in jail along with lead defendant Frank Calabrese who we learned Monday recently had heart surgery.
A hearing is scheduled for today.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie
Did a FBI Hero Join the Mob?
Sitting in an unmarked sedan car in South Boston, John Connolly had his binoculars trained on a scene just a block away. It was a gruesome spectacle: a man who had just delivered guns and ammunition to the IRA by ship, was being tortured to death by Boston's most notorious gangster on suspicion of being a snitch for the FBI.
As the murder was playing out, it is alleged Connolly, a leading FBI agent, communicated by walkie-talkie with the torturer, James "Whitey" Bulger, as he first pulled out the victim's tongue and teeth and then tried to strangle the gun-runner, John McIntyre, with a ship's rope.
The FBI man's complicity in this particular murder has never been proved but his betrayal of his badge – proved in two other cases – is one of the most shameful episodes in the agency's history. The macabre incident, worthy of a scene fromThe Sopranos, has nonetheless drawn attention to an extraordinary double standard in which the FBI allowed a notorious Irish-American gang to commit murder and mayhem in Boston for more than a decade, in return for information that would eventually break the back of the Mafia.
Connolly's career would eventually inspire Martin Scorsese's 2006 movie, The Departed (Two-Disc Special Edition)
, in which the loyalties of an undercover agent become hopelessly compromised. The movie, like his career, is set in south Boston where the federal law enforcement agency is waging war on Irish-American organised crime. Connolly's character is played by Matt Damon.
The long arm of the law has finally caught up with Connolly, now aged 68. He was convicted last month of a 1982 murder and has been called to court for sentencing. A decision is likely within weeks. In dramatic courtroom scenes this week, he angrily shouted out his innocence. His many supporters maintain that the FBI is at fault for encouraging him to turn a blind eye to crimes throughout the 1980s.
Nobody knows quite when Connolly decided on his betrayal but it is assumed to have been in the 1970s and bribes had a lot to do with it. As a decorated FBI man, Connolly certainly had access to the most classified information. He learned that the IRA gun runner John McIntyre intended to testify against his fellow gun runners. So, it is alleged, Connolly passed the information on to "Whitey" Bulger, the infamous head of Boston's Winter Hill Gang who was behind the IRA arms shipment.
McIntyre and a friend were lured to a safe house where the gruesome torture began. At one point, Bulger asked his victim if he wanted a bullet to the head, to which McIntyre replied, "Yes, please". He was then shot multiple times and his body later dumped on waste ground.
The gang has now scattered, Bulger himself is still on the run and is America's second most wanted fugitive (after Osama Bin Laden) but some of its members have escaped prosecution by giving evidence. They have also made small fortunes turning their exploits as mobsters into books and screenplays. But if Bulger and his deputy Stephen "the Rifleman" Flemmi were the feared enforcers on the streets of south Boston (Bulger was a "leg breaker, drug dealer, scumbag," in the words of Eddie Mackenzie, one of his ex-accomplices) Connolly acted as a big brother figure.
Back in the 1980s, Special Agent Connolly was a towering giant in the FBI's anti-Mafia unit. He had already spent two decades cultivating informants among New England's mob bosses. As a young undercover agent he walked the streets of New York with the FBI agent Joseph Pistone, who documented his own undercover life in the book Donnie Brasco later made into a film with Johnny Depp.
Pistone however, is not there for Connolly in his current hour of need. As the sentencing hearing of the former FBI hero got under way, Pistone refused to take the stand because the judge refused his request to testify anonymously.
The US courts recently concluded that, in the name of catching ever-bigger Mafia fish, FBI agents were encouraged to let Irish-American gangsters rivals of the mafia, run amok. The policy led to serious breakthroughs against the Mafia but also countless murders and the ill-fated shipment of guns to the IRA. But former FBI agents have also testified on Connolly's behalf and there is even a sophisticated website proclaiming his innocence. When he showed up to be sentenced for his role in facilitating yet another gruesome murder by James "Whitey" Bulger this week, he wept tears for the family of the victim John Callahan. The bullet-ridden body of Callahan was found in the boot of a Cadillac parked at Miami International Airport in 1982. "It's heart-breaking to hear what happened to your father and your husband," Connolly told the family.
In an emotional prison interview with The Boston Globe this week, Connolly still proclaimed his innocence. "I never sold my badge. I never took anybody's money. I never caused anybody to be hurt, at least not knowingly, and I never would."
As a member of the elite anti-Mafia squad for more than 20 years, Connolly's speciality was cultivating informants against New England's mobsters. His accomplishments led to the FBI's Boston office being lionised. Connolly himself became a near legendary figure for his role in a secretly recorded Mafia initiation ceremony complete with blood oaths and prayers and the incineration of an image of the Virgin Mary in the palms of newly made members. He was the first outsider to penetrate the Mob's holy of holies and his coup led to numerous prosecutions of leading members. But somewhere along the way he began taking shortcuts. With the full knowledge and approval of his FBI bosses he started offering protection to members of the Winter Hill Gang in return for leads.
The FBI adamantly denies turning a deliberate blind eye to years of bloody mayhem, murder and gunrunning and maintains that Connolly was merely a rogue agent. But, two months ago, a federal judge slapped the Bureau down and ordered it to pay £1.8m compensation to the 80-year old mother of the murdered John McIntyre.
A damning verdict stated: "The (FBI's) attitude at least reflects a judgement that Connolly's at-the-edge conduct could be tolerated for the greater good of bringing down La Cosa Nostra."
The FBI's successes against the Mafia were matched by its failures against Whitey Bulger's gang. When the Feds finally got around to arresting him in 1995, he was tipped off by a phone call from Connolly. Bulger now has a price of more than $1m on his head, his face on posters in every airport in America, but the likelihood seems that the 71-year-old is lying low in a west of Ireland village.
It now seems that Connolly actually became a member of Bulger's gang, a well-paid partner in crime, very early in their relationship in the late 1970s. He was full-time member of the Irish Goodfellas. It all started back in south Boston (or Southie) a landing pad for generations of working class Irish immigrants. It is a tightly knit place of hard working construction workers and armchair Irish republicans where at the height of Northern Ireland's troubles every bar seemed to have a collection box for IRA "prisoners of war."
Connolly and Bulger grew up in the same block of public housing in the 1940s where the few career options included becoming a cop on the beat, a fireman or a mobster. In his 25-year reign as head of the Winter Hill Gang, Bulger committed as many as 90 murders.
He had other high-powered connections, however. Billy Bulger, his younger brother was for years the head of the Massachusetts state Senate before becoming president of the University of Massachusetts from which he was recently forced to retire. Billy was also a childhood friend and a mentor to Connolly, creating a tangled knot of alliances that went all the way from the Massachusetts state house to the FBI and an untold number of back street torture and murder scenes to which Connolly routinely turned a blind eye.
Connolly was well rewarded of course. "We're taking real good care of that guy," Bulger once said of Connolly. For protecting extortion rackets the agent was reportedly lavished with thousands of dollars and diamond rings in bribes.
When the FBI's internal affairs unit finally turned Connolly over after Bulger's disappearance, they found dozens of uncashed salary cheques and proof that he owned a fancy suburban house. There was also a holiday home among the jet setters of Cape Cod and a £30,000 fishing boat.
Connolly is now facing up to33 years in jail for the 1982 Callahan murder. But his FBI career is one the agency would prefer was forgotten by the public. It promises to haunt the US law enforcement agency for many years, however, as more victims come forward seeking compensation for murders that took place while Connolly and other FBI agents deliberately looked the other way.
Thanks to Leonard Doyle
As the murder was playing out, it is alleged Connolly, a leading FBI agent, communicated by walkie-talkie with the torturer, James "Whitey" Bulger, as he first pulled out the victim's tongue and teeth and then tried to strangle the gun-runner, John McIntyre, with a ship's rope.
The FBI man's complicity in this particular murder has never been proved but his betrayal of his badge – proved in two other cases – is one of the most shameful episodes in the agency's history. The macabre incident, worthy of a scene fromThe Sopranos, has nonetheless drawn attention to an extraordinary double standard in which the FBI allowed a notorious Irish-American gang to commit murder and mayhem in Boston for more than a decade, in return for information that would eventually break the back of the Mafia.
Connolly's career would eventually inspire Martin Scorsese's 2006 movie, The Departed (Two-Disc Special Edition)
, in which the loyalties of an undercover agent become hopelessly compromised. The movie, like his career, is set in south Boston where the federal law enforcement agency is waging war on Irish-American organised crime. Connolly's character is played by Matt Damon.The long arm of the law has finally caught up with Connolly, now aged 68. He was convicted last month of a 1982 murder and has been called to court for sentencing. A decision is likely within weeks. In dramatic courtroom scenes this week, he angrily shouted out his innocence. His many supporters maintain that the FBI is at fault for encouraging him to turn a blind eye to crimes throughout the 1980s.
Nobody knows quite when Connolly decided on his betrayal but it is assumed to have been in the 1970s and bribes had a lot to do with it. As a decorated FBI man, Connolly certainly had access to the most classified information. He learned that the IRA gun runner John McIntyre intended to testify against his fellow gun runners. So, it is alleged, Connolly passed the information on to "Whitey" Bulger, the infamous head of Boston's Winter Hill Gang who was behind the IRA arms shipment.
McIntyre and a friend were lured to a safe house where the gruesome torture began. At one point, Bulger asked his victim if he wanted a bullet to the head, to which McIntyre replied, "Yes, please". He was then shot multiple times and his body later dumped on waste ground.
The gang has now scattered, Bulger himself is still on the run and is America's second most wanted fugitive (after Osama Bin Laden) but some of its members have escaped prosecution by giving evidence. They have also made small fortunes turning their exploits as mobsters into books and screenplays. But if Bulger and his deputy Stephen "the Rifleman" Flemmi were the feared enforcers on the streets of south Boston (Bulger was a "leg breaker, drug dealer, scumbag," in the words of Eddie Mackenzie, one of his ex-accomplices) Connolly acted as a big brother figure.
Back in the 1980s, Special Agent Connolly was a towering giant in the FBI's anti-Mafia unit. He had already spent two decades cultivating informants among New England's mob bosses. As a young undercover agent he walked the streets of New York with the FBI agent Joseph Pistone, who documented his own undercover life in the book Donnie Brasco later made into a film with Johnny Depp.
Pistone however, is not there for Connolly in his current hour of need. As the sentencing hearing of the former FBI hero got under way, Pistone refused to take the stand because the judge refused his request to testify anonymously.
The US courts recently concluded that, in the name of catching ever-bigger Mafia fish, FBI agents were encouraged to let Irish-American gangsters rivals of the mafia, run amok. The policy led to serious breakthroughs against the Mafia but also countless murders and the ill-fated shipment of guns to the IRA. But former FBI agents have also testified on Connolly's behalf and there is even a sophisticated website proclaiming his innocence. When he showed up to be sentenced for his role in facilitating yet another gruesome murder by James "Whitey" Bulger this week, he wept tears for the family of the victim John Callahan. The bullet-ridden body of Callahan was found in the boot of a Cadillac parked at Miami International Airport in 1982. "It's heart-breaking to hear what happened to your father and your husband," Connolly told the family.
In an emotional prison interview with The Boston Globe this week, Connolly still proclaimed his innocence. "I never sold my badge. I never took anybody's money. I never caused anybody to be hurt, at least not knowingly, and I never would."
As a member of the elite anti-Mafia squad for more than 20 years, Connolly's speciality was cultivating informants against New England's mobsters. His accomplishments led to the FBI's Boston office being lionised. Connolly himself became a near legendary figure for his role in a secretly recorded Mafia initiation ceremony complete with blood oaths and prayers and the incineration of an image of the Virgin Mary in the palms of newly made members. He was the first outsider to penetrate the Mob's holy of holies and his coup led to numerous prosecutions of leading members. But somewhere along the way he began taking shortcuts. With the full knowledge and approval of his FBI bosses he started offering protection to members of the Winter Hill Gang in return for leads.
The FBI adamantly denies turning a deliberate blind eye to years of bloody mayhem, murder and gunrunning and maintains that Connolly was merely a rogue agent. But, two months ago, a federal judge slapped the Bureau down and ordered it to pay £1.8m compensation to the 80-year old mother of the murdered John McIntyre.
A damning verdict stated: "The (FBI's) attitude at least reflects a judgement that Connolly's at-the-edge conduct could be tolerated for the greater good of bringing down La Cosa Nostra."
The FBI's successes against the Mafia were matched by its failures against Whitey Bulger's gang. When the Feds finally got around to arresting him in 1995, he was tipped off by a phone call from Connolly. Bulger now has a price of more than $1m on his head, his face on posters in every airport in America, but the likelihood seems that the 71-year-old is lying low in a west of Ireland village.
It now seems that Connolly actually became a member of Bulger's gang, a well-paid partner in crime, very early in their relationship in the late 1970s. He was full-time member of the Irish Goodfellas. It all started back in south Boston (or Southie) a landing pad for generations of working class Irish immigrants. It is a tightly knit place of hard working construction workers and armchair Irish republicans where at the height of Northern Ireland's troubles every bar seemed to have a collection box for IRA "prisoners of war."
Connolly and Bulger grew up in the same block of public housing in the 1940s where the few career options included becoming a cop on the beat, a fireman or a mobster. In his 25-year reign as head of the Winter Hill Gang, Bulger committed as many as 90 murders.
He had other high-powered connections, however. Billy Bulger, his younger brother was for years the head of the Massachusetts state Senate before becoming president of the University of Massachusetts from which he was recently forced to retire. Billy was also a childhood friend and a mentor to Connolly, creating a tangled knot of alliances that went all the way from the Massachusetts state house to the FBI and an untold number of back street torture and murder scenes to which Connolly routinely turned a blind eye.
Connolly was well rewarded of course. "We're taking real good care of that guy," Bulger once said of Connolly. For protecting extortion rackets the agent was reportedly lavished with thousands of dollars and diamond rings in bribes.
When the FBI's internal affairs unit finally turned Connolly over after Bulger's disappearance, they found dozens of uncashed salary cheques and proof that he owned a fancy suburban house. There was also a holiday home among the jet setters of Cape Cod and a £30,000 fishing boat.
Connolly is now facing up to33 years in jail for the 1982 Callahan murder. But his FBI career is one the agency would prefer was forgotten by the public. It promises to haunt the US law enforcement agency for many years, however, as more victims come forward seeking compensation for murders that took place while Connolly and other FBI agents deliberately looked the other way.
Thanks to Leonard Doyle
Reputed Gambino Soldier Gets Tongue-Lashing from Judge, But No Prison Time
A Brooklyn restaurateur got a slap on the wrist for laundering Mafia money Friday - with a little help from friends like Borough President Marty Markowitz.
Reputed Gambino crime family soldier Joseph Chirico won't serve a single day in prison: He was sentenced to six months' house arrest - and can spend 10 hours a day at his Marco Polo restaurant in Carroll Gardens - without even wearing an ankle bracelet.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Brownell said Chirico passed $1,500 in tribute money from a mob associate to another Gambino soldier. "Organized crime has been a curse, especially in counties like Brooklyn and Queens," Brownell argued.
Federal Judge Jack Weinstein gave Chirico a tongue-lashing for swearing an oath to the Mafia - but let him off after Chirico's lawyer read glowing letters from Markowitz and former Brooklyn beep Howard Golden.
Weinstein, who has sentenced scores of Gambinos in the past year, said he always slammed inducted members with more severe sentences.
He said he was swayed because of Chirico's character and defense lawyer Joseph Benfante's argument that jailing him would mean closing the restaurant and putting 25 people out of work. "Being connected with this gang has been useful in his business, he's looked up to, unfortunately, with respect," Weinstein said.
A spokesman for Markowitz declined to comment on Chirico's mob ties.
Chirico, who declined to speak at his sentencing, had faced six to 12 months in prison under federal guidelines.
Meanwhile, Weinstein also sentenced the late Gambino boss John Gotti's brother Vincent and nephew Richard to 97 months in prison for conspiring to murder a Howard Beach bagel store owner suspected of having an affair with Vincent's wife.
Thanks to John Marzulli
Reputed Gambino crime family soldier Joseph Chirico won't serve a single day in prison: He was sentenced to six months' house arrest - and can spend 10 hours a day at his Marco Polo restaurant in Carroll Gardens - without even wearing an ankle bracelet.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Brownell said Chirico passed $1,500 in tribute money from a mob associate to another Gambino soldier. "Organized crime has been a curse, especially in counties like Brooklyn and Queens," Brownell argued.
Federal Judge Jack Weinstein gave Chirico a tongue-lashing for swearing an oath to the Mafia - but let him off after Chirico's lawyer read glowing letters from Markowitz and former Brooklyn beep Howard Golden.
Weinstein, who has sentenced scores of Gambinos in the past year, said he always slammed inducted members with more severe sentences.
He said he was swayed because of Chirico's character and defense lawyer Joseph Benfante's argument that jailing him would mean closing the restaurant and putting 25 people out of work. "Being connected with this gang has been useful in his business, he's looked up to, unfortunately, with respect," Weinstein said.
A spokesman for Markowitz declined to comment on Chirico's mob ties.
Chirico, who declined to speak at his sentencing, had faced six to 12 months in prison under federal guidelines.
Meanwhile, Weinstein also sentenced the late Gambino boss John Gotti's brother Vincent and nephew Richard to 97 months in prison for conspiring to murder a Howard Beach bagel store owner suspected of having an affair with Vincent's wife.
Thanks to John Marzulli
Russia Ranked #1 in Organized Cyber Crime Syndicates
While cyber criminals world-over are driven by similar knowledge of technology, the key difference lies in the "motivation behind the crime", says Chris Goggans, a celebrated American hacker and computer security expert.
Pointing out that internet security issues are as a rising concern all over the world, Goggans said that the Russian mafia account for the "most organized" cyber crimes. "The most serious cyber crimes are from Russia and China. While most of the cyber crimes from Russia are financial in nature (stealing credit card number, bank account details), crimes emanating from China are related to theft of intellectual property, government information and military data," Goggans said.
"The cyber criminals in South America, Brazil, Korea, Europe are not involved in very sinister crimes. They are mainly into hacking for proving themselves," he added.
Goggans has the unique distinction of having broken into the system of America's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) within six hours to uncover potential security threats for the US government. "Often, making leeways in the norms set by the parent company for small comforts creates major hurdles in the security system," Goggans said.
Claiming that he hasn't "seen much cyber crimes" from India, Goggans said that it may be because of the low proportion of cyber crimes, or simply that it may have skipped his eye.
Explaining the nature of cyber crimes in the US, he said that it is motivated mostly by revenge and malicious intent. "Holding network administrators hostage by stealing passwords, crashing database
by a sacked worker, sending hate email... those are the crime Americans indulge in. While it is certainly annoying to clean up after such a crime, it is not threatening," he said.
Goggans put forth a simple two-point agenda to ensure cyber security of the average person connecting to the world wide web. "Keep your software and computer updated every day. As soon as Microsoft, Apple or whatever system you use issues an update, install it. And do not open suspicious or random emails. If you receive an email from someone you know but it doesn't seem to be normal,' check with the alleged sender of the email before opening it. These small things will keep you safe and increase your cyber-security multifold," he said.
Thanks to The Times
Pointing out that internet security issues are as a rising concern all over the world, Goggans said that the Russian mafia account for the "most organized" cyber crimes. "The most serious cyber crimes are from Russia and China. While most of the cyber crimes from Russia are financial in nature (stealing credit card number, bank account details), crimes emanating from China are related to theft of intellectual property, government information and military data," Goggans said.
"The cyber criminals in South America, Brazil, Korea, Europe are not involved in very sinister crimes. They are mainly into hacking for proving themselves," he added.
Goggans has the unique distinction of having broken into the system of America's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) within six hours to uncover potential security threats for the US government. "Often, making leeways in the norms set by the parent company for small comforts creates major hurdles in the security system," Goggans said.
Claiming that he hasn't "seen much cyber crimes" from India, Goggans said that it may be because of the low proportion of cyber crimes, or simply that it may have skipped his eye.
Explaining the nature of cyber crimes in the US, he said that it is motivated mostly by revenge and malicious intent. "Holding network administrators hostage by stealing passwords, crashing database
by a sacked worker, sending hate email... those are the crime Americans indulge in. While it is certainly annoying to clean up after such a crime, it is not threatening," he said.
Goggans put forth a simple two-point agenda to ensure cyber security of the average person connecting to the world wide web. "Keep your software and computer updated every day. As soon as Microsoft, Apple or whatever system you use issues an update, install it. And do not open suspicious or random emails. If you receive an email from someone you know but it doesn't seem to be normal,' check with the alleged sender of the email before opening it. These small things will keep you safe and increase your cyber-security multifold," he said.
Thanks to The Times
Italian Mafia Drama, "Gomorra" Named Best Picture at European Film Awards
The Italian film "Gomorra", a harrowing drama about the Naples Mafia by Matteo Garrone, won five top prizes at the 21st European Film Awards in Copenhagen on Saturday.
"Gomorra" took the awards for best film, best director, best actor (Toni Servillo), best screenplay (Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni de Gregorio, Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso and Roberto Saviano) and the Carlo di Palma award for best photography (Marco Onorato).
Kristin Scott Thomas won the European award as best actress in the French film "Il y a longtemps que je t'aime" ("I've Loved You So Long") by Philippe Claudel.
The Berlin-based European Film Academy's board chairman Yves Marnion said "Gomorra" had "a very special aura that goes beyond its country" of origin.
"This is the year of Italy which has shown us with 'Il Divo' that European cinema is of very good quality, very close to the realities in this world," he told AFP.
Director Garrone said: "I share the price with the Neapolitan people who live in danger, and I want to thank everyone who has participated in this dangerous movie".
Academy chief Wim Wenders, the German film director, said he was "not at all surprised by the number of statuettes won by 'Gomorra', an excellent film, which is a sign of the vitality of the European cinema, which can travel and be successful elsewhere".
He told AFP: "It was a great selection this year. A lot of films are travelling in many European countries. I think it's a great year."
Thanks to AFP
"Gomorra" took the awards for best film, best director, best actor (Toni Servillo), best screenplay (Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni de Gregorio, Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso and Roberto Saviano) and the Carlo di Palma award for best photography (Marco Onorato).
Kristin Scott Thomas won the European award as best actress in the French film "Il y a longtemps que je t'aime" ("I've Loved You So Long") by Philippe Claudel.
The Berlin-based European Film Academy's board chairman Yves Marnion said "Gomorra" had "a very special aura that goes beyond its country" of origin.
"This is the year of Italy which has shown us with 'Il Divo' that European cinema is of very good quality, very close to the realities in this world," he told AFP.
Director Garrone said: "I share the price with the Neapolitan people who live in danger, and I want to thank everyone who has participated in this dangerous movie".
Academy chief Wim Wenders, the German film director, said he was "not at all surprised by the number of statuettes won by 'Gomorra', an excellent film, which is a sign of the vitality of the European cinema, which can travel and be successful elsewhere".
He told AFP: "It was a great selection this year. A lot of films are travelling in many European countries. I think it's a great year."
Thanks to AFP
Monday, December 08, 2008
Jane Byrne and the Cabal of Evil Men
I first met Jane Byrne before Thanksgiving in 1978 at a meeting of the “Bogan Broads” — that was their name and they were proud of it — at a hotel in Burbank across the city’s Southwest Side border.
The former Commissioner of Consumer Sales and favored cabinet member of her mentor, the late Mayor Richard J. Daley, Byrne wore a long, tattered overcoat and wig.
She spoke of “reform” and making Chicago schools “more accountable” to parents in addressing the all-white coalition of women who fought busing and were often castigated, unfairly, as being racist.
No one wanted to cover Byrne at the small community newspaper where I worked. I was the newspaper’s City Hall reporter — also a job no other reporter wanted because the mayor, at the time, Michael Bilandic, was considered “boring.”
I wasn’t bored. I wanted the assignment. I chased Byrne around the city from stop-to-stop.
No one believed Byrne could win. Ald. Ed Burke, accused of being a member of a “Cabal of Evil Men,” predicted before the Feb. 27, 1979 Democratic Primary that Byrne would lose because “no one wanted their aunt” to be the mayor.
Other members of the Cabal included Ed Vrdolyak, whose slippery days ended recently with his felony corruption confession. Vrdolyak is headed towards jail, where he will be forgotten. Another was Fred Roti, the kind and gentle alderman of the notorious 1st Ward, then under the grips of the Chicago Outfit.
I remember Byrne coming to City Hall and the reporters yawning. But I ran downstairs and wrote down her quotes and turned in a story.
I still have my reporter’s notebooks with notes and a collection of audio cassette tapes of her press conferences covering the first three years that she eventually served as mayor. Byrne shocked the world and defeated Bilandic and the Chicago Democratic Machine.
Although Bilandic should have won, Mother Nature had other plans, delivering a crippling snowstorm just before the primary that exposed how poorly the city was being run. I attended a precinct captains meeting at the Bismarck Hotel, where Bilandic compared himself to Jesus Christ and the precinct captains to the Disciples. He said he was being persecuted by the anti-Christ who was, back then, columnist Mike Royko.
I remember chasing County Board President and Party Chairman George Dunne through the Bismarck with a herd of 45 reporters and camera crews knocking down coat racks and tables, and bruising knees and ankles trying to get a quote from him.
Everyone expected Byrne to change the city. She started to change, but with a vindictive flare that was truly vindictive and not simply thrown her way because she was a woman.
Byrne was mad at Morgan Finley, who had planned to hire her former reporter and current husband, Jay McMullen, but was forced to renege on the deal under pressure from Bilandic and his chief aide, Tom Donovan. I wrote that story, and McMullen threatened to punch me in the nose. I see Donovan driving around these days in a big car with his wife shopping in Orland Park, where I now live.
By late 1979, Byrne abandoned reform for power, fearing her rival Richie Daley, the late mayor’s son. She joined the Cabal, which led her on the road to defeat four years later, opening the door to the city’s first African-American mayor, Harold Washington.
Byrne should be remembered. Despite much controversy, she did some good. (Visit RadioChicagoland.com to read online the 20-year profile I wrote about Byrne for the Chicago Reader.)
Thanks to Ray Hanania
The former Commissioner of Consumer Sales and favored cabinet member of her mentor, the late Mayor Richard J. Daley, Byrne wore a long, tattered overcoat and wig.
She spoke of “reform” and making Chicago schools “more accountable” to parents in addressing the all-white coalition of women who fought busing and were often castigated, unfairly, as being racist.
No one wanted to cover Byrne at the small community newspaper where I worked. I was the newspaper’s City Hall reporter — also a job no other reporter wanted because the mayor, at the time, Michael Bilandic, was considered “boring.”
I wasn’t bored. I wanted the assignment. I chased Byrne around the city from stop-to-stop.
No one believed Byrne could win. Ald. Ed Burke, accused of being a member of a “Cabal of Evil Men,” predicted before the Feb. 27, 1979 Democratic Primary that Byrne would lose because “no one wanted their aunt” to be the mayor.
Other members of the Cabal included Ed Vrdolyak, whose slippery days ended recently with his felony corruption confession. Vrdolyak is headed towards jail, where he will be forgotten. Another was Fred Roti, the kind and gentle alderman of the notorious 1st Ward, then under the grips of the Chicago Outfit.
I remember Byrne coming to City Hall and the reporters yawning. But I ran downstairs and wrote down her quotes and turned in a story.
I still have my reporter’s notebooks with notes and a collection of audio cassette tapes of her press conferences covering the first three years that she eventually served as mayor. Byrne shocked the world and defeated Bilandic and the Chicago Democratic Machine.
Although Bilandic should have won, Mother Nature had other plans, delivering a crippling snowstorm just before the primary that exposed how poorly the city was being run. I attended a precinct captains meeting at the Bismarck Hotel, where Bilandic compared himself to Jesus Christ and the precinct captains to the Disciples. He said he was being persecuted by the anti-Christ who was, back then, columnist Mike Royko.
I remember chasing County Board President and Party Chairman George Dunne through the Bismarck with a herd of 45 reporters and camera crews knocking down coat racks and tables, and bruising knees and ankles trying to get a quote from him.
Everyone expected Byrne to change the city. She started to change, but with a vindictive flare that was truly vindictive and not simply thrown her way because she was a woman.
Byrne was mad at Morgan Finley, who had planned to hire her former reporter and current husband, Jay McMullen, but was forced to renege on the deal under pressure from Bilandic and his chief aide, Tom Donovan. I wrote that story, and McMullen threatened to punch me in the nose. I see Donovan driving around these days in a big car with his wife shopping in Orland Park, where I now live.
By late 1979, Byrne abandoned reform for power, fearing her rival Richie Daley, the late mayor’s son. She joined the Cabal, which led her on the road to defeat four years later, opening the door to the city’s first African-American mayor, Harold Washington.
Byrne should be remembered. Despite much controversy, she did some good. (Visit RadioChicagoland.com to read online the 20-year profile I wrote about Byrne for the Chicago Reader.)
Thanks to Ray Hanania
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Rosemont Mayor to Return Campaign Contribution from Alleged Mob-Linked Company
The mayor of Rosemont, whose suburb is among three finalists vying to land a casino, is returning a campaign contribution from an alleged mob-linked company after an inquiry by the Chicago Sun-Times and the Better Government Association.
The company, D&P Construction, gave $400 in November 2007 to the Regular Republican Voters League of Leyden Township, which is headed by Rosemont Mayor Bradley Stephens. In 2001, the Illinois Gaming Board said the company was tied to "individuals who have been identified as known members of organized crime."
Stephens said the Leyden Republican group's treasurer mistakenly deposited D&P's check, which was among hundreds of checks to come in after a fundraiser. "She was almost in tears when I questioned her, 'How did this get through the cracks?' " Stephens said.
The contribution - along with others examined as part of a Sun-Times/BGA analysis - is prompting new questions about an old subject - whether Rosemont is a suitable home for the state's last-available casino license.
In 2004, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan documented ties between Bradley Stephens' father, then-Rosemont Mayor Donald Stephens, and persons connected to reputed mobsters.
D&P's owner, Josephine DiFronzo, did not respond to requests for comment. The company was a focus of a gaming board disciplinary case that stopped Emerald Casino from building a floating gambling barge in Rosemont in 2001. The board eventually revoked Emerald's gaming license, setting the stage for it to be re-bid this year.
Last week, the Chicago Crime Commission encouraged the state board to remove Rosemont from the casino race. "In our view, the inability of the Illinois Gaming Board to address the concerns about alleged mob ties is enough to disqualify their application," said J.R. Davis, the commission's president.
The gaming board's five members plan to award the license to one of three bidders by year's end. Trilliant Gaming, which wants to build in Rosemont, is widely seen as the leading contender. Its $435 million bid is more than double what others are offering to put the casino in Waukegan or Des Plaines.
Jim Wagner, formerly a top FBI mob investigator and gaming board investigations chief, said the $400 from D&P to the Stephens-run political group raises new concerns about Rosemont. "D&P is, to me, a company that has been so often in the news that there should be every attempt to disassociate themselves from that company," said Wagner, who recently stepped down as head of the Chicago Crime Commission. "The problems that are in Rosemont should be enough to disqualify putting the casino in that environment."
Stephens, who became mayor after his father's death last year, said any mob taint to his community is a thing of the past. And he scoffed at the idea he'd risk a lucrative casino project for a $400 political contribution.
He also said he has adopted his father's policy of rejecting campaign contributions from anyone whose integrity has been questioned by the gaming board.
"To keep throwing this stuff up is ridiculous," Stephens said.
The Sun-Times and the BGA examined campaign contributions from people and companies involved in the state board's disciplinary complaint against Emerald. In that March 2001 document, the gaming board said: "The owner of D&P, Josephine DiFronzo, is married to Peter DiFronzo and is the sister-in-law of John DiFronzo, individuals who have been identified as known members of organized crime. Emerald's failure to exercise appropriate supervision resulted in work being performed at the site by D&P."
D&P also had done waste-hauling work in Rosemont, but Donald Stephens severed ties with the company after the gaming board's case was made public. The late mayor also donated to charity thousands of dollars in campaign cash he'd received from the company.
Besides its 2007 contribution to to the Regular Republican Voters League of Leyden Township, D&P gave $1,350 to the Rosemont Voters League on Jan. 17, 2000 and another $1,150 on Jan. 19, 2001.
The Voters League has supported the campaigns of several Rosemont village trustees, including Bradley Stephens before he became mayor, park district commissioners and school board members. Rosemont officials said they believe the organization gave the D&P contributions to charity but don't have records to show that.
D&P's contribution troubles Jay Stewart, the BGA's executive director. "Maybe Mayor Stephens' pledge to not take money from D&P is as sincere as the day is long," Stewart said. "But if this got through the cracks, what else might?"
Thanks to Chris Fusco
The company, D&P Construction, gave $400 in November 2007 to the Regular Republican Voters League of Leyden Township, which is headed by Rosemont Mayor Bradley Stephens. In 2001, the Illinois Gaming Board said the company was tied to "individuals who have been identified as known members of organized crime."
Stephens said the Leyden Republican group's treasurer mistakenly deposited D&P's check, which was among hundreds of checks to come in after a fundraiser. "She was almost in tears when I questioned her, 'How did this get through the cracks?' " Stephens said.
The contribution - along with others examined as part of a Sun-Times/BGA analysis - is prompting new questions about an old subject - whether Rosemont is a suitable home for the state's last-available casino license.
In 2004, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan documented ties between Bradley Stephens' father, then-Rosemont Mayor Donald Stephens, and persons connected to reputed mobsters.
D&P's owner, Josephine DiFronzo, did not respond to requests for comment. The company was a focus of a gaming board disciplinary case that stopped Emerald Casino from building a floating gambling barge in Rosemont in 2001. The board eventually revoked Emerald's gaming license, setting the stage for it to be re-bid this year.
Last week, the Chicago Crime Commission encouraged the state board to remove Rosemont from the casino race. "In our view, the inability of the Illinois Gaming Board to address the concerns about alleged mob ties is enough to disqualify their application," said J.R. Davis, the commission's president.
The gaming board's five members plan to award the license to one of three bidders by year's end. Trilliant Gaming, which wants to build in Rosemont, is widely seen as the leading contender. Its $435 million bid is more than double what others are offering to put the casino in Waukegan or Des Plaines.
Jim Wagner, formerly a top FBI mob investigator and gaming board investigations chief, said the $400 from D&P to the Stephens-run political group raises new concerns about Rosemont. "D&P is, to me, a company that has been so often in the news that there should be every attempt to disassociate themselves from that company," said Wagner, who recently stepped down as head of the Chicago Crime Commission. "The problems that are in Rosemont should be enough to disqualify putting the casino in that environment."
Stephens, who became mayor after his father's death last year, said any mob taint to his community is a thing of the past. And he scoffed at the idea he'd risk a lucrative casino project for a $400 political contribution.
He also said he has adopted his father's policy of rejecting campaign contributions from anyone whose integrity has been questioned by the gaming board.
"To keep throwing this stuff up is ridiculous," Stephens said.
The Sun-Times and the BGA examined campaign contributions from people and companies involved in the state board's disciplinary complaint against Emerald. In that March 2001 document, the gaming board said: "The owner of D&P, Josephine DiFronzo, is married to Peter DiFronzo and is the sister-in-law of John DiFronzo, individuals who have been identified as known members of organized crime. Emerald's failure to exercise appropriate supervision resulted in work being performed at the site by D&P."
D&P also had done waste-hauling work in Rosemont, but Donald Stephens severed ties with the company after the gaming board's case was made public. The late mayor also donated to charity thousands of dollars in campaign cash he'd received from the company.
Besides its 2007 contribution to to the Regular Republican Voters League of Leyden Township, D&P gave $1,350 to the Rosemont Voters League on Jan. 17, 2000 and another $1,150 on Jan. 19, 2001.
The Voters League has supported the campaigns of several Rosemont village trustees, including Bradley Stephens before he became mayor, park district commissioners and school board members. Rosemont officials said they believe the organization gave the D&P contributions to charity but don't have records to show that.
D&P's contribution troubles Jay Stewart, the BGA's executive director. "Maybe Mayor Stephens' pledge to not take money from D&P is as sincere as the day is long," Stewart said. "But if this got through the cracks, what else might?"
Thanks to Chris Fusco
John Gotti's Brother, Vincent, Gets 8 Years in Prison After Failing to Carry Out a Hit
The late John Gotti's brother was hit with an eight-year prison term yesterday for trying to whack a man whom he had accused of fooling around with his wife.
Reputed Gambino soldier Vincent Gotti, 56, previously 'fessed up to putting a contract out on bagel store owner Angelo Mugnolo in May 2003 after telling mob cohorts about the supposed affair.
"I am extremely remorseful for my actions," Vincent told Brooklyn federal Judge Jack Weinstein as his wife sat beside him. "I am very sorry to my wife and my children for the pain I have caused them."
His nephew, Richard Gotti, 41, also was sentenced to eight years behind bars yesterday for orchestrating the botched rubout.
A hit team shot Mugnolo three times outside his house in Howard Beach, but he survived.
Thanks to Kati Cornell
Reputed Gambino soldier Vincent Gotti, 56, previously 'fessed up to putting a contract out on bagel store owner Angelo Mugnolo in May 2003 after telling mob cohorts about the supposed affair.
"I am extremely remorseful for my actions," Vincent told Brooklyn federal Judge Jack Weinstein as his wife sat beside him. "I am very sorry to my wife and my children for the pain I have caused them."
His nephew, Richard Gotti, 41, also was sentenced to eight years behind bars yesterday for orchestrating the botched rubout.
A hit team shot Mugnolo three times outside his house in Howard Beach, but he survived.
Thanks to Kati Cornell
Saturday, December 06, 2008
"Chicago Jane Doe" ID'd as Marlaina Reed and Her Case is to be Featured on America's Most Wanted
Chicago Jane Doe: When AMW first told the story of "Chicago Jane Doe" we knew nothing about her. She was a victim without a name but police in the Windy City were determined as ever to solve her case. With the help of a local dentist, Chicago Police identified Jane Doe as teenager Marlaina Reed. You might remember that Jane Doe had distinctive braces on her teeth and it looked like she had tried to pull them off herself. A Chicago dentist and his receptionist saw sketches in a local professional journal and recognized the young girl and the dental work. They contacted police and a positive identification was made. Windy City detectives are now one step closer to solving Marlaina's case, but they still need your help to find her killer.
Noe Torres: On the night of Sept. 15, 2005, 10-year-old Carlos Perez went to bed knowing that he had a big day ahead of him: it was to be his 11th birthday. That night, in his sleep, Carlos was killed in a hail of gunfire in his bed. The accused shooter, Noe Torres, is still at large, and an accomplice who has already been convicted of the crime -- Edward Salas -- has escaped from a New Mexico jail.
George Perez: Cops in Baltimore, Md. say a bookkeeper there was not only cooking his employer's books, he was placing bets with his employer's money. Police say 32-year-old George Michael Perez embezzled more than $1 million from the company he worked for in order to fund his luxury lifestyle, but when his plan to beat the charges went up in smoke, he hit the road.
Curi Tapia-Martinez: A few short years ago, authorities in North Dakota and Minnesota thought they'd all but solved their methamphetamine crisis, shutting down most of the region's clandestine labs. What no one realized was that Mexican drug cartels were prepared to bring their laboratory-grade product to the market.
Courtenay Savage: On nights when the moon was full, a Florida family was awakened by the sound of gunshots blasting their home and their cars, the shooter sometimes firing into bedrooms where children were sleeping. Now, police say an AMW tipster helped take the woman responsible down.
Ask John Walsh Feature: The AMW Safety Center gets flooded with questions from viewers like you. This week AMW viewer Jennifer Harris from Richmond, VA asks AMW Host John Walsh about how to stay protected at home without overreacting.
Adam Klutz: Deputy Klutz is survived by his parents. Deputy Adam Klutz was shot to death when he responded to a 9-1-1 hang-up call. The suspect, an ex-cop and Iraq War veteran, fled, launching a statewide manhunt, but later killed himself.
Nadia Kersh: Nadia Kersh was last seen leaving her job at the Tria Market in Homeland, Ala. for lunch. Family and friends became alarmed when she didn't return to work, and she failed to pick up her young son from daycare.
Omar Nunes: Police say that when accused father-and-son drug dealing team Calvin and Omar Nunes went to buy crack from their supplier, things didn't go as smoothly as planned. Cops tell us the trio began arguing over money, and all three pulled guns -- but only two of them left the room alive.
Tobechi Onwuhara: The FBI says Nigerian Tobechi Enyinna Onwuhara worked to defraud banks and individuals, including Sen. Strom Thurmond's former chief of staff, and the consummate con man with a seemingly-bottomless bag of tricks managed to steal tens of millions. Now, the feds need your help to catch him.
Michael Wilson: Police in South Carolina are looking for a sex offender who they say is likely to strike again. He's been convicted of sexually assaulting one woman, and cops now want him for the rape of a 15-year-old girl.
Noe Torres: On the night of Sept. 15, 2005, 10-year-old Carlos Perez went to bed knowing that he had a big day ahead of him: it was to be his 11th birthday. That night, in his sleep, Carlos was killed in a hail of gunfire in his bed. The accused shooter, Noe Torres, is still at large, and an accomplice who has already been convicted of the crime -- Edward Salas -- has escaped from a New Mexico jail.
George Perez: Cops in Baltimore, Md. say a bookkeeper there was not only cooking his employer's books, he was placing bets with his employer's money. Police say 32-year-old George Michael Perez embezzled more than $1 million from the company he worked for in order to fund his luxury lifestyle, but when his plan to beat the charges went up in smoke, he hit the road.
Curi Tapia-Martinez: A few short years ago, authorities in North Dakota and Minnesota thought they'd all but solved their methamphetamine crisis, shutting down most of the region's clandestine labs. What no one realized was that Mexican drug cartels were prepared to bring their laboratory-grade product to the market.
Courtenay Savage: On nights when the moon was full, a Florida family was awakened by the sound of gunshots blasting their home and their cars, the shooter sometimes firing into bedrooms where children were sleeping. Now, police say an AMW tipster helped take the woman responsible down.
Ask John Walsh Feature: The AMW Safety Center gets flooded with questions from viewers like you. This week AMW viewer Jennifer Harris from Richmond, VA asks AMW Host John Walsh about how to stay protected at home without overreacting.
Adam Klutz: Deputy Klutz is survived by his parents. Deputy Adam Klutz was shot to death when he responded to a 9-1-1 hang-up call. The suspect, an ex-cop and Iraq War veteran, fled, launching a statewide manhunt, but later killed himself.
Nadia Kersh: Nadia Kersh was last seen leaving her job at the Tria Market in Homeland, Ala. for lunch. Family and friends became alarmed when she didn't return to work, and she failed to pick up her young son from daycare.
Omar Nunes: Police say that when accused father-and-son drug dealing team Calvin and Omar Nunes went to buy crack from their supplier, things didn't go as smoothly as planned. Cops tell us the trio began arguing over money, and all three pulled guns -- but only two of them left the room alive.
Tobechi Onwuhara: The FBI says Nigerian Tobechi Enyinna Onwuhara worked to defraud banks and individuals, including Sen. Strom Thurmond's former chief of staff, and the consummate con man with a seemingly-bottomless bag of tricks managed to steal tens of millions. Now, the feds need your help to catch him.
Michael Wilson: Police in South Carolina are looking for a sex offender who they say is likely to strike again. He's been convicted of sexually assaulting one woman, and cops now want him for the rape of a 15-year-old girl.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
The Chicago Crime Commission Remains Concerned about Rosement's Casino Bid and the Illinois Gaming Board's Transparency
The Chicago Crime Commission remains unconvinced Rosemont is "clean" as the suburb - long the target of mob-influence allegations - tries to land the state's 10th casino again.
The organized crime watchdog group, formed in the days of Al Capone, is coming out today to argue against giving Rosemont's bidder, Trilliant Gaming, the state's last casino license as it also urges gambling regulators to demonstrate more transparency.
"We certainly do not believe Rosemont has earned the trust and confidence of the public at large," said commission CEO J.R. Davis on Wednesday.
Rosemont was rejected by regulators after landing the license in 1999 following allegations of mob ties. The dispute led to years of legal wrangling.
This time, Rosemont officials have made an effort to distance themselves from the current casino bid headed by a former MGM executive.
Davis said Trilliant is led by "responsible business people," but he said he doesn't believe Rosemont has changed since it lost the Emerald Casino license.
Rosemont spokesman Gary Mack called the commission's allegations "nothing new" and he argued the village has been "transparent" in its attempt to land the license.
Trilliant bid $435 million for the license, and it is now being considered by gambling regulators along with bids from Waukegan and neighboring Des Plaines.
Trilliant's bid topped the next highest from Waukegan by more than $200 million.
"We have a new mayor in Rosemont. We have a new bidder," Mack said. "This is a completely different circumstance."
Rosemont Mayor Bradley Stephens, who succeeded his father after his death, has said he will pass laws banning village employees from working at the casino, village contractors from working for the casino and trustees from gambling at the casino.
Davis called Rosemont's assurances "superficial."
Additionally, Davis said the Illinois Gaming Board should release staff reports on all of the bids for the 10th license. The reports are not traditionally made public.
"The Chicago Crime Commission is gravely concerned with the dead silence of this process," Davis said.
Representatives from the Illinois Gaming Board declined to comment. The gaming board has already heard formal pitches from the remaining three bidders and is scheduled to hear public comment Monday.
Thanks to Joseph Ryan
The organized crime watchdog group, formed in the days of Al Capone, is coming out today to argue against giving Rosemont's bidder, Trilliant Gaming, the state's last casino license as it also urges gambling regulators to demonstrate more transparency."We certainly do not believe Rosemont has earned the trust and confidence of the public at large," said commission CEO J.R. Davis on Wednesday.
Rosemont was rejected by regulators after landing the license in 1999 following allegations of mob ties. The dispute led to years of legal wrangling.
This time, Rosemont officials have made an effort to distance themselves from the current casino bid headed by a former MGM executive.
Davis said Trilliant is led by "responsible business people," but he said he doesn't believe Rosemont has changed since it lost the Emerald Casino license.
Rosemont spokesman Gary Mack called the commission's allegations "nothing new" and he argued the village has been "transparent" in its attempt to land the license.
Trilliant bid $435 million for the license, and it is now being considered by gambling regulators along with bids from Waukegan and neighboring Des Plaines.
Trilliant's bid topped the next highest from Waukegan by more than $200 million.
"We have a new mayor in Rosemont. We have a new bidder," Mack said. "This is a completely different circumstance."
Rosemont Mayor Bradley Stephens, who succeeded his father after his death, has said he will pass laws banning village employees from working at the casino, village contractors from working for the casino and trustees from gambling at the casino.
Davis called Rosemont's assurances "superficial."
Additionally, Davis said the Illinois Gaming Board should release staff reports on all of the bids for the 10th license. The reports are not traditionally made public.
"The Chicago Crime Commission is gravely concerned with the dead silence of this process," Davis said.
Representatives from the Illinois Gaming Board declined to comment. The gaming board has already heard formal pitches from the remaining three bidders and is scheduled to hear public comment Monday.
Thanks to Joseph Ryan
Reputed Mob Bosses, Frank Calabrese Sr, and James Marcello Seek Delay in Sentencing
Two reputed mob bosses convicted of taking part in a murder conspiracy have asked a federal judge to postpone their sentencing.
James Marcello and convicted hit man Frank Calabrese Sr. filed their requests Wednesday with Judge James B. Zagel. Calabrese is due for sentencing Dec. 11 and Marcello Dec. 17. They were convicted at the landmark Operation Family Secrets trial.
Marcello says he needs time to prepare and Calabrese says he needs more time to talk with his lawyer because he has been thrown into "a segregation unit commonly known as 'the hole'" in the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
Federal spokesman Randall Samborn had no comment.
James Marcello and convicted hit man Frank Calabrese Sr. filed their requests Wednesday with Judge James B. Zagel. Calabrese is due for sentencing Dec. 11 and Marcello Dec. 17. They were convicted at the landmark Operation Family Secrets trial.
Marcello says he needs time to prepare and Calabrese says he needs more time to talk with his lawyer because he has been thrown into "a segregation unit commonly known as 'the hole'" in the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
Federal spokesman Randall Samborn had no comment.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Frank Calabrese Held in Solitary Confinement
An attorney for a reputed Chicago mobster says his client is being held in isolation as he awaits sentencing on federal charges.
Attorney Joseph Lopez says he's been trying to visit Frank Calabrese (KAL'-uh-brees) at the Metropolitan Correctional Center since last week. Lopez says he got a letter from the U.S. Attorney's office saying Calabrese had been put in isolation.
Randall Samborn, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office, said he could not comment on the situation late Tuesday.
Media reports say the FBI can now listen in on Calabrese's conversations with family members and attorneys and that his cell is being bugged.
Calabrese is among those convicted in September 2007 of taking part in a vast crime network.
Thanks to WBBM 780
Attorney Joseph Lopez says he's been trying to visit Frank Calabrese (KAL'-uh-brees) at the Metropolitan Correctional Center since last week. Lopez says he got a letter from the U.S. Attorney's office saying Calabrese had been put in isolation.
Randall Samborn, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office, said he could not comment on the situation late Tuesday.
Media reports say the FBI can now listen in on Calabrese's conversations with family members and attorneys and that his cell is being bugged.
Calabrese is among those convicted in September 2007 of taking part in a vast crime network.
Thanks to WBBM 780
Judge Finds the Feds Forum Shopped the Junior Gotti Trial and Orders it Moved to New York
A Florida judge ordered the latest prosecution of John A. "Junior" Gotti returned to Manhattan, finding that the government left the "unmistakeable and disquieting impression" it had shopped for a trial location where it might finally win.
U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday said Tuesday that an indictment brought against Gotti in Tampa features the same racketeering conspiracy charge that had failed to result in a conviction after three trials in Manhattan.
He said Gotti's notoriety, his apparently acknowledged role in organized crime before he announced he had left the life behind and the frustration prosecutors feel after repeated losses "contribute to the temptation to extend to Florida the 'quest' to convict Gotti."
Merryday added that the U.S. attorney in Florida "oddly" chose to charge a crime of RICO conspiracy that allegedly occurred largely outside that state.
"In this context, the charging decision of the United States, apparently unaccountable on neutral principles, creates the unmistakeable and disquieting impression of 'forum shopping,'" the judge said.
Gotti was charged last year with crimes involving three gangland slayings. He has denied wrongdoing.
A spokesman for federal prosecutors in Florida did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment. Yusill Scribner, a spokeswoman for prosecutors in New York, said her office had no comment.
Charles Carnesi, Gotti's New York lawyer, said the tone of the ruling made it seem the judge believed the decision to prosecute in Florida "was just a strategic move to try to deprive him of his ability to put forth his defense."
He said he would probably seek bail in Florida so Gotti could return to New York out of custody. "I'm looking forward to having him home for Christmas," Carnesi said.
Three juries in Manhattan have deadlocked on charges against Gotti. His lawyers asserted in his defense that he had quit the Gambino family by July 1999, protecting him from charges because the statute of limitations — five years for racketeering charges — would have expired.
Prosecutors have said Gotti assumed control of the powerful Gambino family after his father's 1992 conviction on racketeering and murder charges. His father died in prison in 2002.
Thanks to Larry Neumeister
U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday said Tuesday that an indictment brought against Gotti in Tampa features the same racketeering conspiracy charge that had failed to result in a conviction after three trials in Manhattan.
He said Gotti's notoriety, his apparently acknowledged role in organized crime before he announced he had left the life behind and the frustration prosecutors feel after repeated losses "contribute to the temptation to extend to Florida the 'quest' to convict Gotti."
Merryday added that the U.S. attorney in Florida "oddly" chose to charge a crime of RICO conspiracy that allegedly occurred largely outside that state.
"In this context, the charging decision of the United States, apparently unaccountable on neutral principles, creates the unmistakeable and disquieting impression of 'forum shopping,'" the judge said.
Gotti was charged last year with crimes involving three gangland slayings. He has denied wrongdoing.
A spokesman for federal prosecutors in Florida did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment. Yusill Scribner, a spokeswoman for prosecutors in New York, said her office had no comment.
Charles Carnesi, Gotti's New York lawyer, said the tone of the ruling made it seem the judge believed the decision to prosecute in Florida "was just a strategic move to try to deprive him of his ability to put forth his defense."
He said he would probably seek bail in Florida so Gotti could return to New York out of custody. "I'm looking forward to having him home for Christmas," Carnesi said.
Three juries in Manhattan have deadlocked on charges against Gotti. His lawyers asserted in his defense that he had quit the Gambino family by July 1999, protecting him from charges because the statute of limitations — five years for racketeering charges — would have expired.
Prosecutors have said Gotti assumed control of the powerful Gambino family after his father's 1992 conviction on racketeering and murder charges. His father died in prison in 2002.
Thanks to Larry Neumeister
Sentencing of Mob Handyman, Thomas Johnson, Kicks Off Chicago Outfit Sentencing Season
'Tis the season to be sentenced for the Chicago Outfit.
By the time the New Year rings in, more than a half dozen hoodlums will have guaranteed reservations at the Holiday Pen.
Mob handyman Thomas Johnson on Tuesday became the first of several Operation Family Secrets defendant to be sentenced this month. Johnson, of Willow Springs, was handed a 30-month prison term and three years of supervision after pleading guilty to his role as an Outfit handyman. U.S. District Judge James Zagel also fined Johnson $7500. He will surrender on March 3, 2009 to begin serving his sentence.
"It is undisputed that Johnson for over seven years engaged in illegal conduct for and with Outfit associate Michael Marcello and his (Michael Marcello's) brother, Outfit boss James Marcello," stated federal prosecutors in sentencing reports. "Johnson's full-time employer was Cicero-based 'M&M Amusements,' which was a large-scale illegal gambling business operating for the financial benefit of the Chicago Outfit."
In Johnson's plea agreement, he admitted rigging video poker machines so that they could be used for actual wagering. "Johnson and others did so by installing a 'knock-off' button or switch which enabled the bar owner to keep track of winning and losing plays. Johnson and his co- conspirators then placed these illegally-altered machines at dozens of bars, restaurants, and clubs throughout Chicagoland" stated prosecutors.
Johnson's talents were not limited to tinkering on machines. He was also a skilled bookkeeper, according to federal investigators. "He created two sets of written documents during the weekly accountings held with the proprietors where the gambling machines were located. Johnson would record the true amount of income retrieved from the machines, and split this figure with the proprietors as agreed. On 'settle-up day,' Johnson also created another set of written records ("collection reports") which falsely recorded a lower amount of income generated by the machines, namely 50% of the actual income generated" authorities said.
Johnson's pleaded guilty of conducting an illegal gambling business and tax fraud. Government agents estimated that he cheated the IRS out of nearly $1.69 million.
Attorneys portrayed Johnson, 53, as little more than a mob stooge, who was a "minor participant, if not a minimal participant. In a court filing, they said Johnson's "involvement was limited to participating in a non-violent illegal gambling operation. Furthermore, within the gambling operation, Mr. Johnson was a low level employee. Mr. Johnson regularly visited business owners participating in the gambling operation to collect proceeds and collection reports from the machines. In return, Mr. Johnson was paid $2,400.00 per month."
The Family Secrets defendants who were convicted at trial will be up for sentencing next week, including former Chicago Police Department officer Anthony Doyle and Paul "The Indian" Schiro, both on Dec. 10
The namesake of the USA vs. Frank Calabrese case as it is officially known, Frank "The Breeze" Calabrese, will be sentenced on Dec. 11 in the Dirksen Building courthouse.
He will be followed by Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo on Dec. 15 and James "Little Jimmy" Marcello on Dec. 17.
The key witness in the landmark case, one-time Outfit assassin Nick Calabrese, will be sentenced on Jan. 26, 2009. Nick Calabrese, who has admitted his role in more than a dozen gangland hits, turned government witness and fingered his brother Frank in the mob plots.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie and Barb Markoff
By the time the New Year rings in, more than a half dozen hoodlums will have guaranteed reservations at the Holiday Pen.
Mob handyman Thomas Johnson on Tuesday became the first of several Operation Family Secrets defendant to be sentenced this month. Johnson, of Willow Springs, was handed a 30-month prison term and three years of supervision after pleading guilty to his role as an Outfit handyman. U.S. District Judge James Zagel also fined Johnson $7500. He will surrender on March 3, 2009 to begin serving his sentence.
"It is undisputed that Johnson for over seven years engaged in illegal conduct for and with Outfit associate Michael Marcello and his (Michael Marcello's) brother, Outfit boss James Marcello," stated federal prosecutors in sentencing reports. "Johnson's full-time employer was Cicero-based 'M&M Amusements,' which was a large-scale illegal gambling business operating for the financial benefit of the Chicago Outfit."
In Johnson's plea agreement, he admitted rigging video poker machines so that they could be used for actual wagering. "Johnson and others did so by installing a 'knock-off' button or switch which enabled the bar owner to keep track of winning and losing plays. Johnson and his co- conspirators then placed these illegally-altered machines at dozens of bars, restaurants, and clubs throughout Chicagoland" stated prosecutors.
Johnson's talents were not limited to tinkering on machines. He was also a skilled bookkeeper, according to federal investigators. "He created two sets of written documents during the weekly accountings held with the proprietors where the gambling machines were located. Johnson would record the true amount of income retrieved from the machines, and split this figure with the proprietors as agreed. On 'settle-up day,' Johnson also created another set of written records ("collection reports") which falsely recorded a lower amount of income generated by the machines, namely 50% of the actual income generated" authorities said.
Johnson's pleaded guilty of conducting an illegal gambling business and tax fraud. Government agents estimated that he cheated the IRS out of nearly $1.69 million.
Attorneys portrayed Johnson, 53, as little more than a mob stooge, who was a "minor participant, if not a minimal participant. In a court filing, they said Johnson's "involvement was limited to participating in a non-violent illegal gambling operation. Furthermore, within the gambling operation, Mr. Johnson was a low level employee. Mr. Johnson regularly visited business owners participating in the gambling operation to collect proceeds and collection reports from the machines. In return, Mr. Johnson was paid $2,400.00 per month."
The Family Secrets defendants who were convicted at trial will be up for sentencing next week, including former Chicago Police Department officer Anthony Doyle and Paul "The Indian" Schiro, both on Dec. 10
The namesake of the USA vs. Frank Calabrese case as it is officially known, Frank "The Breeze" Calabrese, will be sentenced on Dec. 11 in the Dirksen Building courthouse.
He will be followed by Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo on Dec. 15 and James "Little Jimmy" Marcello on Dec. 17.
The key witness in the landmark case, one-time Outfit assassin Nick Calabrese, will be sentenced on Jan. 26, 2009. Nick Calabrese, who has admitted his role in more than a dozen gangland hits, turned government witness and fingered his brother Frank in the mob plots.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie and Barb Markoff
Will Chicago's Mob History and Clout Mentality Follow Obama to the White House?
The city of Chicago is one of the few major metropolitan areas that runs away from its past at every opportunity. Yet, indeed, the very construction of the city led to the term “underworld.” And with rampant corruption controlled by infamous individuals like “Big Jim” Colosimo, Al Capone, Paul “The Waiter” Ricca, Murray “The Camel” Humphrey and Tony “Joe Batters” Accardo, Chicago can hardly bury its past — no pun intended.
Since the turn of the 20th century, what Carl Sandburg referred to as the “City of Big Shoulders” was perhaps the center of organized crime in the United States. Though New York had its Syndicate and Detroit had the Purple Gang, many believe true power in America’s underworld was concentrated in something called the Outfit.
With the election of Barack Obama will come a great deal of history-laden baggage, which will make the movie “The Godfather” seem like a Walt Disney cartoon.
From David Axelrod, who was nurtured on the Daley Machine, to the political organizing, which Barack Obama so proudly claims a lineage, Chicago’s brand of one Party politics may be a model for the Obama administration in Washington, D.C.
It is no mistake the president-elect joined Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s South Side Chicago church. Obama wanted to learn the ropes of power politics and how it was played in the Windy City. There were no better teachers than Mayor Daley and his cadre of obliging aldermen who responded to the cracking of the political whip. A failure to do so would quickly leave them on the outside looking in — without protection from the media, the law and any other threat which loomed on the horizon.
The question is not whether Obama will use the lessons he learned in Chicago as president. The question is: How much of that lesson will become the modus operandi for the Obama adminstration? Some say it might become Chicago on the Potomac, when referring to the political mechanism Obama may surround himself with. If so, it will be our nation’s darkest nightmare come true. And combined with the Clinton-brand of Arkansas politics, there may truly be a new day in our nation’s Capitol.
But how did the Daley Machine take root in Chicago? A book titled, The Outfit: The Role of Chicago’s Underworld in the Shaping of Modern Americawritten by Gus Russo and published in 2001 gave Americans a frigthening glimpse into the Daley Machine and how it got its start.
After Capone left power, due to his conviction on tax evasion charges in the early 1930s, it was Ricca, Humphrey and Accardo who truly called the shots in what many refer to as the Mafia. Even “Lucky” Luciano and Meyer Lansky, originators of organized crime in New York, would not make a move without consulting the Chicago Triumvirate whose innovation and power criminologists say was matched by none.
Since the hay-days of mob activity in Chicago, the city has done everything possible to shed its dark past. But its reputation lives on — despite the efforts of the current mayor, Richard M. Daley. In the early century, individuals like “Big Jim” Colismo controlled gambling and prostitution in the city. With the advent of Prohibition, organized crime found its true calling through the sale of bootleg alcohol, combined with the pandering trade. Added profits were topped off by a very lucrative illegal gambling racket.
After Capone’s departure, the mob moved into the numbers game — which had made millions for underworld entrepreneurs in the African-American community. Union corruption — which was master-minded by Murray “The Camel” Humphrey — brought great fortune to the Outfit as well. Eventually, the mob moved into the illicit drug trade. Until the early 1960s, the Chicago Outfit was ruled with an iron hand by Ricca, Humphrey and Accardo.
Though in later years, more flamboyant underworld figures, such as Sam “Mooney” Giancano and lesser players, including Joseph “Joey Doves” Aiuppa, and the Spilotro Brothers of the movie “Casino” fame, controlled organized crime in Chicago, the FBI virtually wiped out mob activity in the city — although remnants of the Outfit still exist today.
Chop shops and vending machines (poker, cigarettes, etc.) are still reported to be controlled by criminal entities. But the glory days of the Chicago Outfit are said to be long gone. Yet, the public doesn’t have to look far to find reminders of those wild times gone by.
Indeed, Chicago’s current mayor may not hold that office if not for the influence the Outfit had when it came to the election of his father, Richard J. Daley. Perhaps the Daley link with organized crime is one of the reasons why the city does all it can to obscure Chicago’s dark and corrupt history. You will not find city-sponsored tours of famous gangland hang-outs. Even historical landmarks, like the site of the St. Valentine’s Day massacre at 2122 N. Clark St., though an empty lot, are nagging reminders of a bygone era which City Fathers would rather forget.
The Outfit played a significant role in Richard J. Daley’s coming to power. Hizzoner "The Boss" was the protégé of 11th Ward Committeeman, Hugh “Babe” Connelly whose ties to the mob go way back to the days of the “Moustache Pete’s” who included prominent underworld figures like Johnny Torrio who first brought Capone to Chicago. Daley took over Connelly’s 11th Ward seat in 1947. In league with people like 11th Ward Ald. “Big Joe” McDonough, by 1955 the Mob was grooming Daley to be Mayor and, with the help of the Outfit, his election became a reality.
For example, in the very mobbed-up 1st Ward, Daley won a plurality of votes by a staggering margin of 13,275 to 1,961. After his election, Daley moved to solidify the Outfit’s power in the city. In 1956, Daley disbanded “Scotland Yard” an intelligence unit which had compiled reams of detailed records about Chicago crime figures. All this was to the grief of the Chicago Crime Commission who believed Daley’s election had set the city back a decade -- as far as the prosecution of organized crime.
Perhaps Richard M. Daley received much of his education from his father whose political coffers were stuffed with mob cash, according to the FBI. And perhaps the free rein given to organized crime by the Father implanted ideas in the mind of the son regarding possible revenue expansion through alternative sources. It’s possible today’s Chicago mayor learned a very important lesson from Tony “Joe Batters” Accardo, who secretly financed the Rivera Hotel in Las Vegas in 1955, the same year Richard J. Daley was elected mayor. For nearly a quarter of a century afterward, the Chicago mob skimmed literally hundreds of millions of dollars out of Las Vegas casinos while operating with near impunity in Chicago, their home base.
Richie Daley had to see the unlimited amounts of cash that could be directed into city coffers through the expansion of gambling in Chicago. And though most of what used to be underworld crime has been incorporated into white collar America, gambling becomes even more seductive, no matter what memories of Chicago’s past may be dredged up in the process.
Forensic Psychology programs can give you a great insight into the minds of the mob and also lead to a great career.
Thanks to Daniel T. Zanoza
Since the turn of the 20th century, what Carl Sandburg referred to as the “City of Big Shoulders” was perhaps the center of organized crime in the United States. Though New York had its Syndicate and Detroit had the Purple Gang, many believe true power in America’s underworld was concentrated in something called the Outfit.
With the election of Barack Obama will come a great deal of history-laden baggage, which will make the movie “The Godfather” seem like a Walt Disney cartoon.
From David Axelrod, who was nurtured on the Daley Machine, to the political organizing, which Barack Obama so proudly claims a lineage, Chicago’s brand of one Party politics may be a model for the Obama administration in Washington, D.C.
It is no mistake the president-elect joined Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s South Side Chicago church. Obama wanted to learn the ropes of power politics and how it was played in the Windy City. There were no better teachers than Mayor Daley and his cadre of obliging aldermen who responded to the cracking of the political whip. A failure to do so would quickly leave them on the outside looking in — without protection from the media, the law and any other threat which loomed on the horizon.
The question is not whether Obama will use the lessons he learned in Chicago as president. The question is: How much of that lesson will become the modus operandi for the Obama adminstration? Some say it might become Chicago on the Potomac, when referring to the political mechanism Obama may surround himself with. If so, it will be our nation’s darkest nightmare come true. And combined with the Clinton-brand of Arkansas politics, there may truly be a new day in our nation’s Capitol.
But how did the Daley Machine take root in Chicago? A book titled, The Outfit: The Role of Chicago’s Underworld in the Shaping of Modern Americawritten by Gus Russo and published in 2001 gave Americans a frigthening glimpse into the Daley Machine and how it got its start.
After Capone left power, due to his conviction on tax evasion charges in the early 1930s, it was Ricca, Humphrey and Accardo who truly called the shots in what many refer to as the Mafia. Even “Lucky” Luciano and Meyer Lansky, originators of organized crime in New York, would not make a move without consulting the Chicago Triumvirate whose innovation and power criminologists say was matched by none.
Since the hay-days of mob activity in Chicago, the city has done everything possible to shed its dark past. But its reputation lives on — despite the efforts of the current mayor, Richard M. Daley. In the early century, individuals like “Big Jim” Colismo controlled gambling and prostitution in the city. With the advent of Prohibition, organized crime found its true calling through the sale of bootleg alcohol, combined with the pandering trade. Added profits were topped off by a very lucrative illegal gambling racket.
After Capone’s departure, the mob moved into the numbers game — which had made millions for underworld entrepreneurs in the African-American community. Union corruption — which was master-minded by Murray “The Camel” Humphrey — brought great fortune to the Outfit as well. Eventually, the mob moved into the illicit drug trade. Until the early 1960s, the Chicago Outfit was ruled with an iron hand by Ricca, Humphrey and Accardo.
Though in later years, more flamboyant underworld figures, such as Sam “Mooney” Giancano and lesser players, including Joseph “Joey Doves” Aiuppa, and the Spilotro Brothers of the movie “Casino” fame, controlled organized crime in Chicago, the FBI virtually wiped out mob activity in the city — although remnants of the Outfit still exist today.
Chop shops and vending machines (poker, cigarettes, etc.) are still reported to be controlled by criminal entities. But the glory days of the Chicago Outfit are said to be long gone. Yet, the public doesn’t have to look far to find reminders of those wild times gone by.
Indeed, Chicago’s current mayor may not hold that office if not for the influence the Outfit had when it came to the election of his father, Richard J. Daley. Perhaps the Daley link with organized crime is one of the reasons why the city does all it can to obscure Chicago’s dark and corrupt history. You will not find city-sponsored tours of famous gangland hang-outs. Even historical landmarks, like the site of the St. Valentine’s Day massacre at 2122 N. Clark St., though an empty lot, are nagging reminders of a bygone era which City Fathers would rather forget.
The Outfit played a significant role in Richard J. Daley’s coming to power. Hizzoner "The Boss" was the protégé of 11th Ward Committeeman, Hugh “Babe” Connelly whose ties to the mob go way back to the days of the “Moustache Pete’s” who included prominent underworld figures like Johnny Torrio who first brought Capone to Chicago. Daley took over Connelly’s 11th Ward seat in 1947. In league with people like 11th Ward Ald. “Big Joe” McDonough, by 1955 the Mob was grooming Daley to be Mayor and, with the help of the Outfit, his election became a reality.
For example, in the very mobbed-up 1st Ward, Daley won a plurality of votes by a staggering margin of 13,275 to 1,961. After his election, Daley moved to solidify the Outfit’s power in the city. In 1956, Daley disbanded “Scotland Yard” an intelligence unit which had compiled reams of detailed records about Chicago crime figures. All this was to the grief of the Chicago Crime Commission who believed Daley’s election had set the city back a decade -- as far as the prosecution of organized crime.
Perhaps Richard M. Daley received much of his education from his father whose political coffers were stuffed with mob cash, according to the FBI. And perhaps the free rein given to organized crime by the Father implanted ideas in the mind of the son regarding possible revenue expansion through alternative sources. It’s possible today’s Chicago mayor learned a very important lesson from Tony “Joe Batters” Accardo, who secretly financed the Rivera Hotel in Las Vegas in 1955, the same year Richard J. Daley was elected mayor. For nearly a quarter of a century afterward, the Chicago mob skimmed literally hundreds of millions of dollars out of Las Vegas casinos while operating with near impunity in Chicago, their home base.
Richie Daley had to see the unlimited amounts of cash that could be directed into city coffers through the expansion of gambling in Chicago. And though most of what used to be underworld crime has been incorporated into white collar America, gambling becomes even more seductive, no matter what memories of Chicago’s past may be dredged up in the process.
Forensic Psychology programs can give you a great insight into the minds of the mob and also lead to a great career.
Thanks to Daniel T. Zanoza
Mafia Now Using Cell Phone Gun
A gun disguised as a mobile phone is the latest weapon in the arsenal of the Mafia.
The .22 calibre pistol, which resembles something that James Bond would use, was seized by Italian police during an early morning blitz.
Besides the mobile phone gun, officers also found two traditional handguns, bullet proof vests, drugs, ammunition and 8500 euros (£7,242)
The operation against the Camorra, the version of the Mafia in the crime-ridden southern port city of Naples, took place in the Torre Annunziata suburb.
The mobile phone pistol was capable of holding four bullets and was fully-loaded and ready to be used. The antenna works as the barrel of the pistol.
By sliding the key part, the phone turned into a gun and could be fired using one of the buttons on the pad.
The phones first emerged in Eastern Europe in 2000 and their use by the Mafia is seen as a worrying development.
Officers from the paramilitary Carabinieri police were involved in the raid against the Gionta clan crime family who control the area.
A police spokesman in Naples said: "Tests are being carried out on (the gun) to see if it has been used recently and involved in any shootings."
A 28-year-old man, identified as Luigi Gaito, was arrested by police during the operation but several others escaped. He is facing charges of receiving stolen goods, drugs trafficking and illegal possession of firearms.
Earlier this month, 47 people including the wife of jailed Godfather Valentino Gionta - the leader of the crime family syndicate - were arrested. Police say the Gionta clan is involved in murder, extortion and drug trafficking.
Investigators believe that Gemma Donnarumma allegedly ran the clan after her husband was convicted and sentenced to life for murder.
As part of the raid bank accounts and assets worth about 80 million euros (£68m) were also seized.
Thanks to Nick Pisa
The .22 calibre pistol, which resembles something that James Bond would use, was seized by Italian police during an early morning blitz.
Besides the mobile phone gun, officers also found two traditional handguns, bullet proof vests, drugs, ammunition and 8500 euros (£7,242)
The operation against the Camorra, the version of the Mafia in the crime-ridden southern port city of Naples, took place in the Torre Annunziata suburb.
The mobile phone pistol was capable of holding four bullets and was fully-loaded and ready to be used. The antenna works as the barrel of the pistol.By sliding the key part, the phone turned into a gun and could be fired using one of the buttons on the pad.
The phones first emerged in Eastern Europe in 2000 and their use by the Mafia is seen as a worrying development.
Officers from the paramilitary Carabinieri police were involved in the raid against the Gionta clan crime family who control the area.
A police spokesman in Naples said: "Tests are being carried out on (the gun) to see if it has been used recently and involved in any shootings."
A 28-year-old man, identified as Luigi Gaito, was arrested by police during the operation but several others escaped. He is facing charges of receiving stolen goods, drugs trafficking and illegal possession of firearms.
Earlier this month, 47 people including the wife of jailed Godfather Valentino Gionta - the leader of the crime family syndicate - were arrested. Police say the Gionta clan is involved in murder, extortion and drug trafficking.
Investigators believe that Gemma Donnarumma allegedly ran the clan after her husband was convicted and sentenced to life for murder.
As part of the raid bank accounts and assets worth about 80 million euros (£68m) were also seized.
Thanks to Nick Pisa
Code Words and Sign Language Used to Run Mafia from Maximim-Security Prison
A father and three sons used code words and sign language to run their Sicilian Mafia clan from a maximum-security prison, Italian police said Tuesday.
Francesco Madonia, the head of the Madonia clan, died in prison in 2007. Investigators say that a year before his death he ordered the death of the head of another clan leader after he and Palermo boss Salvatore Lo Piccolo decided he was not competent, the news agency ANSA reported.
Madonia and his sons were being held under restrictions known as 41-bis that include limited visits. Inmates under 41-bis are unable to make any purchases or to receive packages, are held in single cells and can mix with no more than five other inmates during the four hours a day they spend outside their cells.
Maria Angela Trapani, a Madonia wife who allegedly carried orders out of prison, was arrested Tuesday.
The Madonias allegedly evaded the 41-bis restrictions with code language and mime. Questions about the elder Madonia's wife's health, for example, were actually about the family extortion business, and Lo Piccolo, who was arrested last year on a murder charge, was referred to as "Auntie Rosalba."
Thanks to UPI
Francesco Madonia, the head of the Madonia clan, died in prison in 2007. Investigators say that a year before his death he ordered the death of the head of another clan leader after he and Palermo boss Salvatore Lo Piccolo decided he was not competent, the news agency ANSA reported.
Madonia and his sons were being held under restrictions known as 41-bis that include limited visits. Inmates under 41-bis are unable to make any purchases or to receive packages, are held in single cells and can mix with no more than five other inmates during the four hours a day they spend outside their cells.
Maria Angela Trapani, a Madonia wife who allegedly carried orders out of prison, was arrested Tuesday.
The Madonias allegedly evaded the 41-bis restrictions with code language and mime. Questions about the elder Madonia's wife's health, for example, were actually about the family extortion business, and Lo Piccolo, who was arrested last year on a murder charge, was referred to as "Auntie Rosalba."
Thanks to UPI
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Perfect Holiday Gift for Your Mob Aficionado
THE SOPRANOS: THE COMPLETE SERIES
Why? Because you have “Moby-Dick” in your library, don’t you? Individual seasons of “The Sopranos” are available, of course, but this set, just released, brings together all 86 episodes on 28 discs, with the added value of a conversation between Alec Baldwin and David Chase. (Mr. Baldwin had hoped for a role but never got one.) Other features include a photo album, CD soundtracks and a filmed dinner with cast members. For $399.99, and especially in the current climate, we might want the recipes for every plate of veal Carmella ever produced — no, actually, the veal itself — but still, a complete set of one of the greatest series television has ever produced seems to fall in the ranks of cultural essentials. (HBO Video, $399.99.)
Why? Because you have “Moby-Dick” in your library, don’t you? Individual seasons of “The Sopranos” are available, of course, but this set, just released, brings together all 86 episodes on 28 discs, with the added value of a conversation between Alec Baldwin and David Chase. (Mr. Baldwin had hoped for a role but never got one.) Other features include a photo album, CD soundtracks and a filmed dinner with cast members. For $399.99, and especially in the current climate, we might want the recipes for every plate of veal Carmella ever produced — no, actually, the veal itself — but still, a complete set of one of the greatest series television has ever produced seems to fall in the ranks of cultural essentials. (HBO Video, $399.99.)
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Former Chicago Cop and "Crime Syndicate on Wheels" Featured on America's Most Wanted
Eddie Hicks:
Former Chicago cop Sgt. Eddie C. Hicks swore to uphold the law throughout his 30 years on the force. But for nearly ten of those years, police say Hicks was part of a racketeering scheme in which he and his crew stole drugs from area dealers, only to sell the loot back to a local peddler. Now this disgraced ex-cop is on the run, and police need your help to bring him down.
A.T.F. Mongol Raid Update:
The notorious Mongols biker gang have been described as a "criminal syndicate on wheels." But this month, the gang was dealt a serious blow when federal agents infiltrated the organization's highest levels, and AMW was there as the bust went down.
Roger McCray:
Less than 48 hours after we told you about accused killer-arsonist Roger McCray, your tips led cops right to him in Seattle, Wash. McCray was wanted for setting his roommate on fire and leaving him to burn to death.
Unknown Kenneth Harris, Sr. Killer:
After nearly two months, Baltimore City police caught up with 19-year-old Charles McGaney and 20-year-old Gary Collins -- two men they say murdered beloved former Baltimore city councilman Kenneth Harris, Sr. But no one in the police department is celebrating yet, because a third suspect is still out there, and the manhunt is far from finished. Cops need help identifying the third man responsible for Ken's senseless murder.
Lorrie Trites:
For 10 years, investigators in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the FBI have been on the hunt for alleged child predator Lorrie Trites. For many years, AMW and investigators knew him only as Loren. The FBI says they've learned his actual name is Lorrie, and chances are he can't stay away from pools, he loves to swim -- and worse, the FBI says he loves to coach children.
George Navarro:
Melesio Martinez was known simply as "Daddy" to his two small children. His wife describes him as a hard-working construction worker who worked ten-hour days, and still had time to play and entertain his kids. That all changed one night in September 2001, when cops say the Martinez family went into a Granada Hills, Calif. liquor store and ran into George Navarro.
Ronald Young:
On Friday, Oct. 17, 2008, the Brea Police Department arrested Robert Young, who had been arrested before after an AMW tipster recognized him. He has been charged with First Degree Murder, as well as Conspiracy to Commit Murder, in the 1996 car bombing death of Gary Triano in Tucson, Ariz. Police are also looking for Pamela Phillips, Triano's widow, who they say may have been involved in the bombing.
Pamela Phillips:
Pamela Phillips, the ex-wife of the late Gary Triano, is wanted for Murder and Conspiracy to Commit Murder in the First Degree. Police say Phillips and her accomplice Ronald Young -- who has been apprehended with the help of AMW viewers -- worked together to orchestrate Gary's murder.
Garrison Colby:
In February 2008, Garrison Colby divulged to his wife a horrifying secret: he had been sexually abusing their son for six years. Colby was arrested and released with a ankle monitor, but he cut it off, and now he's on the run.
Richard Torres:
A 13-year-old's nightmarish ordeal began during the 2005 Thanksgiving holiday when cops say her mother's ex-boyfriend, 39-year-old Richard "Craig" Torres, molested and raped her at a Southern California hotel. Now, Sacramento Sheriff's detectives are determined to capture this accused sexual predator.
Rachel Walsh:
Cops say 48-year-old Rachael Walsh was camping alone at her Falls Creek, Idaho campsite on the weekend of August 16, 2008. However, the U.S. Postal worker's family became alarmed when they didn't hear from Rachael after she was supposed to return and went to her campsite looking for her. What they discovered was a mystery -- all of Rachael's belongings were untouched, her car was gone, and there were no signs of the missing mother of four.
Robert Bowman:
Since 1967, Ohio cops say Robert Bowman has literally gotten away with murder, but science -- and now the police -- finally caught up to the accused killer. Cops say DNA irrefutably ties him to the abduction, rape and murder of 14-year-old Eileen Adams in Toledo, Ohio some 40 years ago, and his time on the lam has come to an end, thousands of miles from the scene of the crime.
Jesus Munguia:
Jesus Roberto Munguia's rap sheet shows that the 32-year-old gang member is no stranger to the law. Authorities say he started stealing cars in California when he was just 15 years old, but Munguia soon fled to Nevada with his girlfriend and their kids. When Munguia's girlfriend had enough and left him, the FBI says he lured her back to his home and killed her, now adding murder to his long list of charges.
Former Chicago cop Sgt. Eddie C. Hicks swore to uphold the law throughout his 30 years on the force. But for nearly ten of those years, police say Hicks was part of a racketeering scheme in which he and his crew stole drugs from area dealers, only to sell the loot back to a local peddler. Now this disgraced ex-cop is on the run, and police need your help to bring him down.
A.T.F. Mongol Raid Update:
The notorious Mongols biker gang have been described as a "criminal syndicate on wheels." But this month, the gang was dealt a serious blow when federal agents infiltrated the organization's highest levels, and AMW was there as the bust went down.
Roger McCray:
Less than 48 hours after we told you about accused killer-arsonist Roger McCray, your tips led cops right to him in Seattle, Wash. McCray was wanted for setting his roommate on fire and leaving him to burn to death.
Unknown Kenneth Harris, Sr. Killer:
After nearly two months, Baltimore City police caught up with 19-year-old Charles McGaney and 20-year-old Gary Collins -- two men they say murdered beloved former Baltimore city councilman Kenneth Harris, Sr. But no one in the police department is celebrating yet, because a third suspect is still out there, and the manhunt is far from finished. Cops need help identifying the third man responsible for Ken's senseless murder.
Lorrie Trites:
For 10 years, investigators in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the FBI have been on the hunt for alleged child predator Lorrie Trites. For many years, AMW and investigators knew him only as Loren. The FBI says they've learned his actual name is Lorrie, and chances are he can't stay away from pools, he loves to swim -- and worse, the FBI says he loves to coach children.
George Navarro:
Melesio Martinez was known simply as "Daddy" to his two small children. His wife describes him as a hard-working construction worker who worked ten-hour days, and still had time to play and entertain his kids. That all changed one night in September 2001, when cops say the Martinez family went into a Granada Hills, Calif. liquor store and ran into George Navarro.
Ronald Young:
On Friday, Oct. 17, 2008, the Brea Police Department arrested Robert Young, who had been arrested before after an AMW tipster recognized him. He has been charged with First Degree Murder, as well as Conspiracy to Commit Murder, in the 1996 car bombing death of Gary Triano in Tucson, Ariz. Police are also looking for Pamela Phillips, Triano's widow, who they say may have been involved in the bombing.
Pamela Phillips:
Pamela Phillips, the ex-wife of the late Gary Triano, is wanted for Murder and Conspiracy to Commit Murder in the First Degree. Police say Phillips and her accomplice Ronald Young -- who has been apprehended with the help of AMW viewers -- worked together to orchestrate Gary's murder.
Garrison Colby:
In February 2008, Garrison Colby divulged to his wife a horrifying secret: he had been sexually abusing their son for six years. Colby was arrested and released with a ankle monitor, but he cut it off, and now he's on the run.
Richard Torres:
A 13-year-old's nightmarish ordeal began during the 2005 Thanksgiving holiday when cops say her mother's ex-boyfriend, 39-year-old Richard "Craig" Torres, molested and raped her at a Southern California hotel. Now, Sacramento Sheriff's detectives are determined to capture this accused sexual predator.
Rachel Walsh:
Cops say 48-year-old Rachael Walsh was camping alone at her Falls Creek, Idaho campsite on the weekend of August 16, 2008. However, the U.S. Postal worker's family became alarmed when they didn't hear from Rachael after she was supposed to return and went to her campsite looking for her. What they discovered was a mystery -- all of Rachael's belongings were untouched, her car was gone, and there were no signs of the missing mother of four.
Robert Bowman:
Since 1967, Ohio cops say Robert Bowman has literally gotten away with murder, but science -- and now the police -- finally caught up to the accused killer. Cops say DNA irrefutably ties him to the abduction, rape and murder of 14-year-old Eileen Adams in Toledo, Ohio some 40 years ago, and his time on the lam has come to an end, thousands of miles from the scene of the crime.
Jesus Munguia:
Jesus Roberto Munguia's rap sheet shows that the 32-year-old gang member is no stranger to the law. Authorities say he started stealing cars in California when he was just 15 years old, but Munguia soon fled to Nevada with his girlfriend and their kids. When Munguia's girlfriend had enough and left him, the FBI says he lured her back to his home and killed her, now adding murder to his long list of charges.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Prosecutors May Add Several Defendants to Mob Bombing Case
A federal prosecutor in Chicago says more indictments may be coming in the investigation of a bomb allegedly set off to scare a company out of competing with organized crime in the video gaming business.
Assistant U.S. Attorney T. Markus Funk told U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman today that the government may add several defendants to the two already charged in the February 2003 bombing.
The blast ripped apart the offices of C & S Coin Operated Amusements in the Chicago suburb of Berwyn.
Prosecutors say the mob has long had a monopoly on the $13 million a year video gaming business in Chicago's western suburbs. And authorities say it bombed the C & S offices to let the company know that it wouldn't be allowed to horn in on the illegal profits.
Assistant U.S. Attorney T. Markus Funk told U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman today that the government may add several defendants to the two already charged in the February 2003 bombing.
The blast ripped apart the offices of C & S Coin Operated Amusements in the Chicago suburb of Berwyn.
Prosecutors say the mob has long had a monopoly on the $13 million a year video gaming business in Chicago's western suburbs. And authorities say it bombed the C & S offices to let the company know that it wouldn't be allowed to horn in on the illegal profits.
Monday, November 24, 2008
8 Members of the Lucchese Crime Family Arrested on Illegal Gambling and Narcotics Charges
FBI agents arrested eight members of New York's Luchese organized crime family Monday on illegal gambling and narcotics charges, the federal prosecutor said.
An acting "capo" in the Luchese family and seven others were nabbed, US Attorney Michael Garcia said.
Anthony Croce, the man described as the capo, faces a maximum sentence of five years prison if convicted on the gambling charges.
Three others face heavier sentences of between five and 40 years if convicted on cocaine distribution charges, the prosecutor said.
New York's five mafia crime families -- the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Luchese -- have taken big hits in the last decade as veteran leaders died and turncoats helped the authorities make strings of arrests.
This August, New York police arrested the alleged former capo of the Gambinos, John "Junior" Gotti. He is due to be tried in Florida on racketeering charges.
An acting "capo" in the Luchese family and seven others were nabbed, US Attorney Michael Garcia said.
Anthony Croce, the man described as the capo, faces a maximum sentence of five years prison if convicted on the gambling charges.
Three others face heavier sentences of between five and 40 years if convicted on cocaine distribution charges, the prosecutor said.
New York's five mafia crime families -- the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Luchese -- have taken big hits in the last decade as veteran leaders died and turncoats helped the authorities make strings of arrests.
This August, New York police arrested the alleged former capo of the Gambinos, John "Junior" Gotti. He is due to be tried in Florida on racketeering charges.
"Made" Mob Members Dwindle in Ranks
The ranks of the traditional "La Cosa Nostra" have been dwindling here in Rhode Island over the years. So much so, the face of the modern mob bust, like we saw last week, is a diverse cross-section of society.
The "Operation Mobbed Up" sweep netted two dozen people and crushed an alleged criminal syndicate run out of the Valley Street Flea Market. Among those arrested were several with ties to the Patriarca Crime Family.
In organized crime's heyday in Rhode Island, when Raymond L.S. Patriarca ran the show, investigators kept tabs on at least 22 "made" members of the New England crime family.
Rhode Island State Police Col. Brendan Doherty, a veteran mob investigator, tells Target 12 that right now, "There are about eight or nine people we allege are inducted members." Of those, some are what he calls "retired."
In fact, in the "Mobbed Up" bust from November 17, not a single defendant is a member of the Patriarca crime family. State Police say several -- including infamous mob muscleman, Gerald Tillinghast, and aging, wheelchair-bound Nicholas "Nicky" Pari -- are mob associates.
"The fact that a large group of associates was arrested and a made member was not arrested is not a reflection on the New England LCN," says Jeffrey Sallet, a supervisory special agent with the FBI's Organized Crime Unit in New England. He told Target 12 the LCN -- La Cosa Nostra, "our thing" -- has not "made" a lot of people, and many are mere associates.
The boss of a crime family approves letting in new members. Law enforcement sources tell Target 12 the head of the New England crime family is 80-year-old Luigi "Babyshanks" Manocchio. Sources say Manocchio keeps his inner circle small. Those men who've been identified by law enforcement sources as capo regime under Manocchio include:
* Robert "Bobby" Deluca, whom sources say is keeping a low profile after serving ten years on gambling charges. His parole is set to expire in 2009.
* Edward Lato, who recently escaped gambling charges after a State Police sting in 2006. Lato was released from federal prison earlier this year after a probation violation.
* Joseph Achille, who two years ago served a year at the ACI on a conspiracy charge.
Two longtime reputed mobsters are currently in prison: Capo regime Matthew "Matty" Gugliemetti -- serving time at Ft. Dix for drug violations -- and the infamous 67-year-old mobster, Anthony "The Saint" St. Laurent. He is serving five years for an attempted shakedown of two men over gambling debts.
So far the inner circle has come up clean in this latest round of organized crime-related busts. Col. Doherty says it may just be a new face to old crimes: "It's not quite as organized anymore. We have a lot of renegade factions out there."
Sallet tells Target 12 New England has the distinction of having the only crime family in the country with an active boss still on the street and not behind bars.
Thanks to Target 12
The "Operation Mobbed Up" sweep netted two dozen people and crushed an alleged criminal syndicate run out of the Valley Street Flea Market. Among those arrested were several with ties to the Patriarca Crime Family.
In organized crime's heyday in Rhode Island, when Raymond L.S. Patriarca ran the show, investigators kept tabs on at least 22 "made" members of the New England crime family.
Rhode Island State Police Col. Brendan Doherty, a veteran mob investigator, tells Target 12 that right now, "There are about eight or nine people we allege are inducted members." Of those, some are what he calls "retired."
In fact, in the "Mobbed Up" bust from November 17, not a single defendant is a member of the Patriarca crime family. State Police say several -- including infamous mob muscleman, Gerald Tillinghast, and aging, wheelchair-bound Nicholas "Nicky" Pari -- are mob associates.
"The fact that a large group of associates was arrested and a made member was not arrested is not a reflection on the New England LCN," says Jeffrey Sallet, a supervisory special agent with the FBI's Organized Crime Unit in New England. He told Target 12 the LCN -- La Cosa Nostra, "our thing" -- has not "made" a lot of people, and many are mere associates.
The boss of a crime family approves letting in new members. Law enforcement sources tell Target 12 the head of the New England crime family is 80-year-old Luigi "Babyshanks" Manocchio. Sources say Manocchio keeps his inner circle small. Those men who've been identified by law enforcement sources as capo regime under Manocchio include:
* Robert "Bobby" Deluca, whom sources say is keeping a low profile after serving ten years on gambling charges. His parole is set to expire in 2009.
* Edward Lato, who recently escaped gambling charges after a State Police sting in 2006. Lato was released from federal prison earlier this year after a probation violation.
* Joseph Achille, who two years ago served a year at the ACI on a conspiracy charge.
Two longtime reputed mobsters are currently in prison: Capo regime Matthew "Matty" Gugliemetti -- serving time at Ft. Dix for drug violations -- and the infamous 67-year-old mobster, Anthony "The Saint" St. Laurent. He is serving five years for an attempted shakedown of two men over gambling debts.
So far the inner circle has come up clean in this latest round of organized crime-related busts. Col. Doherty says it may just be a new face to old crimes: "It's not quite as organized anymore. We have a lot of renegade factions out there."
Sallet tells Target 12 New England has the distinction of having the only crime family in the country with an active boss still on the street and not behind bars.
Thanks to Target 12
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Holiday Savings from On the Spot Journal for U.S. Subscribers
Subscribe, renew, or extend your subscription to OTSJ between now and January 3, 2009 at our special 20% Holiday Discount. Or purchase a gift subscription for only $37.50 (a 25% savings). Owing to our extensive printing and mailing costs these discounts are only being offered within the continental U.S.
IT'S AN ABSOLUTE STEAL AT THIS PRICE AND ESSENTIAL READING FOR ANYONE WITH A SERIOUS INTEREST IN HISTORICAL CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT. AND IF YOU'RE ON THIS MAILING LIST YOU'RE SOMEONE THAT'S ALREADY BEEN "MADE" AS HAVING SUCH AN INTEREST. AND YOU'VE LIKELY GOT COLLEAGUES YOU COULD PASS THIS OFFER ON TO WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED.
COMING SOON IN ON THE SPOT JOURNAL:
Eastern State Penitentiary: A Bastion of Solitude
by Gregory A. Peduto
The Capture of Waxey Gordon
by John Conway
Roy Gardner: Last of the Old West Badmen
by Robert E. Bates
The Last Days of the Brady Gang
by Richard Shaw
Whiskey Women, Moonshining Mamas, and Bootlegging Babes
by Kate Clabough
Plus Officer Memorials, News & Events, Book Reviews, etc.
And much more, including our FBI Centennial issue!
At long last: A true-crime journal by a writer and long-time researcher with a phenomenal memory who locates and evaluates original sources instead of repeating the mistakes perpetuated in books that are based on earlier books. His contributors are scrutinized for accuracy, and into his clutches have been falling more and more descendants of prominent outlaws and gangsters, all pleased by his nonjudgmental accounts of their family's black sheep who are as much a part of history as...well, let's say J. Edgar Hoover, whose G-men brought them down.
-- William J. Helmer, author or coauthor of The Gun That Made the Twenties Roar, Dillinger: The Untold Story, Public Enemies, Baby Face Nelson, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and The Complete Public Enemy Almanac.
On the Spot Journal is a fascinating, informative true crime periodical for anyone who is intrigued by the "Public Enemy Era", when roving gangs of bank robbers and bootleggers criss-crossed America's landscape. The Journal's articles cover a vast range of topics, from the adventures of John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd to the early years of the Mafia. With its copious illustrations, Rick and Linda Mattix have done a wonderful job of creating an accessible yet detailed contribution to criminal history. As the underworld flip side of The Bonfire of the Vanities, On The Spot is a crucial resource for all those who are interested in the not-too-long ago era of bathtub gin, flappers, Tommyguns, and irresistible lawlessness.
-- Daniel Waugh, author of Egan's Rats: The Untold Story of the Prohibition-Era Gang that ruled St. Louis
On the Spot Journal is both an educational and fun resource on the early days of crime and crime prevention. The only one like it of its kind. The only thing more fun than contributing to it is reading it.
-- Patrick Downey, author of Gangster City: History of the New York Underworld 1900-1935 and Bad Seeds in the Big Apple: Bandits, Killers & Chaos in New York City 1920-1940
On the Spot certainly is. The articles are almost as good as being there when the incidents described took place. The magazine is a veritable history of crime in the United States with emphasis on organized crime and the John Dillinger era. I would recommend that every true crime fan subscribe at once. The articles are great, authentic and in luscious detail. The photos are a great addition to the text.
-- Arthur J. Bilek
Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice, Loyola University and author of The First Vice Lord: Big Jim Colosimo and the Ladies of the Levee
SUBSCRIBE NOW -- DON'T MISS A SINGLE ACTION-PACKED ISSUE OF THE ONLY MAGAZINE IN AMERICA DEVOTED TO CRIME AND CRIME CONTROL IN THE CLASSIC GANGSTER ERA!
IT'S AN ABSOLUTE STEAL AT THIS PRICE AND ESSENTIAL READING FOR ANYONE WITH A SERIOUS INTEREST IN HISTORICAL CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT. AND IF YOU'RE ON THIS MAILING LIST YOU'RE SOMEONE THAT'S ALREADY BEEN "MADE" AS HAVING SUCH AN INTEREST. AND YOU'VE LIKELY GOT COLLEAGUES YOU COULD PASS THIS OFFER ON TO WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED.COMING SOON IN ON THE SPOT JOURNAL:
Eastern State Penitentiary: A Bastion of Solitude
by Gregory A. Peduto
The Capture of Waxey Gordon
by John Conway
Roy Gardner: Last of the Old West Badmen
by Robert E. Bates
The Last Days of the Brady Gang
by Richard Shaw
Whiskey Women, Moonshining Mamas, and Bootlegging Babes
by Kate Clabough
Plus Officer Memorials, News & Events, Book Reviews, etc.
And much more, including our FBI Centennial issue!
At long last: A true-crime journal by a writer and long-time researcher with a phenomenal memory who locates and evaluates original sources instead of repeating the mistakes perpetuated in books that are based on earlier books. His contributors are scrutinized for accuracy, and into his clutches have been falling more and more descendants of prominent outlaws and gangsters, all pleased by his nonjudgmental accounts of their family's black sheep who are as much a part of history as...well, let's say J. Edgar Hoover, whose G-men brought them down.
-- William J. Helmer, author or coauthor of The Gun That Made the Twenties Roar, Dillinger: The Untold Story, Public Enemies, Baby Face Nelson, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and The Complete Public Enemy Almanac.
On the Spot Journal is a fascinating, informative true crime periodical for anyone who is intrigued by the "Public Enemy Era", when roving gangs of bank robbers and bootleggers criss-crossed America's landscape. The Journal's articles cover a vast range of topics, from the adventures of John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd to the early years of the Mafia. With its copious illustrations, Rick and Linda Mattix have done a wonderful job of creating an accessible yet detailed contribution to criminal history. As the underworld flip side of The Bonfire of the Vanities, On The Spot is a crucial resource for all those who are interested in the not-too-long ago era of bathtub gin, flappers, Tommyguns, and irresistible lawlessness.
-- Daniel Waugh, author of Egan's Rats: The Untold Story of the Prohibition-Era Gang that ruled St. Louis
On the Spot Journal is both an educational and fun resource on the early days of crime and crime prevention. The only one like it of its kind. The only thing more fun than contributing to it is reading it.
-- Patrick Downey, author of Gangster City: History of the New York Underworld 1900-1935 and Bad Seeds in the Big Apple: Bandits, Killers & Chaos in New York City 1920-1940
On the Spot certainly is. The articles are almost as good as being there when the incidents described took place. The magazine is a veritable history of crime in the United States with emphasis on organized crime and the John Dillinger era. I would recommend that every true crime fan subscribe at once. The articles are great, authentic and in luscious detail. The photos are a great addition to the text.
-- Arthur J. Bilek
Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice, Loyola University and author of The First Vice Lord: Big Jim Colosimo and the Ladies of the Levee
SUBSCRIBE NOW -- DON'T MISS A SINGLE ACTION-PACKED ISSUE OF THE ONLY MAGAZINE IN AMERICA DEVOTED TO CRIME AND CRIME CONTROL IN THE CLASSIC GANGSTER ERA!
Recession Leads to Boom Time for Mob Loan Sharks
The worldwide economic downturn has opened the door for loan sharks to burrow ever deeper into Italy's vulnerable economy by preying on businesses that need quick cash and credit, according to a new report by a respected trade group.
Confesercenti, a business association that has tracked Mafia income for the past 15 years, found that the credit crunch has a particularly sinister side in a country of 58 million people that struggles with four large Mafia gangs -- the Cosa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta, Camorra and Sacra Corona Unita -- and other criminal enterprises.
In the past year, 180,000 firms in an economy dominated by small businesses apparently have succumbed to loan sharks, in part because they no longer can qualify for bank loans, according to a report released last week in Milan. "Shop owners are really falling into the trap," said Marco Venturi, head of the association that produced "Crime's Hold on Business."
"This is dangerous. Once you get into loan sharking, you can never really free yourself," Venturi said. "The rates are always increasing. It is debt adding upon debt."
Rome is the nation's biggest loan shark market, Venturi said, and cooperation with criminality is part of the unfortunate times. Italy—like the other 14 European countries that use the euro — has officially fallen into recession, and criminal gangs are poised to take full advantage.
Criminal groups account for about 6 percent of Italy's gross domestic product. The loan-shark business generates an estimated $60 million a year for all criminal enterprises. Major Mafia gangs reap about $15 million from the high-risk credit deals—but they also are "actively" trying to expand that role by seeking more borrowers, Venturi added.
Venturi said researchers found that some strapped-for-cash business owners promise to pay out as much as 500 percent interest to secure a loan. The minimum interest demanded by organized crime is about 30 percent, he said.
One of the most common Mafia demands on small businesses is for protection money—known as pizzo—which pulls in about $8 billion annually, the report said. But increasingly, organized crime is trying to squeeze financial cuts from tourism, the health-care industry, meat and food producers and any kind of business-related service, including a mobile phone provider.
The economic downturn is a loan shark's dream, Venturi said. Small-business owners see their livelihoods at great risk because of the financial crisis and are willing to do anything to avoid losing the family business, he said.
"The reality is Italy depends on its small businesses for vitality," Venturi said. "Now they are falling into the grip of criminals."
Thanks to Christine Spolar
Confesercenti, a business association that has tracked Mafia income for the past 15 years, found that the credit crunch has a particularly sinister side in a country of 58 million people that struggles with four large Mafia gangs -- the Cosa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta, Camorra and Sacra Corona Unita -- and other criminal enterprises.
In the past year, 180,000 firms in an economy dominated by small businesses apparently have succumbed to loan sharks, in part because they no longer can qualify for bank loans, according to a report released last week in Milan. "Shop owners are really falling into the trap," said Marco Venturi, head of the association that produced "Crime's Hold on Business."
"This is dangerous. Once you get into loan sharking, you can never really free yourself," Venturi said. "The rates are always increasing. It is debt adding upon debt."
Rome is the nation's biggest loan shark market, Venturi said, and cooperation with criminality is part of the unfortunate times. Italy—like the other 14 European countries that use the euro — has officially fallen into recession, and criminal gangs are poised to take full advantage.
Criminal groups account for about 6 percent of Italy's gross domestic product. The loan-shark business generates an estimated $60 million a year for all criminal enterprises. Major Mafia gangs reap about $15 million from the high-risk credit deals—but they also are "actively" trying to expand that role by seeking more borrowers, Venturi added.
Venturi said researchers found that some strapped-for-cash business owners promise to pay out as much as 500 percent interest to secure a loan. The minimum interest demanded by organized crime is about 30 percent, he said.
One of the most common Mafia demands on small businesses is for protection money—known as pizzo—which pulls in about $8 billion annually, the report said. But increasingly, organized crime is trying to squeeze financial cuts from tourism, the health-care industry, meat and food producers and any kind of business-related service, including a mobile phone provider.
The economic downturn is a loan shark's dream, Venturi said. Small-business owners see their livelihoods at great risk because of the financial crisis and are willing to do anything to avoid losing the family business, he said.
"The reality is Italy depends on its small businesses for vitality," Venturi said. "Now they are falling into the grip of criminals."
Thanks to Christine Spolar
Chicago Police Hold Summit with their Organized Crime Division
There are at least 80 gangs dealing drugs on the city's streets, protecting their business and territory with guns.
On Saturday, Chicago Police gang and tactical officers from across the city will meet to learn about the best ways to anticipate what these criminal organizations -- with an estimated 75,000 members -- are doing and how to dismantle their operations.
The summit follows Police Supt. Jody Weis' creation of a position for a new gang commander to lead department efforts to fine-tune intelligence-gathering. Officials said the summit, the first under Weis, will focus on practical matters such as getting search warrants, building cases against gangs that will stick in court and using confidential informants.
The conference was planned by the Organized Crime Division to share what officers working in the specialized gang investigations section know about tracking gang members.
"My gang investigators are different than the patrol officers working gangs on the street," said Cmdr. Leo Schmitz, who organized the conference. "People will walk out of this and say, 'I didn't know we could do that.' "
They'll also learn about state and federal resources and other tools to "look for the bad guy in different ways," Schmitz said.
Cook County judges and prosecutors will be on hand to advise the officers, who also will have time to talk to each other about trends in their districts.
Deputy Supt. Steve Peterson, who heads up Investigative Services, said the department also is examining how intelligence about gang crime is shared to find more efficient ways to get the information to the right people. Officials also hope the information gathered in the field will be more specific and will be shared more quickly.
"We're using it to anticipate where the problems may lie and eradicate problems before they happen,'' Peterson said. "The only way to do that is to get intelligence, as the foundation, and police it as a result."
Chicago Police began gathering real-time information on crime under Supt. Phil Cline, who opened the Deployment Operations Center to decide where to assign cops.
Peterson said the process is evolving to be more field-driven and decentralized.
Thanks to Annie Sweeney
On Saturday, Chicago Police gang and tactical officers from across the city will meet to learn about the best ways to anticipate what these criminal organizations -- with an estimated 75,000 members -- are doing and how to dismantle their operations.
The summit follows Police Supt. Jody Weis' creation of a position for a new gang commander to lead department efforts to fine-tune intelligence-gathering. Officials said the summit, the first under Weis, will focus on practical matters such as getting search warrants, building cases against gangs that will stick in court and using confidential informants.
The conference was planned by the Organized Crime Division to share what officers working in the specialized gang investigations section know about tracking gang members.
"My gang investigators are different than the patrol officers working gangs on the street," said Cmdr. Leo Schmitz, who organized the conference. "People will walk out of this and say, 'I didn't know we could do that.' "
They'll also learn about state and federal resources and other tools to "look for the bad guy in different ways," Schmitz said.
Cook County judges and prosecutors will be on hand to advise the officers, who also will have time to talk to each other about trends in their districts.
Deputy Supt. Steve Peterson, who heads up Investigative Services, said the department also is examining how intelligence about gang crime is shared to find more efficient ways to get the information to the right people. Officials also hope the information gathered in the field will be more specific and will be shared more quickly.
"We're using it to anticipate where the problems may lie and eradicate problems before they happen,'' Peterson said. "The only way to do that is to get intelligence, as the foundation, and police it as a result."
Chicago Police began gathering real-time information on crime under Supt. Phil Cline, who opened the Deployment Operations Center to decide where to assign cops.
Peterson said the process is evolving to be more field-driven and decentralized.
Thanks to Annie Sweeney
On the Anniversary of JFK's Assassination, Questions Remain for Some Regarding the Mob's Role, If Any
Will we ever know for sure?
Saturday, marks the 45th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Gunshots rang out at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, echoing around the world. Those shots still echo today for those who refuse to believe that one man – Lee Harvey Oswald – acted alone.
I tend to be among that group.
In the years since that day, a number of theories have been put forth that offer possible scenarios and perpetrators – from Fidel Castro, to Russians, to Mafia, to CIA operatives, to the military-industrial complex President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned about – even the possibility that Lyndon B. Johnson stood to gain from Kennedy’s death.
From the earliest days following the Warren Commission Report, conspiracy theorists have picked it apart, finding flaws and omissions. According to some, the men who sat on that board of inquiry went in with the belief that Oswald was the lone assassin and set about to prove it, excluding any evidence to the contrary as irrelevant.
Saturday, marks the 45th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Gunshots rang out at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, echoing around the world. Those shots still echo today for those who refuse to believe that one man – Lee Harvey Oswald – acted alone.
I tend to be among that group.
In the years since that day, a number of theories have been put forth that offer possible scenarios and perpetrators – from Fidel Castro, to Russians, to Mafia, to CIA operatives, to the military-industrial complex President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned about – even the possibility that Lyndon B. Johnson stood to gain from Kennedy’s death.
From the earliest days following the Warren Commission Report, conspiracy theorists have picked it apart, finding flaws and omissions. According to some, the men who sat on that board of inquiry went in with the belief that Oswald was the lone assassin and set about to prove it, excluding any evidence to the contrary as irrelevant.Anyone who investigates the Mafia or knows its inner workings understands the mind set of those involved in its illicit activities. For those who enter into agreements with that organization, betrayal means death. Reneging on a deal or failing to meet one’s obligations means suffering the wrath of an organization betrayed. Did Kennedy betray the Mafia?
It has been reported that Chicago mob boss Salvatore Giancana was instrumental in delivering Chicago to the Democrats in the 1960 election, which gave Kennedy the Illinois electoral votes and the presidency. But that wasn’t their only association, according to reports. If those reports can be believed, which records have been researched and confirmed by more than one source, Kennedy and Giancana shared a girlfriend, a young starlet in Hollywood. And, it has been well documented that the Mafia had a working relationship with the U.S. government, first during World War II at the New York docks to make sure ships were loaded without delay and later with the CIA.
Perhaps the thorniest problem for the Mafia was Robert Kennedy who, as United States Attorney General, went after organized crime with a vengeance.
So it begs the question – if the Mafia helped elect John Kennedy, did Robert Kennedy’s pursuit of the Mafia violate the mob’s rules of “fair play” necessitating the death of the president? And in so doing, did the Mafia have access to government assistance – not necessarily to assassinate Kennedy, but identification and access from operations gone by?
Perhaps the most well-known pursuit of truth was that of Jim Garrison, the new Orleans district attorney who worked to tie in so many of the unanswered questions surrounding Kennedy’s death. But he, too, failed to convince the America public when a jury returned a not-guilty verdict against those whom he believed to have had knowledge, motive and intent.
So many questions, so few answers. Those who might have known are long gone – even witnesses who saw things they perhaps should not have seen have died mysteriously and suddenly.
As time slips away, fewer and fewer people will care about the death of a president. Those who were there that day. Those who watched the events unfold will pass away, leaving only the pages of history to record the events of Nov. 22, 1963. Will anyone pick up the gauntlet and carry it forward, seeking the truth beyond a shadow of doubt?
Thanks to Mark Engebretson
It has been reported that Chicago mob boss Salvatore Giancana was instrumental in delivering Chicago to the Democrats in the 1960 election, which gave Kennedy the Illinois electoral votes and the presidency. But that wasn’t their only association, according to reports. If those reports can be believed, which records have been researched and confirmed by more than one source, Kennedy and Giancana shared a girlfriend, a young starlet in Hollywood. And, it has been well documented that the Mafia had a working relationship with the U.S. government, first during World War II at the New York docks to make sure ships were loaded without delay and later with the CIA.
Perhaps the thorniest problem for the Mafia was Robert Kennedy who, as United States Attorney General, went after organized crime with a vengeance.
So it begs the question – if the Mafia helped elect John Kennedy, did Robert Kennedy’s pursuit of the Mafia violate the mob’s rules of “fair play” necessitating the death of the president? And in so doing, did the Mafia have access to government assistance – not necessarily to assassinate Kennedy, but identification and access from operations gone by?
Perhaps the most well-known pursuit of truth was that of Jim Garrison, the new Orleans district attorney who worked to tie in so many of the unanswered questions surrounding Kennedy’s death. But he, too, failed to convince the America public when a jury returned a not-guilty verdict against those whom he believed to have had knowledge, motive and intent.
So many questions, so few answers. Those who might have known are long gone – even witnesses who saw things they perhaps should not have seen have died mysteriously and suddenly.
As time slips away, fewer and fewer people will care about the death of a president. Those who were there that day. Those who watched the events unfold will pass away, leaving only the pages of history to record the events of Nov. 22, 1963. Will anyone pick up the gauntlet and carry it forward, seeking the truth beyond a shadow of doubt?
Thanks to Mark Engebretson
Junior Says Tampa Trial is Not Fair
John A. "Junior" Gotti thinks it's just not fair for prosecutors to insist that his mob racketeering trial take place in Tampa.
Charles Carnesi, 1 of Gotti's attorneys, told a judge Thursday that having the trial in Tampa would put a "crushing burden" on the Mafia scion and his family financially, plus make if difficult to get defense witnesses here to testify.
Gotti - the son of former Gambino family crime boss John Gotti - wants the trial moved to New York.
Prosecutor Jay Trezevant argued that the indictment grew out of an investigation of the criminal activity of Gotti and members of his crew in Tampa, so it's proper to have the trial here.
Charles Carnesi, 1 of Gotti's attorneys, told a judge Thursday that having the trial in Tampa would put a "crushing burden" on the Mafia scion and his family financially, plus make if difficult to get defense witnesses here to testify.
Gotti - the son of former Gambino family crime boss John Gotti - wants the trial moved to New York.
Prosecutor Jay Trezevant argued that the indictment grew out of an investigation of the criminal activity of Gotti and members of his crew in Tampa, so it's proper to have the trial here.
Mobster Offers Only Pennies Per Hour in Restitution to Families of Victims
Prosecutors want James "Little Jimmy" Marcello to pay millions in restitution for the victims' lost lifetime earnings.
There were fourteen of them, killed in cold blood by the Chicago Mob. Federal prosecutors want James "Little Jimmy" Marcello to pay millions of dollars in restitution for the victims' lost lifetime earnings.
Lawyers for Mr. Marcello contend that he should only be responsible for paying funeral expenses of victims, under case law, and that he really shouldn't pay anything. And in a unique argument against the payment of any restitution, Marcello attorney Marc Martin states that certain mob murder victims would have been eventually been put in prison with measly income potential.
"The government's expert speculates as to the earnings potential and life expectancy of certain murder victims," wrote Mr. Martin in a motion filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court. "The expert failed to take into account the victims' actual circumstances, i.e., their specific actual damages. For example, the evidence showed that Nicholas D'Andrea and Michael Spilotro were criminals. If they had been convicted and sentenced (Michael Spilotro was awaiting a federal criminal trial at the time of his death), their prison earning capacity would have been pennies an hour."
Marcello's lawyer also challenges whether convicted mob bosses should be on the hook for restitution for "victims for whom the jury did not reach a verdict during the special verdict phase (Henry Cosentino, Paul Haggerty, John Mendell, Vincent Moretti, Donald Renno, Nicholas D'Andrea and Emil Vaci). Restitution cannot be awarded for such persons. A conviction is a condition precedent for a restitution judgment," states Martin. "There is no authority for awarding restitution in instances where the jury fails to reach a verdict."
As a result, Martin says "Defendant James Marcello respectfully moves this Honorable Court to deny the government's request for restitution and/or order any lawful and equitable relief."
Marcello is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17 by Judge James Zagel. Co-defendant's in the Operation: Family Secrets case will also be sentenced before Christmas. All are facing the prospects of lengthy stays in the penitentiary for their roles in a lucrative, decades-long Outfit enterprise.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie and Ann Pistone
There were fourteen of them, killed in cold blood by the Chicago Mob. Federal prosecutors want James "Little Jimmy" Marcello to pay millions of dollars in restitution for the victims' lost lifetime earnings.
Lawyers for Mr. Marcello contend that he should only be responsible for paying funeral expenses of victims, under case law, and that he really shouldn't pay anything. And in a unique argument against the payment of any restitution, Marcello attorney Marc Martin states that certain mob murder victims would have been eventually been put in prison with measly income potential.
"The government's expert speculates as to the earnings potential and life expectancy of certain murder victims," wrote Mr. Martin in a motion filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court. "The expert failed to take into account the victims' actual circumstances, i.e., their specific actual damages. For example, the evidence showed that Nicholas D'Andrea and Michael Spilotro were criminals. If they had been convicted and sentenced (Michael Spilotro was awaiting a federal criminal trial at the time of his death), their prison earning capacity would have been pennies an hour."
Marcello's lawyer also challenges whether convicted mob bosses should be on the hook for restitution for "victims for whom the jury did not reach a verdict during the special verdict phase (Henry Cosentino, Paul Haggerty, John Mendell, Vincent Moretti, Donald Renno, Nicholas D'Andrea and Emil Vaci). Restitution cannot be awarded for such persons. A conviction is a condition precedent for a restitution judgment," states Martin. "There is no authority for awarding restitution in instances where the jury fails to reach a verdict."
As a result, Martin says "Defendant James Marcello respectfully moves this Honorable Court to deny the government's request for restitution and/or order any lawful and equitable relief."
Marcello is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17 by Judge James Zagel. Co-defendant's in the Operation: Family Secrets case will also be sentenced before Christmas. All are facing the prospects of lengthy stays in the penitentiary for their roles in a lucrative, decades-long Outfit enterprise.
Thanks to Chuck Goudie and Ann Pistone
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Nicky Scarfo to be Profiled by Biography Channel
FORMER Philadelphia mob boss Nicky Scarfo will be the subject of an hour-long Biography Channel special next month.
"We tried to paint the picture of not only the mobster, but who he was as a person," says Samantha Nisenboim, associate producer for Chicago's Towers Productions, which is behind the special. "That was difficult because he kept his personal life so private."
"Little Nicky," who's now 79, is a guest of the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta and did not participate in the special, which airs at 9 p.m. on Dec. 19. "We reached out to Nicky Scarfo, but the federal penitentiary intervened and wouldn't let him know," Nisenboim said last night.
Retired Philadelphia police captain Frank Friel, retired FBI agents Michael Leyden and James Darcy, and retired federal prosecutor Lou Pichini are among those who were interviewed for the special. An unidentified mob associate is also interviewed as were South Philadelphia author/historian Celeste Morello, who wrote the "Before Bruno" series about the Philly mob, and Inquirer reporter George Anastasia, who has written several books about Scarfo and the mob.
"We tried to paint the picture of not only the mobster, but who he was as a person," says Samantha Nisenboim, associate producer for Chicago's Towers Productions, which is behind the special. "That was difficult because he kept his personal life so private."
"Little Nicky," who's now 79, is a guest of the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta and did not participate in the special, which airs at 9 p.m. on Dec. 19. "We reached out to Nicky Scarfo, but the federal penitentiary intervened and wouldn't let him know," Nisenboim said last night.
Retired Philadelphia police captain Frank Friel, retired FBI agents Michael Leyden and James Darcy, and retired federal prosecutor Lou Pichini are among those who were interviewed for the special. An unidentified mob associate is also interviewed as were South Philadelphia author/historian Celeste Morello, who wrote the "Before Bruno" series about the Philly mob, and Inquirer reporter George Anastasia, who has written several books about Scarfo and the mob.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Gmorrah Movie Review
A look at the sprawling and incredibly powerful Camorra crime family in Italy shows mostly the lurid details of conventional crime. The value of the film lies in exposing crime that is not business as usual
Based on Roberto Saviano's best selling book (sold a million+ copies in Italy) Matteo Garrone’s latest film centers on the underworld of Naples, Italy. Known as the Camorra crime family this empire of criminals is responsible for some 3,600 dead that the public knows of and probably more that are as yet undiscovered. There seems to be little the family is which the family is not involved and they always seem to find a way to make more money by doing things worse. Drugs, loan sharking and burying hazardous waste in farmland seem to be a few of areas in which they excel.
Italy's Official Submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009), the film is a fictional narrative of the leaders of organized crime, its underlings and its unwilling or unknowing participants in the general community. Although there are a few people who don’t cooperate, they appear to have a short life-span in the tough streets of Naples.
The film centers on five stories that illustrate the dynamics of organized crime. To the film’s credit, it is neither a “Godfather” story nor a “James Bond” story. One of the most surprising facts about the employees of organized crime is they are fairly normal people. They have no more greed or wish to hurt others than a professional politician or stock market broker. By and large they see their opportunities and they take them as capitalism allows. For example, Don Ciro is a Camorra employee who delivers payments to families whose relatives are in prison. He is the postman for the crime family’s welfare system. But when his organization declares war, his life is threatened along with all the others. It’s kill or be killed.
Most of the screen time goes to Marco and Ciro, nutty teenagers who take on the hobby of stealing from the crime family and arming themselves with machine guns. One of the moral failures of organized crime is its spread to young persons who simply don’t know better. They grow up with it like other kids grow up with baseball. By the time they can make a choice, it’s too late. Another story centers on Toto, a 13 year old with more brains than Marco and Ciro put together. The choices he makes to be a wise guy will scar him forever. The Camorra family ensures that he will be traumatized for the rest of his life.
The other two stories are the most interesting as they depict aspects of organized crime that are not as stereotypical and romanticized as, say, assassination and bank robbery. The first is illegal hazardous waste dumping and the second is copyright infringement. The truth is that “white collar” organized crime is far more destructive, and profitable, than conventional beating and killing.
For example, Roberto is a college graduate who goes to work for Franco in the waste disposal business. Hazardous waste is expensive to dispose of and Franco is good at finding ways to cut costs in getting rid of toxic heavy metal stews that turn normal people into brain damaged cripples and deform those yet unborn. Sometimes the materials are dumped into abandoned quarries that might take years to uncover. In other cases they are buried in land that will eventually be used to grow crops. The results are tragic.
Finally, Pasqaule is a successful tailor and creator of high fashion garments who is approached by a Chinese manufacturer of imitation high fashion. He is paid handsomely to teach offshore operations his trade secrets, the secrets his company uses to produce original styles. Is this even a violation of the law? Where does one draw the line between the methods of a craft and the protected ideas of an inventor?
If this film does nothing more than to refresh the memories of the general populace of the world about the creeping nature of organized crime it will be worth the price of its production and worth seeing. But the more we look into the faces of the crime families of the world, the more we see ourselves.
Thanks to Ron Wilkinson
Based on Roberto Saviano's best selling book (sold a million+ copies in Italy) Matteo Garrone’s latest film centers on the underworld of Naples, Italy. Known as the Camorra crime family this empire of criminals is responsible for some 3,600 dead that the public knows of and probably more that are as yet undiscovered. There seems to be little the family is which the family is not involved and they always seem to find a way to make more money by doing things worse. Drugs, loan sharking and burying hazardous waste in farmland seem to be a few of areas in which they excel.
Italy's Official Submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009), the film is a fictional narrative of the leaders of organized crime, its underlings and its unwilling or unknowing participants in the general community. Although there are a few people who don’t cooperate, they appear to have a short life-span in the tough streets of Naples.
The film centers on five stories that illustrate the dynamics of organized crime. To the film’s credit, it is neither a “Godfather” story nor a “James Bond” story. One of the most surprising facts about the employees of organized crime is they are fairly normal people. They have no more greed or wish to hurt others than a professional politician or stock market broker. By and large they see their opportunities and they take them as capitalism allows. For example, Don Ciro is a Camorra employee who delivers payments to families whose relatives are in prison. He is the postman for the crime family’s welfare system. But when his organization declares war, his life is threatened along with all the others. It’s kill or be killed.
Most of the screen time goes to Marco and Ciro, nutty teenagers who take on the hobby of stealing from the crime family and arming themselves with machine guns. One of the moral failures of organized crime is its spread to young persons who simply don’t know better. They grow up with it like other kids grow up with baseball. By the time they can make a choice, it’s too late. Another story centers on Toto, a 13 year old with more brains than Marco and Ciro put together. The choices he makes to be a wise guy will scar him forever. The Camorra family ensures that he will be traumatized for the rest of his life.
The other two stories are the most interesting as they depict aspects of organized crime that are not as stereotypical and romanticized as, say, assassination and bank robbery. The first is illegal hazardous waste dumping and the second is copyright infringement. The truth is that “white collar” organized crime is far more destructive, and profitable, than conventional beating and killing.
For example, Roberto is a college graduate who goes to work for Franco in the waste disposal business. Hazardous waste is expensive to dispose of and Franco is good at finding ways to cut costs in getting rid of toxic heavy metal stews that turn normal people into brain damaged cripples and deform those yet unborn. Sometimes the materials are dumped into abandoned quarries that might take years to uncover. In other cases they are buried in land that will eventually be used to grow crops. The results are tragic.
Finally, Pasqaule is a successful tailor and creator of high fashion garments who is approached by a Chinese manufacturer of imitation high fashion. He is paid handsomely to teach offshore operations his trade secrets, the secrets his company uses to produce original styles. Is this even a violation of the law? Where does one draw the line between the methods of a craft and the protected ideas of an inventor?
If this film does nothing more than to refresh the memories of the general populace of the world about the creeping nature of organized crime it will be worth the price of its production and worth seeing. But the more we look into the faces of the crime families of the world, the more we see ourselves.
Thanks to Ron Wilkinson
Chicago Crime Commission Names Top Crime-Fighting Award for Mitch Mars - #1 Enemy to the Mob
Mitchell Mars wasn't a household name, but he was public enemy No. 1 to the mob.
The typically soft-spoken and unassuming man, who as a federal prosecutor made battling Chicago's organized crime figures his life's work, transformed into a firebrand in front of a jury.
"Criminal cases are about accountability and justice, not only for the defendants, but also justice for our system, justice for our society and justice for the victims," Mars said last year during the successful Family Secrets mob trial. "Our system works. It is the greatest system in the world. But it only works when those who should be held accountable are held accountable."
The assistant U.S. attorney died of cancer just five months later. He was 55.
The Chicago Crime Commission will pay tribute to Mars tonight with its most prestigious crime-fighting award named in his honor. Michael Wolfe, the DuPage County criminal chief, will be the first recipient during a special ceremony at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago.
"I am incredibly humbled by this award," said Wolfe, 49, of Warrenville. "If I could possibly be one-tenth the lawyer and person that Mitch Mars was, I would say my life is complete."
Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine is serving as keynote speaker. Dignitaries such as U.S. District Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan plan to attend.
Mars' wife and mother also will be in the audience.
Chicago Crime Commission Chairman J.R. Davis said Wolfe stood out among the nominees and was chosen for demonstrating professionalism, dedication and compassion in the administration of justice.
During his 24-year career, Wolfe prosecuted some of the suburbs' most heinous crimes. He worked 61 straight 12-hour days in 2006 as part of a team that put serial-sex killer Paul Runge on death row. Wolfe prosecuted three defendants serving life prison terms for the 1995 triple murder of a pregnant Addison woman, whose baby was cut from its womb, and her two other children.
One day after the last defendant's trial, he began his case against a drunken driver who killed four people, including three Naperville teens. Wolfe later co-authored legislation to toughen DUI penalties.
Most recently, Wolfe secured a death sentence against Eric Hanson of Naperville who killed his wealthy parents, sister and brother-in-law out of greed.
As criminal prosecutions chief, he juggles his own prosecutions while overseeing 65 assistant state's attorneys handling everything from traffic tickets to murder.
His boss, DuPage State's Attorney Joseph Birkett, nominated Wolfe. Birkett will attend tonight to see his criminal chief receive the award. "Mitch Mars was a straight-up guy who just wanted to make sure the job got done right," Birkett said. "And that's Mike Wolfe. Mike is a very hardworking, dedicated prosecutor who contributed greatly to our profession. He and Mitch Mars are cut from the same cloth."
Thanks to Christy Gutowski and Rob Olmstead
The typically soft-spoken and unassuming man, who as a federal prosecutor made battling Chicago's organized crime figures his life's work, transformed into a firebrand in front of a jury.
"Criminal cases are about accountability and justice, not only for the defendants, but also justice for our system, justice for our society and justice for the victims," Mars said last year during the successful Family Secrets mob trial. "Our system works. It is the greatest system in the world. But it only works when those who should be held accountable are held accountable."
The assistant U.S. attorney died of cancer just five months later. He was 55.
The Chicago Crime Commission will pay tribute to Mars tonight with its most prestigious crime-fighting award named in his honor. Michael Wolfe, the DuPage County criminal chief, will be the first recipient during a special ceremony at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago.
"I am incredibly humbled by this award," said Wolfe, 49, of Warrenville. "If I could possibly be one-tenth the lawyer and person that Mitch Mars was, I would say my life is complete."
Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine is serving as keynote speaker. Dignitaries such as U.S. District Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan plan to attend.
Mars' wife and mother also will be in the audience.
Chicago Crime Commission Chairman J.R. Davis said Wolfe stood out among the nominees and was chosen for demonstrating professionalism, dedication and compassion in the administration of justice.
During his 24-year career, Wolfe prosecuted some of the suburbs' most heinous crimes. He worked 61 straight 12-hour days in 2006 as part of a team that put serial-sex killer Paul Runge on death row. Wolfe prosecuted three defendants serving life prison terms for the 1995 triple murder of a pregnant Addison woman, whose baby was cut from its womb, and her two other children.
One day after the last defendant's trial, he began his case against a drunken driver who killed four people, including three Naperville teens. Wolfe later co-authored legislation to toughen DUI penalties.
Most recently, Wolfe secured a death sentence against Eric Hanson of Naperville who killed his wealthy parents, sister and brother-in-law out of greed.
As criminal prosecutions chief, he juggles his own prosecutions while overseeing 65 assistant state's attorneys handling everything from traffic tickets to murder.
His boss, DuPage State's Attorney Joseph Birkett, nominated Wolfe. Birkett will attend tonight to see his criminal chief receive the award. "Mitch Mars was a straight-up guy who just wanted to make sure the job got done right," Birkett said. "And that's Mike Wolfe. Mike is a very hardworking, dedicated prosecutor who contributed greatly to our profession. He and Mitch Mars are cut from the same cloth."
Thanks to Christy Gutowski and Rob Olmstead
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Police Murder Trial Begins for Actor from The Sopranos
Lillo Brancato Jr, 32, appeared in six episodes of the mafia television series before his character, Matt Bevilaqua, was killed off. However, prosecutors argue that his mafia links continued when he befriended Steven Armento, a reputed member of the Genovese crime family who had been thrown out of the organisation over his drug addiction.
Brancato had enjoyed a promising film career after being "spotted", aged 15, on a New York beach by the casting director for A Bronx Tale, in which the young actor appeared with Robert de Niro. But his life reportedly took a nosedive as he was involved in two drug-related arrests and, finally, with the killing in 2005 of Daniel Enchautegui, a New York police officer.
Prosecutors allege that Brancato drove himself and Armento to the home of Mr Enchautegui's next-door neighbour, where they began stealing prescription drugs.
When confronted by the policeman, Armento shot him. Both Armento and Brancato were wounded.
Armento, 48, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced last week to life in prison without parole.
However, Brancato's lawyers claim his case is different. "Lillo didn't have a gun. Nor did he know anyone had a gun. Lillo wasn't burglarising anyone's home," said Joseph Tacopina, his lawyer. "It's a tragic case, it's tragic in a lot of ways. But that doesn't mean he's behind the crime."
Brancato denies second-degree murder and other charges in the trial, for which jury selection has begun.
Family and friends have said he is a good man with a drug problem, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"He obviously had problems he kept well hidden, but that doesn't mean he should be held accountable for the actions of the man he was with, especially if that man was under the influence," said Chris Tardio, who also appeared in The Sopranos.
Thanks to Tom Leonard
Brancato had enjoyed a promising film career after being "spotted", aged 15, on a New York beach by the casting director for A Bronx Tale, in which the young actor appeared with Robert de Niro. But his life reportedly took a nosedive as he was involved in two drug-related arrests and, finally, with the killing in 2005 of Daniel Enchautegui, a New York police officer.
Prosecutors allege that Brancato drove himself and Armento to the home of Mr Enchautegui's next-door neighbour, where they began stealing prescription drugs.
When confronted by the policeman, Armento shot him. Both Armento and Brancato were wounded.
Armento, 48, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced last week to life in prison without parole.
However, Brancato's lawyers claim his case is different. "Lillo didn't have a gun. Nor did he know anyone had a gun. Lillo wasn't burglarising anyone's home," said Joseph Tacopina, his lawyer. "It's a tragic case, it's tragic in a lot of ways. But that doesn't mean he's behind the crime."
Brancato denies second-degree murder and other charges in the trial, for which jury selection has begun.
Family and friends have said he is a good man with a drug problem, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"He obviously had problems he kept well hidden, but that doesn't mean he should be held accountable for the actions of the man he was with, especially if that man was under the influence," said Chris Tardio, who also appeared in The Sopranos.
Thanks to Tom Leonard
18 Arrested as Police Use Backhoe Digging for Body of Mob Hit Victim
The Rhode Island State Police on Monday arrested 18 people allegedly connected to Mafia rings and used a backhoe to dig through an East Providence lot searching for the victim of a three-decade-old mob hit.
The dig for the body was called off around dark and was expected to resume Tuesday.
Some of those arrested allegedly had ties to the Patriarca crime family, which for years controlled organized crime in Providence and Boston. One alleged long-time Patriarca figure arrested Monday was Nicholas Pari, 71, of North Providence.
Investigators said he took counterfeit handbags and sneakers from undercover federal agents who infiltrated the ring, allegedly based out of the Valley Street Flea Market in Providence. In return, the agents got guns and drugs, including cocaine, marijuana and Vicodin, said State Police Lt. Col. Steven O'Donnell.
Pari previously was sentenced to seven years in prison for manslaughter in the 1978 killing of Joseph "Joe Onions" Scanlon, whose body was never found.
State Police officials said they were digging at an East Providence apartment complex for a victim killed by the mob about 30 years ago. Authorities would not say whether Scanlon was the victim they were seeking.
Pari was charged with racketeering, firearms violations and drug offenses. Pari did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment. It was unclear Monday whether he had an attorney.
Detectives also arrested Gerald Tillinghast, 62, on drug and gambling charges. Tillinghast, released last year from prison for a mob-related killing, is accused of operating an illegal gambling and drug sales business. Tillinghast was ordered held without bail after a court hearing Monday afternoon, his attorney Paul DiMaio said. He was not asked to enter a plea.
"I just don't believe that he was involved," DiMaio said. "He's been trying to do the right thing. I know he was trying to find a job, find a chauffeur's license."
Other suspects are accused of fencing stolen goods, selling stolen jewelry and setting up heists and sales of catalytic converters, police said. All 18 men were being arraigned in Providence District Court on Monday.
Police said more arrests are on the way and that the sting would make it harder for older reputed mobsters to recruit younger would-be criminals.
"This I think will serve as a devastating blow to some of the older generation that have really been such a problem," Attorney General Patrick Lynch said at a news conference announcing the arrests.
Thanks to Hillary Russ
The dig for the body was called off around dark and was expected to resume Tuesday.
Some of those arrested allegedly had ties to the Patriarca crime family, which for years controlled organized crime in Providence and Boston. One alleged long-time Patriarca figure arrested Monday was Nicholas Pari, 71, of North Providence.
Investigators said he took counterfeit handbags and sneakers from undercover federal agents who infiltrated the ring, allegedly based out of the Valley Street Flea Market in Providence. In return, the agents got guns and drugs, including cocaine, marijuana and Vicodin, said State Police Lt. Col. Steven O'Donnell.
Pari previously was sentenced to seven years in prison for manslaughter in the 1978 killing of Joseph "Joe Onions" Scanlon, whose body was never found.
State Police officials said they were digging at an East Providence apartment complex for a victim killed by the mob about 30 years ago. Authorities would not say whether Scanlon was the victim they were seeking.
Pari was charged with racketeering, firearms violations and drug offenses. Pari did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment. It was unclear Monday whether he had an attorney.
Detectives also arrested Gerald Tillinghast, 62, on drug and gambling charges. Tillinghast, released last year from prison for a mob-related killing, is accused of operating an illegal gambling and drug sales business. Tillinghast was ordered held without bail after a court hearing Monday afternoon, his attorney Paul DiMaio said. He was not asked to enter a plea.
"I just don't believe that he was involved," DiMaio said. "He's been trying to do the right thing. I know he was trying to find a job, find a chauffeur's license."
Other suspects are accused of fencing stolen goods, selling stolen jewelry and setting up heists and sales of catalytic converters, police said. All 18 men were being arraigned in Providence District Court on Monday.
Police said more arrests are on the way and that the sting would make it harder for older reputed mobsters to recruit younger would-be criminals.
"This I think will serve as a devastating blow to some of the older generation that have really been such a problem," Attorney General Patrick Lynch said at a news conference announcing the arrests.
Thanks to Hillary Russ
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