Gangland Wire

In this episode, we delve into a fascinating tale from the 1950s in Blue Island, Chicago, where Alfred Konecki, the president of F.W. Konecki & Sons Company, a tobacco distribution business, encountered suspicious activity involving a truck from Unity Refrigeration following their delivery vehicles. Two detectives, Bernard Kennedy and George Hanecki, were assigned to investigate the situation, setting up surveillance and observing a complex series of vehicles tailing each other.
The detectives uncovered that the Unity Refrigeration Truck was being followed by a car driven by Robert Bradshaw, a salesman for the Kodaki Company, who claimed he was trailing the Unity truck due to suspicions about its activities. Upon halting the vehicles, the officers discovered familiar faces inside the Unity truck – Chicago Outfit Associate Frank Schweihs, Stanley Bajic and Sam Ciancio, armed with .38 caliber revolvers and a police scanner tuned to Chicago PD frequencies.
Despite the lack of a solid case against them, the officers interrogated the trio, sending a clear message regarding their monitoring of criminal activities. This incident highlights the organized crime presence in Chicago during that era and the tactics employed to protect businesses from theft and extortion. The narrative offers a glimpse into the early days of Frank Schweihs, who would later play a significant role in criminal activities, including extorting money from establishments.
The story underscores the challenges businesses face dealing with criminal interference and the intricate dynamics of law enforcement and organized crime in Chicago in the 1950s. It provides a window into a bygone era where local authorities often struggled to combat such activities, leaving individuals to navigate complex relationships with criminal elements. The intricacies of mob involvement in businesses and the strategies employed to mitigate threats offer a compelling perspective on the historical landscape of organized crime in major cities like Chicago.
 
Transcript
Introduction
[0:00]So, wiretappers, we’re going to go to the little town, our little community
of Blue Island in southwest Chicago.
It’s down by, it’s north of Chicago Heights, a little bit west and north of
Calumet City, south and west of downtown, like I said, right off of, looks like I-57.
We’re going to look in at 131-36 Southwestern Avenue in Blue Island.
Will find Alfred Konecki.
He was the president of F.W. Konecki & Sons Company, which was a tobacco distribution company.
They would take packages, you know, cartons and cases of cigarettes around for
distribution to different places.
A couple of his drivers reported that they had noticed a truck.
[0:46]Kind of a van kind of a truck, marked Unity Refrigeration had been following
their delivery vehicles around.
[0:52]And they’d looked out, and that truck was parked near the Konecki garage at that time.
So Mr. Konecki calls Chicago PD, and they assign a couple of detectives to come out and investigate.
Detective Bernard Kennedy and George Hanecki, kind of a close name to Konecki,
[1:12]
Surveillance Operation
[1:09]but I guess another one of those big, long German names.
After the detectives respond, they set up a surveillance down the street,
and they must have called Mr.
Konecki by phone and let him know that they were set, because he then dispatched
one of the trucks. One of his employees, an Elmer Jepson, left.
As soon as Mr. Jepson left in the delivery truck, the Unity Refrigeration Truck
pulled out and started following it north and kept following it north and north
and went up to 87th Street.
And about that time, the detectives noticed that a passenger car was also following
the Unity Refrigeration Truck.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, Gary tells the story of Brilab (Bribery Labor), which initially aimed to uncover corruption in Louisiana and Texas and led to the indictment of New Orleans Mafia boss Carlos Marcello.
Marcello, the kingpin of organized crime in the South, controlled operations across Louisiana, Texas, and Tampa, with significant influence over local officials.
Joseph Hauser, an insurance salesman turned FBI informant, arranged a meeting between Marcello and undercover agents and proposed kickbacks for insurance contracts.
Marcello agreed to use his influence to secure insurance contracts for the agents but demanded kickbacks in return.
Louisiana State Commissioner Charles Romer accepted bribes to facilitate state insurance contracts but claimed the money was a campaign contribution, resulting in minimal charges.
Marcello also expressed interest in gaining control over the Teamsters’ health and welfare insurance funds, citing the illness of Teamsters’ leader Frank Fitzsimmons as an opportunity to make this move.
Marcello offered to secure Teamsters insurance contracts in exchange for a $2 million cash deposit in a safety deposit box under a fictitious name.
Marcello’s involvement in Brilab highlighted his influence over officials and his ambitions to expand his criminal enterprises. The case revealed the extent of government corruption and the reach of organized crime in the United States during the late 1970s. Despite Marcello’s efforts, his plans to control the Teamsters’ insurance business were thwarted by law enforcement actions and the eventual downfall of critical players like Alan Dorfman.
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To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
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Transcript
[00:00:00] Well, hey guys, welcome all you wiretappers back here in the studio of Gangland Wire. This is Gary Jenkins, retired KCPD intelligence detective, now turned podcaster and documentary filmmaker and author of books—or of one book, anyway—about the Las Vegas skim. But enough of that. I stumbled into a story. A friend of mine sent some old FBI files.
That had to do with Abscam that he found doing some research he was doing. And it had an interesting story in it. Then there was a, I think it was a life magazine article that interpreted some of these files and, and it made it a little easier to research the story and...

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, Gary and his guest, Camillus “Cam” Robinson, talk about the turbulent life of Jimmy the Bomber Cataura, a figure whose name became synonymous with Chicago’s underworld. Known as Jimmy the Bomber,” Jimmy Cataura’s story is a complex web of crime, suspicion, and intrigue. In 1952, Jimmy the Bomber surfaced in the newspapers concerning bombings in the Chicago area. Two Teamsters Union officials’ homes and a gasoline station where employees had refused to join the union were targeted. Despite being questioned, Jimmy couldn’t be linked to the bombings and was instead charged with disorderly conduct.
Over the years, Jimmy’s alleged involvement in criminal activities continued to escalate. In 1967, he was linked to a murder investigation, but no charges were filed. 1972, Jimmy was among the men arrested on fraud and loan shark charges. The men had set up a fraudulent corporation that charged fees for financing loans totaling over one million dollars. Despite these brushes with the law, Jimmy the Bomber evaded conviction. A federal grand jury next indicted him for transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines, but the outcome of this case remains unknown.
Jimmy’s reputation within the criminal underworld grew as the years went by. Jimmy the Bomber was rumored to be involved in various criminal activities, including stealing and selling stolen auto parts. However, his criminal empire began to crumble in the late 1970s as rival factions within the Chicago Outfit vied to control his chop shop rackets. South Side Boss Frank LaPorte died, and Al Pilotto took over. The new power wanted a piece of this chop shop racket.
In 1978, Jimmy’s life came to a violent end when he was gunned down while sitting in his car. His death marked the end of an era, leaving behind a legacy of crime and intrigue that fascinates today. Join us as we unravel the life of Jimmy the Bomber Cataara, a man whose name became synonymous with Chicago’s criminal underworld.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
[00:00:00] Hey, welcome all you wiretappers. Good to be back here in the studio of gangland wire. I’ve got my good friend, Camillus Robinson, cam Robinson. Welcome cam. Good to see you. I haven’t talked to you for a while. Hey Gary.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, I delve into a fascinating tale involving corrupt individuals like Gaspipe Casso, a New York police cop named Vinny Albano, and a drug dealer named Herbie Pate. Albano, engaged in taking down the French Connection, conspires with Pate to steal French Connection heroin from the police property room. The duo starts selling the stolen heroin on the streets, making millions of dollars, with Gaspipe Casso taking a cut. However, tensions rise between Albano and Pate over money, leading to a lethal confrontation where Pate shoots and kills Albano in self-defense.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
[0:00] Hey, all you wiretappers out there, I got a fun little story here about Gas Pipe Casso, a corrupt New York police cop named Vinny Albano, not one of the two mafia cops, Caracapa and Esposito, and another Lucchese associate drug dealer named Herbie Potte.
That’s P-A-T-E, I believe.
Yeah, P-A-T-E, Herbie Potte or Potte.
[0:29] Albano was part of the crew he worked narcotics and was part of the crew that helped take down the French connection so he knew about the dope and they knew about it being in the property room there was like what uh 70 some kilos in the property room at one time and so he got this Herbie Pott they both had been involved in a lot of crooked stuff and and with Gas Pipe Castle So he instructed Herbie Pate just how to to put on a police uniform and got some forged papers and access the property room.
Well, well, this Herbie Pate goes in, he’s cracking jokes and he’s making the property room clerk laugh and that kind of thing.
And he goes in and he walks out with all this French Connection heroin.
Well, he and Vinnie, Vinnie Albano, they start selling it on the streets over the next.
[1:17] Few weeks and months, and they’re making a lot of money. I mean, this was millions of dollars worth of heroin.
Millions in Heroin and Betrayal
[1:23] I mean, millions of dollars worth. And Gaspipe Castle was getting a piece of that action all along because they were associates in the Lucchese family, and he helped facilitate all this. So he always gets the action.
Well, Albano was kind of a, he had a bad temper, shall we say, and he was suspicious.
And Pate, he was like, you know,

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins takes you on a riveting journey through the dark corridors of mob history. Step into the shadows with Gary as he sits down with an esteemed reporter and author, Larry McShane, to unravel the enigma that was Vincent “The Chin” Gigante, a man whose life reads like a gripping crime novel. Larry McShane, a seasoned veteran of the city beat, delves deep into his book “Chin: The Life and Crimes of Mafia Boss Vincent Gigante,” shedding light on the man behind the myth. Vincent Gigante’s story is one of intrigue and terror, a tale of a professional boxer turned merciless assassin whose very name struck fear into the hearts of his enemies. Handpicked by the notorious Vito Genovese to lead the Genovese Family, The Chin amassed a fortune of over $100 million, all while evading the relentless pursuit of federal investigators. But beneath the facade of power and wealth lurked a mind shrouded in darkness. Gigante appeared as a madman to the outside world, roaming the streets in a tattered bathrobe, playing games in storefronts, and hiding a second family from his wife. Despite his bizarre antics, Gigante’s cunning and ruthlessness knew no bounds, as he controlled an underworld empire of nearly three hundred made men. It took decades of intense FBI investigation by federal authorities to bring down the man who seemed untouchable finally. We learn they not only sent The Chin to prison but also forced him to admit he had been acting like he was crazy to avoid prosecution for many years. Join Gary Jenkins and Larry McShane as they peel back the layers of myth and legend to reveal the chilling truth behind one of the most notorious figures in mob history.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
Welcome all you wiretappers. Good to be back here in studio gangland wire. I have a really interesting guy today. You may have all heard of him. He wrote the book on the chin Gigante. I have Larry McShane. Welcome Larry. Hey, good morning. Thanks for having me. Well, Larry, start out talking a little bit about your book, you know, how you got into it and, and, you know, because we can always get it on Amazon.
I’ll have guys, I’ll have links to the book in the show notes. So tell us about getting into your book. Yeah, I’d covered a lot of organized crime stuff in New York. I worked for Associated Press for a long time. And You know, I guess it’s,

Gangland Wire host, retired Detective Gary Jenkins, reports on the life and legacy of Sam Mooney Giancana, a prominent figure in the Chicago outfit and the mafia world. Giancana’s enigmatic nature and shadowy dealings are explored, tracing his journey from a member of the 42 gang to the pinnacle of the Chicago outfit. Known for his ruthlessness and criminal prowess, Giancana’s rise in the criminal underworld during the Prohibition era is detailed, showcasing his involvement in illegal activities like gambling, liquor distribution, and political rackets.
The host sheds light on Giancana’s connections with influential figures like Al Capone, his alleged role in John F. Kennedy’s presidential victory, and his entanglement with the CIA in plots to assassinate Fidel Castro. The interview further brings to light Giancana’s partnership with Richard Cain, a corrupt law enforcement officer turned mob associate, expanding their operations to include gun smuggling, espionage, and international intrigues.
The narrative takes a dark turn as Giancana’s mysterious death in 1975 is analyzed, with several theories suggesting mob involvement, internal power struggles, and CIA conspiracies behind his assassination. The interview speculates on potential conspirators, including Tony Accardo, Santo Trafficante Jr., and even the CIA, reflecting the convoluted web of betrayal, power dynamics, and covert operations that characterized Giancana’s tumultuous life.
Ultimately, Sam Giancana’s legacy endures as a symbol of the murky intersections between crime and espionage, leaving behind a trail of unsolved mysteries, political entanglements, and violent retribution. The host encourages engagement from listeners, offering insights into mob history, sharing anecdotes, and inviting discussion on the complex and intriguing world of organized crime.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
[0:00] Hey, all you wiretappers out there, back here in the studio of Gangland Wire.
You know, I’m doing these little kind of short, down-and-dirty bios of major mob guys, because I got to realizing that everybody doesn’t know all the details that maybe I know or that I’ve read about.
I know a lot of you guys know a lot of stuff. A lot of you know a lot more than I know.
But everybody doesn’t know everything about all these different guys.
And I may mention the name, you know,

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary and his regular contributor, Australian lawyer and mafia researcher Tony Taourk look into the intriguing story of Robert Simone, a Philadelphia lawyer with deep ties to the mob. We learn that he was born in South Philadelphia in 1933, and Simone’s career took a dramatic turn when he defended showgirl Lillian Rees in 1961. Rees was charged in connection with the theft of half a million dollars from a wealthy Pennsylvania millionaire. Despite his limited experience in criminal law at the time, Robert Simone overturned Rees’ conviction on appeal, gaining attention in the media and among criminals alike. Simone’s involvement with Rees also led him to cross paths with mobsters, as Rees’ boyfriend and co-defendant was a mobster himself. Simone’s heavy gambling and drinking habits further connected him to the mob, as he often frequented bars where he encountered mobsters and borrowed money from mob loan sharks. One such loan shark, Frank Sindone, recommended Simone to other mobsters and eventually became Simone’s client in a successful acquittal for loan sharking charges. Simone’s reputation grew within the criminal underworld, and he attracted the attention of Roofer’s Local 30, a corrupt union that provided him with a steady stream of criminal cases. He also represented John McCullough, the head of the union, who was later murdered on the orders of the Philadelphia mob. Simone’s big break came when he represented mob boss Nicky Scarfo in a murder trial. The government charged Scarfo, along with his nephew, Phil Leonetti, and another mobster with the murder of a cement contractor. Despite the testimony of an eyewitness, Simone’s skills as a lawyer shone during this trial, showcasing his ability to sway jurors and play mind games in the courtroom to achieve a not-guilty verdict. Despite his success in defending Scarfo, Simone’s ties to the mob ultimately led to his downfall. He was disbarred 1989 for his involvement in a money-laundering scheme with Scarfo and other mobsters. Simone’s story is a cautionary tale of the dangers of getting too close to the criminal underworld.
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Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
[00:00:00] Welcome back in the studio of Gangland Wire. Good to be back here with you guys. I have our good friend from down under, Tony Taouk.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary looks into the intriguing life of Michael “Spider” Gianco, a real-life figure known from the movie “Goodfellas.” Born in 1954 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, Gianco was associated with the Bonanno and Lucchese families and was a Jimmy the Gent Burke protege. Referred to as Spider due to his long limbs and excellent burglary skills, Gianco was a trusted member who could climb into hard-to-reach places. He was involved in organized crime from a young age, engaging in car theft and other illicit activities. Gianco was a crucial player in a car theft and smuggling ring, specializing in stealing cars from locations like JFK long-term parking. He would deliver these cars to a junkyard in Brooklyn, where they would be sold or shipped to Haiti. Gianco made money for every vehicle he stole and was involved in various criminal activities orchestrated by Jimmy the Gent and Paul Vario. However, his relationship with fellow mobster Tommy DeSimone was strained, leading to a fatal confrontation in July 1970. During a poker game at Robert’s Lounge, DeSimone fatally shot Gianco after an argument, with Jimmy the Gent instructing DeSimone to bury the body. The murder, reminiscent of a scene from “Goodfellas,” shocked those present, and despite the body never being found, Gianco’s fate was sealed. The aftermath of Gianco’s death further illuminated the ruthless nature of organized crime, showcasing the dangers and consequences of underworld disputes. The intricacies of mob life, rule-breaking, and allegiances are dissected, leaving listeners pondering the complexities of this dark underbelly of society.
Support the Podcast
Subscribe to get new gangster stories every week.
Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire
Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”



To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
[0:00] Wiretappers out there back here in the studio of gangland wire i want to take a look at kind of a short one again here about michael spider gianco michael spider gianco his he was spider in the movie goodfellas he’s the one that joe petty character shot in the foot and then later killed when when he bucked it back up to him let’s tell you a little bit as a real guy this really happened as you know you know everything really happened in goodfellas for the most part he was you have of a young guy back then, I guess.
He was born in 1954. He was killed in 1970.
That tells you anything. He was from Brownsville, Brooklyn,

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Dive into the world of Joseph Parisi, the man who murdered Carlo Siniscalchi. Gary interviews author Nick Parisi about his book Mafia Confessions, “King of Bootlegers” Murder. This book sheds light on organized crime during the Prohibition era in the Springfield, Massachusetts, area. Nick offers a glimpse into this city’s early Italian-American criminal groups and the surrounding area and how his ancestor killed Carlo Siniscalchi, the King of the Bootleggers.”
Mafia Confessions relies heavily on the diary of the author’s ancestor, Giuseppe “Joseph” Parisi, trial transcripts, and newspaper accounts. Nick Parisi provides a rare and intimate look into the thoughts, emotions, and connections of the man who murdered Carlo Siniscalchi, who was known as the “King of the Bootleggers.” We discuss the ensuing gang war and the trial, revealing the emotional turmoil of a high-level Italian criminal.
While not a traditional biography, the book focuses on Parisi’s murder trial rather than his entire life story. The author highlights the challenges of balancing Parisi’s criminal past with the audience’s empathy, akin to rooting for a criminal in “The Shawshank Redemption.”
Mafia Confessions fills a void in organized crime literature, particularly Springfield’s criminal history. The author emphasizes the importance of familial connections and heritage in understanding the rival factions and the impact of murders and revenge. Mafia Confessions’ authenticity and narrative captivate, making it a compelling read for anyone interested in Prohibition-era crime or Italian-American organized crime history.
Click here to get a copy of Mafia Confessions from Amazon.
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Subscribe to get new gangster stories every week.
Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire
Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”



To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
[0:00] Hey, welcome all you wiretappers out there. Good to be back here in the studio of Gangland Wire.
We have a show about the Springfield, Massachusetts mob and the foundings of it from a relative who has written a really interesting book.
I have Nick Parisi here with me. Welcome, Nick.
Thanks, Gary.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Learn about the shadowy world of crime from the life of Danny Greene, also known as the Celtic warrior. If you haven’t seen it, watch “To Kill the Irishman,” a film featuring Christopher Walken and Paul Sorvino. Danny Greene was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1933, orphaned three days after birth, and raised by paternal grandfather and aunt in Collinwood. Danny’s rebellious spirit and tumultuous relationship with his father and stepmother led to a challenging adolescence. Military Service and Union Involvement: After being expelled from high school, Danny Greene enlisted in the Marine Corps, where he excelled as a boxer and earned the rank of corporal. After military service, he became a longshoreman and quickly rose to become the president of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA). Double Life as an Informant: Danny Green became a top informant for the FBI, navigating the worlds of labor racketeering and organized crime. Criminal Activity and Conflicts: Formed the Celtic Club and allied with figures like John Nardi and Alexander Burns, leading to conflicts with the Cleveland Mafia. He was involved in bombings, violent clashes, and assassination attempts, solidifying his reputation as a formidable force. Downfall and Legacy: Despite his cunning intellect and adaptability, Danny Green’s luck ran out when he was killed by a car bomb in 1977. His death exposed a criminal conspiracy involving mafia families from Cleveland, New York City, and Southern California.
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Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
[00:00:00] Well, hey, all you wiretappers out there. Welcome to gangland wire. This is Gary Jenkins, retired intelligence detective, and this is your portal into the shadowy world of crime. Today we’re going to take a deep dive into the tumultuous life of Daniel John Patrick Green, a.
k. a. Danny Green, the Celtic warrior. You may know him from To Kill the Irishman. Well, no movie, Christopher Walken was in it. I think, , Paul Cervino maybe was in it.
My friend, Rick Perrello from Cleveland wrote the book and did a documentary and was involved in making the movie. Anyhow, Danny Green, he was a figure whose legacy is etched into the annals of organized crime, especially in Cleveland and the Midwest. Really? Now, so join me and we’re going to unravel the intricate deta...

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode of Gangland Wire, we talk with the niece of the Bootleg Queen of Springfield, MA, Gina Cunningham, and Justin Cascio of Mafia Geneology about the mafia in Springfield, Massachusetts. We explore bootlegging during Prohibition, Pasqualina Albano’s rise to power, rivalries with other mafia groups, and the unique presence of women in the male-dominated subculture. We learn how she married a man from the NYC Genovese family and how this led to the Genovese Family’s continuing presence and influence in Springfield. We discuss Pasqualina’s assassination, the impact of the documentary about her, and the importance of open conversations about family history.
Support the Podcast
Subscribe to get new gangster stories every week.
Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire
Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”



To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
[0:00] Welcome all you wiretappers out there back here in the studio of Gangland Wire.
I really appreciate y’all tuning in every week or maybe twice a week sometimes.
You know, I’ve got a show today about Springfield, Massachusetts.
Now, I’ve gotten several inquiries.
I think it was on my YouTube question and then on the Gangland Wire podcast Facebook page, which you guys ought to get on because we’ve got a huge, we’ve got 50,000 people on that thing with all Sharon Motley information.
But about Springfield and I didn’t know a lot about it and and then I happened to see I think maybe on Justin’s Justin Cascio’s website or he made it into a post or somehow I saw about this new documentary that our other guy other guest had Gina Cunningham who is a great niece of an early.
[0:48] Mob couple if you will a mob power couple in Springfield and so I thought you know let’s go go into this. She has a documentary.
Gina is a great niece of Albano, who was the bootleg queen of Springfield during Prohibition.
And Justin, of course, you guys know, runs the Mafia Genealogy Facebook page and website.
And he has a ton of great Mafia family connections stretching back to Sicily on his website. And he’s a real expert in that.
He has this great, I have to apologize to you on air here, Justin, that guy that stole your picture and wiped out your attribution to it and put it on my Facebook page or group.
So, you know, we took it off and then I posted a link to it and ...

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Joseph Barboza, aka the Animal, was born September 20, 1932. His criminal career went on from being a young thug and boxer to becoming a notorious mob hitman for the Patriarca crime family of New England during the 1960s. Starting his criminal life as a Mafia enforcer in Boston’s underworld, Barboza ended his criminal career as an FBI informant in 1967 and entered the Witness Protection Program. He was a star witness in the trial of six men convicted in the 1965 murder of Edward Deegan; a court sentenced four of the accused to death, and another two were sentenced to life imprisonment. Eventually, facts surface that Boston FBI agents helped set up these innocent men and used Barboza to frame the six defendants in a case of wrongful conviction for the Deegan killing. Barboza, himself, and Boston Mafia hitman Vincent Flemmi did this murder. Listen to learn about this case of corrupt FBI agents and more.
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transcript
Buckle up as we navigate the shadows of organized crime and betrayal in this in-depth exploration of Joseph the Animal Barbossa’s life.
, [00:00:00] well hey all you wiretappers out there. Guys, I’m back here in the studio, retired intelligence detective Gary Jenkins. Join me as we navigate the twists and turns of Boston mobster Joseph the Animal Barbossa. His life, well, goes from the boxing ring to the criminal underworld and an unexpected role as a key witness in a gangland murder.
Gangland Wire is the podcast that brings you an in depth exploration of these hidden stories that helped shape the American Mafia. Now buckle up, buckle up, I say, as we delve into the shadows of organized crime and betrayal. And I’m going to tell you the story of Joseph the Animal Barbossa. Joseph Barboza was born September 20th, 1932. His criminal career will go from a young thug and boxer to become one of the most notorious mob hitmen for the Patriarca crime family in New England. Starting as a mafia enforcer in the Boston’s underworld, he will end [00:01:00] his criminal career as an FBI informant in 1967 and enter the witness protection program.
He was a star witness at the trial of six men convicted of a 1965 murder of a burglar named Edward Deegan. Four of these accused men were sentenced to death and two others were given life in prison.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode of the Gangland Wire Podcast, Gary Jenkins explores the intense gang war between the Civella and Spero families. Gary explains the key figures, Nick Civella and his brother Cork Civella, and outlines their roles within the mob. Jenkins also highlights Nick Spero, a flamboyant character with connections to the mob. He explains Nick Civella’s strict dress code, including rules against facial hair and the requirement for specific haircuts. He shares stories of Civella’s involvement in sports gambling charges and the first FBI wiretap that led to his indictment. The murder of Saul Landie and the attempted murder of Lester Moore further escalated tensions within the organized crime network. Moving on, Jenkins focuses on Carl Spero and his criminal activities. A professional criminal, Carl aligns himself with other professional criminals to create his own organization. The speaker emphasizes Carl Spero’s cautious nature and his crew’s efforts to avoid surveillance. He describes the stalking of the Spero faction by the Civella Faction. Tensions rise as both families continue surveillance efforts, culminating in a shooting incident at the Virginia Tavern that leaves Carl Spero paralyzed. In the latter part of the podcast, He provides updates on Joe Spero’s involvement in a bombing attempt and eventual capture. After Joe Spero is killed, Carl remains a target, facing multiple assassination attempts, including a dynamite bombing of his car. Jenkins highlights the collaboration between an undercover state trooper and a professional thief and as thet build a case against Spero. Ths stoy culminated in a bomb planted under Carl Spero’s office, signaling the end of the Spero-Civella War.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
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To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
[0:00] Well, hey, all you wiretappers out there, good to be back here in the studio of Gangland Wire. This is Gary Jenkins, retired KCPD intelligence detective.
I’m going to tell you another story about my career and things that I lived through here in Kansas City, the 1970s mob wars.
I told you about the war in the River Key, the war between the Commissaros and Bonadonna and the fallout from all that.
Well, now I’m going to tell you about the Civella-Spero war.
I did a movie on this. The Civella-Spero Mob War, I think was the name of it.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, I share a riveting story of a raid conducted by the Chicago Police Department’s Intelligence Unit on a high-stakes gambling operation. The operation, ordered by Captain Duffy, involved meticulous surveillance of key figures of the Outfit’s Westside crew, leading to the apprehension of nine individuals and the seizure of significant cash and incriminating records. Reflecting on the event, I highlight the strategic approach taken during the raid and the cooperation received from some of the individuals involved. This narrative provides a glimpse into the intense undercover operations and confrontations with organized crime that defined law enforcement efforts in 1960s Chicago.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Retired Intelligence Unit Detective Gary Jenkins brings you his unique perspective on organized crime.
The Bulldog Detective: William J. Flynn’s Battle Against the New York Mafia and More Introduction: In the tumultuous landscape of early twentieth-century America, where threats from organized crime, espionage, and terrorism loomed large, one man stood as a bulwark against the rising tide of criminality. Meet William Flynn, the Bulldog Detective, who played a pivotal role in shaping the course of American law enforcement. gary and author Jeffrey Simon look into the remarkable career of William Flynn, focusing on his crusade against the New York Mafia and his enduring legacy in the fight for justice.
Early Life and Education: Born on November 18, 1867, in the heart of New York City, Flynn’s journey into public service began in 1897 after a standard public school education. Little did the nation know that this unassuming figure would become a central force in combating some of American history’s most notorious criminal organizations.
Early Career: Starting as a Manhattan plumber, Flynn’s trajectory shifted dramatically when he joined the United States Secret Service. His early focus on counterfeiting soon led him to confront the Black Hand extortionists and the infamous Morello crime family members. Flynn’s tenacity and strategic acumen set the stage for his future battles against organized crime. Collaboration with Detective Giuseppe “Joe” Petrosino: Flynn’s path intertwined with that of Detective Giuseppe “Joe” Petrosino, who met an untimely end in 1909 while investigating gangsters in Sicily. Undeterred by Petrosino’s tragic fate, William Flynn continued the pursuit, successfully building a case that resulted in the imprisonment of Giuseppe Morello and his associates in 1910.
Reorganization of the New York City Detective Force: In 1911, Flynn showcased his leadership skills by successfully reorganizing the New York City Detective Force. This began his rise in law enforcement, earning him recognition for his influential and innovative approach. World War I and Espionage Investigations: As the shadows of World War I loomed over America, Flynn’s role expanded to include investigating threats of sabotage. His dedication to national security became evident when he exposed a German-owned wireless station on Long Island, leading to the seizure of critical documents.
Director of the Bureau of Investigation: Flynn’s crowning achievement came in 1919 when he was appointed Director of the Bureau of Investigation. Praised by Attorney General Palmer as “the leading, organizing detective of America,” William Flynn uncovered a German spy network operating on U.S. soil. His relentless pursuit of justice and national security earned him the nickname “the Bulldog.”
Challenges, Resignation, and Reinstatement: Flynn’s hardline approach and public statements on German espionage strained relations within the German-American community, resulting in his resignation. However, in the face of escalating terrorist actions, Flynn was reinstated to lead the charge against the perpetrators, assigning a young J. Edgar Hoover to monitor suspected radicals.
Semi-Retirement and Legacy: William Flynn ventured into business, founding a detective agency with his children after his tenure in the Bureau of Investigation. Despite challenges, he contributed to the field through writing and scenario development for the motion picture industry. Flynn’s Weekly Detective Fiction, the magazine he edited, became a lasting testament to his influence in crime fiction.
Conclusion: William J. Flynn’s legacy is one of resilience, dedication, and an unyielding commitment to justice. His battles against the New York Mafia, German spies, and terrorists shaped the trajectory of American law enforcement.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Marshall Caifano was a dangerous yet unassuming figure from Chicago’s mob scene.
Background of Marshall Caifano:
Caifano, a physically small but influential figure in the Chicago outfit, was brought up by Paul Ricca, a key behind-the-scenes figure in the outfit. Unlike the loud and flashy mobsters, Caifano operated quietly, focusing on strategic connections and criminal activities.
Caifano’s Activities:
Caifano was known for his involvement in various criminal activities, including the murder of mobster Bugsy Siegel in Los Angeles, which paved the way for the Chicago outfit to take over Las Vegas. He was also implicated in several other murders and extortion attempts.
Caifano’s Style:
Despite his criminal activities, Caifano maintained a low profile, appearing well-dressed and unassuming. He was known for his intelligence and ability to stay out of the spotlight, unlike other more flamboyant mobsters. Conclusion: Caifano’s story illustrates the complex and dangerous world of organized crime, where individuals like him operated in the shadows, wielding significant influence. His life and activities shed light on the inner workings of the Chicago outfit and its impact on various criminal enterprises.
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Transcript:
Marshall Caifano
[00:00:00]
Gary Jenkins: well, hey, all you wiretappers out there back here in studio gangland wire. This is Gary Jenkins, retired Kansas City police intelligence detective. I worked a mob for 14 years altogether here in Kansas City from here to really to Las Vegas.
We helped uncover the scheme and, you know, reached out to Chicago and Milwaukee and Cleveland. Anyhow. I’ve been telling these mob stories for a few years now in the podcast. Here’s another one. Kind of a short little story about a very unassuming but very dangerous little guy named Marshalll Caifano.
from Chicago. Now, Marshall Caifano, I know that Red knew him and knows a lot about him. So you might want to check out Red Wemette channel or the Las Vegas blog, my blog with Adam Flowers. They may have a whole story on Marshall Caifano. This is kind of a short little story about him. He was a little guy.[00:01:00]
And when he got old, I remember I ran into a couple of these mob guys, really old guys,

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you a unique insight into the Mafia. Today, Gary interviews the noted Chicago outfit expert, Gus Russo, known for his books such as “Supermob,” “The Outfit,” and “Best of Enemies.” Gus Russo tells how Murray “The Camel” Humphreys is an intriguing figure in the Chicago Outfit. He provides insights into Humphreys’ early life, born with the Welsh name of Llewellyn in Illinois, growing up in poverty, and getting involved in petty crime. Gus continues by telling how Humphreys was able to climb the ranks of an organized crime family and become a valued and trusted advisor, political fixer, and business operative in the Chicago mafia known as “The Outfit.” Murray Humphreys was so well connected that when his daughter needed a prom date, he was able to induce Frank Sinatra to fill that role.
Click here on Gus Russo to buy his books
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To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Gary: [00:00:00] Welcome all you wiretappers. Good to be back here in the studio of Gangland Wire. I have a man who is probably one of the most respected mafia historians in the United States, Gus Russo Russo.
You probably have heard of his books Supermob welcome, Gus Russo. I’m really glad you’re here. Hey, Gary. Thanks for having me. Supermob and all of a sudden, let’s see, and The Outfit. And do you have other
Gus Russo: books, Gus Russo? Oh my goodness. Yeah, I’ve got about nine now. I think I’ve done a couple.
I’ve done a couple of the Kennedys and I’ve got a really one that’s been really successful called Best of Enemies, an espionage book that’s being made into a feature. Your film so very excited
Gary: about that. I read something about that. I’d forgotten about that interesting Well, what I’ll do guys is is I’ll have a link to his author’s page on Amazon So you can search among his books and and he is probably Like I said one of the most respected mob historians in the United States today.
Oh along with, , Selwyn Rabb, probably. He ranks right up there with Selwyn Rabb, and, as [00:01:00] far as Chicago’s concerned, to me, he is the man for Chicago, and we all love Chicago up there, and I have to thank, speaking of Chicago,

Gary tells another account of the intriguing and often murky world of crime. In today’s episode, we unfold the gripping tale of how a hapless hitman, Daniel Bounds, was entangled in a web of deceit and betrayal that ultimately led to his demise. An Outfit member named Sam Guzzino orchestrated the entire murder attempt of Al Pilotto. He played a pivotal role in recruiting Bounds. Guzzino provided him with a weapon, trained him, and even supervised the rehearsals leading up to the crime. The chilling revelation unfolds as Guzzino stands by, watching as Daniel Bounds carries out the hit, only to vanish into the night.
The Chicago Outfit has its own rules, and hitting a target involves high stakes. We explore the harsh reality that the target might survive if a hit goes wrong – if the bullets or the gun are faulty. Survivors often become dangerous witnesses, turning the tables against their assailants. In the case of Sam Guzzino and Daniel Bounds, this dilemma becomes a crucial aspect of their criminal enterprise.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
[0:00] Hey guys, hey all you wiretappers out there back here in the studio, Gangland Wire, retired intelligence sergeant Gary Jenkins.
I need to do a follow-up on a short one I did about Al Pilotto the other day.
I was on Facebook and a gal, Jimmy Free, and thanks for, at Ben Alex, and thanks for reminding me about this.
There’s a whole other story about the The murder plot on Al Palato, the Chicago outfit, Southside crew chief leader, labor racketeering guy.
He had a case pending at that point in time when this happened.
And the outfit decided he needed to go.
I mean, Al needs to go. Now, when they say you need to go, you probably need to go.
Sam Guzzino and the Inept Hitman
[0:47] Now, let me tell you about exactly how this whole thing went down.
Now, I just brushed across the top of it, kind of a fun little story.
Sam Guzzino, whose brother Richard Guzzino was in the foursome with Al Pallado.
Go back and take a look at that if you haven’t seen it.
[1:05] Sam Guzzino was an outfit member, and he was also the former father-in-law of the hit man on this deal, a guy named Daniel Bounds, who was a cab driver.
He had been married to Guzzino’s daughter and fathered a child with her.
They’d gotten a divorce, but he needed money, I suspect, and Sam Guzzino knew it. But now,

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In 1981, Southside Outfit crew chief Al Pilotto was still watching his tee shot in the air on the 8th hole at Lincolnshire Country Club when a gunman stepped out from behind the bushes and started shooting. Al survived and will die a natural death. The hitman was an amateur hired by one of the golfers, Sam Guzzino. In the end, Guzzino’s brother, Richard Guzzino, and Robert Ciarrocchi were convicted of training and arming Daniel Bounds to murder Pilotto. The Outfit took care of Sam Guzzino in the usual manner. Daniel Bounds testified and left town. Check out Part 2 for an anatomy of how this murder was carefully planned by the Marx Brothers and carrried out by the keystone cops.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
[0:00] Hey guys, welcome all you wiretappers. Gary Jenkins, retired Kansas City Intelligence Unit detective here, back in the house again.
Hey, I got a short story here for you again.
Al Pilotto, he was a Chicago outfit crew leader, if you will, crew chief of the Southside crew.
He was also big in the labor union racketeering. He was the head of Local 5 in the Laborers International Union. Union. They liked to play golf.
Al Pilotto’s Assassination Attempt on the Golf Course
[0:31] Now, he was out playing golf on a nice warm July day back in, oh, when was that?
Back in 1980-something, 30 years ago or so.
Anyhow, Tony Splattro was out in Las Vegas.
Tony Accardo was running the outfit at the time because they both were co-defendants on a labor racketry charge.
And like I said, he was out playing golf. He was He was playing with one particular guy was Sam Guzzino.
And there was Rudy Bamonte and Nick Fusci. Early in the morning, 8 o’clock in the morning, they were just on the AT at the Lincoln Shire.
It was 1981 is what it was. I just glanced up to see what it was.
[1:17] Anyhow, he had a great tee shot off that AT, they say.
And somebody jumped out behind the bush that was there and started shooting at him. and shot him four or five times with a handgun and ran off.
Well, he goes down with his golf partners and supposes shot golf partners.
These guys, I don’t know if they teed up and played on through and left him back there, or they just ran off.
They didn’t call the police is the main point I’m trying to make ...

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, we have a special guest, Jack Amato, who shares his experiences growing up in Sicily and the United States. He talks about his father’s encounters with the mafia and their journey from owning a restaurant in Brooklyn to buying a luncheonette in Glendale. Jack discusses how his father dealt with tough guys and troublemakers in the neighborhood, sometimes reaching out to wise guys for assistance. He also shares his experiences in the lunch wagon business and his involvement with figures like Joe Massino and Rusty Rastelli. The conversation then delves into the early days of running lunch wagons and catering businesses.  Jack Amato discusses the relationships formed with prominent figures in the industry, such as mafia members like Joe Massino and Rusty Rastelli. They talk about the buying and selling of products, including cigarettes without a stamp, and the arrangement in which a percentage of sales would be paid to Joe Massino for the items provided. Jack Amato describes his personal experiences and interactions with various mobsters. He shares stories of confrontations, alliances, and even getting shot in the stomach during a robbery attempt. He discusses his decision to focus on the pizzeria business and interact with figures like Pizza Connection conspirators like Baldo Amaro and Cesar Bonaventura. Jack also relates his involvement in bookmaking and other ventures, including opening a maintenance and cleaning business. The conversation then turns as Jack Amato discusses legal troubles, accusations, and encounters with law enforcement. They talk about Jack being arrested and facing serious charges, including attempted murder and conspiracy. Jack Amato maintains his innocence and describes the pressure to cooperate with authorities. They also discuss the changing dynamics within the mob and the different power figures that emerged.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
[0:00] Welcome, all you wiretappers out there. Good to be back here in the studio.
Gangland Wire, you know, retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins here.
And I have a really interesting, different sort of an interview.
We’ve got a man from Sicily. I started noticing this man on our podcast page.
Gangland Wire podcast was posting and he has a book that he’s written and it tells a...

Retired intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you a new podcast that he is excited about. On Our Watch: New Folsom is a gripping investigative podcast series brought to you by KQED. This show delves into the stories of two courageous correctional officers. These officers face severe consequences after exposing corruption and abuse within their ranks. Through powerful elements like interrogation tapes, 911 audio, prison phone calls, personal recordings, and emotional interviews, the show masterfully unravels the flaws in the accountability system. It’s a heart-pounding and explosive narrative that you don’t want to miss. But wait, there’s more! Stay tuned for an upcoming trailer that will give you a taste of the intensity and intrigue that awaits you. And once you’ve listened, find and follow On Our Watch wherever you get your podcasts. Trust me, you don’t want to miss out on the whole story. The journey begins with a man who dreams of becoming an investigator in Folsom, California’s most dangerous prison. He knows correctional officers promise to protect the innocent and hold each other accountable. However, inside the prison walls, promises are broken, fear, intimidation, and violence take control, and lives hang in the balance. It’s a stunning tale of two individuals who dare to challenge the unwritten brotherhood code and pay a heavy price.
As this captivating case unfolds, it raises numerous crucial questions, and the pursuit of truth comes at an unimaginable cost. Get ready for On Our Watch, Season 2, a production from KQED. Starting on February 6th, you can expect weekly episodes to keep you on the edge of your seat. If you want to learn more, go into the app you are on now and find On Our Watch. Or click this link, On Our Watch. Trust me, this is one podcast series you won’t want to miss.
Support the podcast.
Subscribe to get new gangster stories every week.
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Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”



To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
[0:00] Hey guys, Gary Jenkins, retired intelligence unit detective here.
We’re going to do something a little different today.
I wanted to introduce you to a new show that I know you’re really going to want to listen to, On Our Watch.
On Our Watch is an investigative podcast series from KQED.
This season,

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, we have a captivating interview with Jack Amato, the author of “A Father’s Belief,” a book about his life in Sicily and his journey to the United States. Jack shares his experiences growing up in the fishing town of Carini and the matchmaking that led his family to immigrate to the US. He discusses his father’s work as a fisherman and the challenges they faced in their hometown. Moving on to his life in the United States, Jack talks about his early years in school and the language barriers he had to overcome as an immigrant. He also touches upon the presence of the Mafia in Sicily and the admiration for the Mafia folk hero Salvatore Giuliano. The episode concludes with a preview of the upcoming second part of the interview, where Jack will delve deeper into his experiences in the US, including his interactions with influential figures from the Bonanno family. Listeners are reminded to pay attention to motorcycles on the streets and provided with resources for PTSD and addiction support.
Support the podcast.
Subscribe to get new gangster stories every week.
Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire
Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”



To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
[0:00] Welcome, all you wiretappers out there. Good to be back here in the studio.
Gangland Wire, you know, retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins here.
And I have a really interesting, different sort of an interview.
We’ve got a man from Sicily. I started noticing this man on our podcast page.
Gangland Wire podcast was posting and he has a book that he’s written and it tells about his life, you know, both in Sicily and when he came over And when he came over, his family ended up, you know, getting jobs and being around some of the Bonanno families.
So he has a lot of experiences with this from, shall we say, from the, not really from the associate side, not even associate, more like from just somebody that lived in the neighborhood and people that had to do business with mob guys and with his roots in Sicily.
So his name is Jack Amato. So welcome, Jack.
[0:57] Thank you for getting me to your show. All right.
You invited me to your show. Well, I’m really anxious to have you.
Now, A Father’s Belief, part one, that’s the name of your book, correct? Yes, yes.
All right, and you can get that on Amazon, I believe, can’t you? Yes.
All right,

In this episode, we explored the fascinating history of the River Quay area in Kansas City and its unfortunate downfall at the hands of organized crime. The conversation began by highlighting the initial grassroots development led by artists like Lou Marik and Philomene Bennett, who opened studios and attracted other entrepreneurs to the area. Marion Trozzolo renovated and leased old buildings to artists, boutique owners, and young restaurant owners. The area quickly became a hotspot for young people, singles, and live music lovers. The rise of the River Quay district also caught the attention of the mob, who wanted a share of its success.  Members of the Civella family felt they owned this area next to the City Market. Nick Civella, the boss, operated through his brother Corky and underboss Tuffy DeLuna. Willie Cammisano, a capo for the mob, had a crew responsible for street rackets and enforcement activities. Despite the presence of the mob, many clubs and businesses thrived in the area.  A large urban renewal project forced out 12th Street strip clubs owned by mobsters. Gary remembers working in the area and being offered drinks by generous bar owners.
These events turned darker as tensions between a River Quay bar owner named Freddy Bonadonna, who owned a joint in the River Quay area, and the mob. The mob demanded a cut of his parking lot profits and assistance obtaining liquor licenses, but Freddy resisted their control. This resistance placed him at odds with the organized crime family and eventually led to dangerous confrontations. Freddy’s father, David Bonadonna, was found murdered in the trunk of a green Mustang, marking a tragic turn of events.
Gary recounts this mob murder that was never solved and offers insight into the tight-lipped nature of the Kansas City mob when it came to disclosing information about murders. He shared stories about other mob members who were uncooperative with the FBI’s efforts to gather evidence. The conversation also mentioned a large brick building owned by Freddy and his brother, which was mysteriously blown up, leading investigators to suspect an insurance scheme rather than a mob war.
The episode concluded by discussing the revitalization of the city market and downtown Kansas City, with new developments, lofts, clubs, and the construction of the T-Mobile Center. The River Quay area eventually recovered and became thriving once again, showcasing the city’s resilience.
Support the podcast.
Subscribe to get new gangster stories every week.
Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire
Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”



To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary shares an exciting story about Al Capone, the famous gang leader. It turns out that in the 1920s, Capone accidentally shot himself with his pistol. He ended up in the hospital with bullet wounds in his legs and groin. It reminded me of a similar mishap involving a policeman and his gun. Capone was playing golf with a guy named Johnny Patton, known as Burnham’s boy mayor. They were at a golf course called the Burnham Golf Lanes, where Capone had a .45 caliber pistol in his pocket. The gun discharged and injured him. Patton took him to the hospital in Hammond, where Capone was given a suite under the name Gary. He stayed with his guards until he recovered, and visitors were turned away to maintain his secrecy. The article mentioned some of his guards, including Louie “Little New York” Campagna and the Gennaro brothers. Capone seemed to be surrounded by tight security during his time at the hospital. Interestingly, the article also revealed that the golf course where the accident occurred was associated with the mayor of Burnham, who used the clubhouse for gambling and speakeasy activities. Overall, it’s an intriguing piece of Capone’s history, and if anyone knows more stories about him playing golf, feel free to share in the comments.  
Gary encourages listeners to check out the Gangland Wire Facebook Group, which boasts over 50,000 members. While occasional arguments arise, we strictly avoid engaging in politics or bullying. If anyone harasses or bullies others, we promptly block them. As the group administrator, I dedicate a significant amount of time to handle any problems that may arise. Additionally, I have two co-administrators who assist me with managing the group.   If you’re interested in delving further into the Kansas City Mob, you can find my movies on Amazon. “Gangland Wire” explores the skim investigation from the Kansas City perspective, offering unique insights not covered in the film “Casino.” A hidden microphone placed in Ross Strada’s tavern known as the Villa Capri first revealed the Las Vegas connection. I also have another movie available for rent that focuses on the mob war in Kansas City called Brothers Against Brothers: The Civella Spero. If you prefer reading, check out my book Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos. It is available on Kindle for $4.99. You’ll find links within the book to listen to the actual wiretaps and conversations.   For those interested, I also have physical copies of the book. At the moment, I can’t think of anything else to promote, but I want to express my gratitude to all of you for tuning in. If you or someone you know is struggling with drugs or alcohol, I recommend visiting Anthony Ruggiano in Florida. He’s a former Gambino soldier who is now a drug and alcohol counselor, and he has a YouTube page where he shares valuable information. So, please remember to come back and listen to me every week. 
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In this episode of Gangland Wire, we are joined by former KCPD detectives Jim Harrington and Rick Smith to discuss a famous case involving mobster Angelo Porrello. The case revolves around stealing millions of dollars in diamonds and jewelry from a high-end jewelry store in Kansas City. The detectives initially suspected that a car chase involving out-of-town robbers from Los Angeles might be connected to the theft. However, further investigation revealed that the robbers were involved in credit card fraud, making it unlikely that they were responsible.   Undeterred by the lack of leads, Harrington and Smith took on the case and gathered information through tips and informants. They discovered a possible connection to a man named Clarence Burnett, who may have been involved in the robbery. The detectives observed that the theft involved suspects arriving in a Jeep Cherokee and splitting up to break into the safe and display cases. They also noted that the suspects had previously committed other robberies, indicating a progression in their skills and targets.   During their investigation, the detectives found links to a bondsman in Kansas City who bought stolen jewelry from the targeted store. Through surveillance, they identified Burnett leaving the bondsman’s location, leading to a breakthrough in the case. This information was shared with the FBI, who conducted a sting operation and purchased stolen diamonds, one of which was identified as stolen from the jewelry store.   As the investigation progressed, Burnett was arrested for cocaine possession and persuaded to cooperate with the FBI. His cooperation helped identify the rest of the crew involved in the robbery.
Additionally, connections were made to the Porrello crime family, specifically Angelo Porrello and their pawn shop. The stolen merchandise was believed to have been unloaded at the pawn shop and sold through Joe Porrello’s legitimate jewelry store. The FBI played a crucial role in uncovering these connections.   The case led to numerous sting operations and ultimately resulted in the arrests and prosecution of those involved. The detectives reflect on Clarence Burnett’s criminal associates and his progression from stealing cars as a young kid to his involvement with the mob. They discuss the possibility of inviting Burnett onto the show to share his story and explore the evolution of criminal activity.   Throughout the episode, the detectives also discuss their experiences with surveillance, collaboration with the FBI, and some personal anecdotes from their time working on the case. They highlight the importance of teamwork and cooperation in solving complex cases. The episode ends with reminders to support the podcast and messages related to mental health and addiction issues.
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To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Dom...

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, author Michael Wolraich and Gary discuss his book, The Bishop and the Buterfly. This is about the murder of Vivian Gordon, a prostitute connected to wealthy men, and Prohibition-era organized crime figures like Arnold Rothstein, Legs Diamond, Dutch Schultz, and others. The author explains the corruption within the government and political system, highlighting the investigation’s challenges and media coverage. We learned the investigators uncovered a collection of diaries with incriminating information about gangsters, leading to demands for an anti-corruption investigation. The climax occurs during a meeting between Mayor Jimmy Walker, investigator Samuel Seabury, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. We also touch on the history of New York City and Mayor LaGuardia’s efforts to clean up the city.
 
Click here to find Michael Wolraich’s author page.
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Transcript
[0:00] Welcome all you wiretappers out there back here in the studio of Gangland Wire.
Retired intelligence unit detective Gary Jenkins coming from Kansas City.
And guys, I have Michael Wolraich here with us in the studio or on the Zoom.
And he has a book called The Bishop and the Butterfly. I’ll have links to how you buy that book in the show notes.
Here’s a picture of the cover. If you’re on YouTube, you’ll see that.
It’s a really interesting look at New York City. The son of the seamy underbelly and the corruption of New York City during the 1930s just come out of prohibition, really, and going into the Depression era during this time.
And there’s a prostitute named Vivian Gordon that has been murdered.
A good murder mystery always starts out with a body.
And so we start out with a body. Right, Michael?
Exactly. Yeah. I mean, she was, you know, they discovered her and they didn’t know who she was at first. Her body was found in a gully in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, which is a number.
It was a popular dumping ground for bodies in the 1930s, maybe still is.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, Gary and Mob lawyer expert Tony Taouk continue exploring the world of mob lawyers and focus on Sidney Korshak, a mob lawyer and fixer for the Chicago Outfit. Korshak’s success was built on his connections, using them to negotiate criminal charges and bribe officials. He extended his influence to labor unions, Hollywood, and Las Vegas. Despite investigations, he remained anonymous and evaded severe consequences. We also touch on the role of Jewish gangsters in Las Vegas development. Lastly, we provide resources for veterans with PTSD and individuals struggling with substance abuse.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
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To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Traqnscript
[0:00] Welcome, all you wiretappers out there back here in the studio of Gangland Wire.
As you can see, if you’re on YouTube, it’s a nice cold day in Kansas City here, and we are going all the way back down to Sydney, Australia.
You know our friend Tony Tok, who is, shall we say, a contributor and the mob lawyer aficionado and expert that we go to. We want to know about mob lawyers.
I notice not many other people deal with mob lawyers out there, And we’ve dealt with, I don’t know, God, Bruce Cutler and Oscar Goodman and a bunch of them.
So I know if you haven’t, if you’re interested in mob lawyers and you haven’t listened to those or watched them on YouTube, go back and find those that we have on mob lawyers because they’re a great show.
Tony, welcome. Thank you for having me.
It’s great to have you back. As we can tell by your accent, you’re down under and it’s winter here, but it’s getting summer down there. Is that correct?
[0:55] That’s right. Right. It would be equivalent to, say, San Diego.
Okay. Interesting. Well, it’s nice weather in San Diego. I know that.
Year-round, it’s nice weather in San Diego.
Sidney Korshak: A Shadow Among Shadows
[1:07] So we’re going to talk about Sidney Korshak, and I’ve looked up stuff on him.
I even had a book about him for a while. I borrowed from a friend of mine that was so dense, and I finally just gave it back to him.
But I did a bunch of research for this show, and I know you’ve really done a lot of research,

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, we explore the captivating story of Dominic Napolitano aka “Sonny Black” and his crew, prominent members of the Bonanno crime family. We delve into Sonny Black’s rise through the mafia ranks, his close bond with Joe Massino, and their involvement in various criminal activities. The dynamics between Sonny Black and Joe Pistone, aka Donnie Brasco, unfold in a tale of trust and betrayal. We uncover Sonny Black’s illegal activities and Joe Pistone’s undercover role, highlighting the dangers of organized crime. Lastly, we examine the aftermath and the impact on the Bonanno family. Plus, we hear retired FBI Agent Doug Fencl’s account of telling Sonny Black that the man he knows as Donnie Brasco is FBI agent Joe Pistone.
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To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
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Transcript
…outside till I could see nobody else was in there, and I went in, and I introduced myself to him, and he’d heard my name before, so he knew who I was, and he went ballistic, and I mean…
[0:00] Well, hey, all you wiretappers out there back here in studio of Gangland Wire, retired intelligence unit detective Gary Jenkins, I’ve got the story of Dominic Sonny Black Napoleon Tano.
He is he will go down in history as the most stand up guy ever, I think, in the mob.
You know, he and Joe Pistone, those are two names that are forever, I mean, forever intertwined in the history of organized crime in the United States.
Their story is one of trust, betrayal, and the dangerous world of the Mafia, and believe me, we know it’s a dangerous spot out there.
Sonny Black Napolitano was a really high -ranking member of the Bonanno family, and one of the five families that dominated organized crime in New York City during the mid -20th century.
[0:44] He was known as a tough, savvy mobster, had risen through the ranks really by his personality, his strong personality, his leadership skills, and a sheer force of will. This guy, he was a man’s man.
He was born in 1930, which doesn’t make him 93 today. That’s kind of hard to believe, isn’t it?
A little history on him. His grandparents were immigrants from Naples now, so he’s Napolitano.
He was not from Sicily. He was from Naples, so he is not born and bred mafia dude.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. This episode delves into the ongoing mob war in St. Louis, focusing on the power struggle between the Syrians and the Italians. Led by Paul Leisure, the Syrians aimed to gain control of the labor union racketeering and diminish the influence of the Italians, who were closely aligned with Jimmy Michaels. The murder of John Spica, appointed by Tony Giordano to push out the Syrians, still remains a mystery to law enforcement.
On the other hand, the Italians are facing internal disarray with a weak leader, Mike Trupiano, who has lost respect within the organization. Both factions heavily rely on the construction industry unions, which provide opportunities for corruption and control over job placements.
Pauly Leisure, a meticulous planner, had already devised a plan to kill John Spica. Now, he and his crew set their sights on Jimmy Michaels. Attempting to ambush Michaels at a diner and his home failed, leaving them frustrated. They eventually decided to use a bomb, meticulously practicing the installation process on a stolen car identical to Michaels’. They discovered that Michaels often attended a Wednesday luncheon at a church, where he mingled with politicians and business leaders.
On the day of the hit, the team arrived at the church undercover in a van, with one member keeping a watchful eye in a nearby tow truck. David Leisure successfully planted the bomb under Michaels’ car while Anthony Leisure had the remote control device. However, the bomb failed to detonate when they activated the transmitter. On high alert, they caught up with Michaels on the road, hoping to get close enough for the remote control to work.
To their surprise, the van bombed Michaels’ car, causing his death in a gruesome manner. The van managed to escape the scene and sought refuge in Illinois, utilizing connections within the criminal underworld to cover their tracks. Michaels’ death sent shockwaves through the St. Louis community, suspecting Pauly Leisure as the culprit. St. Louis mafia boss John Battaglia confronts Leisure, but Leisure refuses to acknowledge his involvement.
Leisure’s actions inadvertently benefit the Italian mafia, as Michaels’ ownership in a Las Vegas casino will transfer to remaining investors upon his death. Leisure takes over Local 110 and eliminates Michaels’ relatives from the union, further consolidating his power. This death raises concerns among mob bosses across the country, tarnishing their reputations.
The situation in St. Louis remains tense, with some believing the dispute has been resolved, while uncertainty lingers. Leisure gains more power through an alliance with Raymond Flynn in Laborers Union Local 42, promising extra money to his loyal soldiers. In response, the Michaels family seeks revenge and contributes to a war chest to eliminate those responsible for Michaels’ death, putting bounties on the heads of Polly and Anthony Leisure.
The host then transitions to a different segment, discussing the various tactics employed by the Leisures and their associates in seeking retribution. They assemble a hit squad, renting an apartment for secret planning. They collaborate with the Chief of Police in St. George for untraceable surveillance vehicles. They construct a bomb, leaving behind incriminating evidence and fingerprints. The hit squad manages to ambush Leisure, detonating a remote-control bomb under his car, severely injuring him. However, Leisure remains determined to seek revenge.
The feud escalates further, leading to kidnappings and torture, with brutal methods including red-hot pokers and a blowtorch being considered. The host informs listeners of the evolving story, detailing their attempted bombings and multiple clashes with associates and rivals. Ultimately, the FBI begins turning people,

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this segment, we delve into the life and influence of Angelo Bruno, the Philadelphia boss of the Mafia. We aim to fill in knowledge gaps and increase our understanding of the Mafia in the United States. Angelo Bruno, also known as the Gentle Don, stood out from others in the mob due to his preference for peace over violence. He was born in Italy and migrated to the United States as a child. One of his significant associations was with Carlo Gambino, the boss of the New York Gambino crime family. Bruno’s cousin, John Simone, connected him to the mob. To establish himself in the Philadelphia Mafia, Bruno changed his name from Antoloro to Bruno and was sponsored by Michael Maggio. Bruno married in 1931 and had two children. He owned various businesses, including an extermination company in New Jersey and an aluminum products company in Florida.
Additionally, he had a share in the Plaza Hotel in Havana, Cuba. Throughout his life, Bruno faced several arrests for offenses such as illegal alcohol sales and gambling. In 1959, there was a plot to assassinate him, but he emerged as the boss of the family after the conspiracy was revealed. Bruno successfully evaded media attention and lengthy prison sentences for the next two decades. He prohibited his family’s involvement in narcotics trafficking and focused on traditional Costa Nostra operations like bookmaking and loan sharking. Some family members were discontent with this decision and suspected Bruno of profiting from the narcotics business secretly. This will ultimately lead to his murder.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
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To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
 
[0:00] Well, hey, guys, welcome back here in the studio of Gangland Wire.
Gary Jenkins here, retired Kansas City Police intelligence detective with one more of my little short bios, not a real in-depth bio, but a bio of the Philadelphia boss, Angelo Bruno.
You know, I’m doing these bios to kind of fill in any knowledge gaps because, you know, when you talk about to interview an author, for example, from a book and he’ll say something about, of course, Angelo Bruno was killed.
Well, you know, sometimes we go, well, who is Angelo Bruno? Well, I know he’s from Philadelphia.
Well, you know, what else about him? So I’m trying to help you all fill in your knowledge gaps and fill in my own too...

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode of Gangland Wire, I discuss the unusual setup between the St. Louis Italian Mafia’s Tony Giordano and a Lebanese-Syrian mob family boss named James “Horseshoe Jimmy” Michaels, the former leader of the notorious Cuckoo Gang in St. Louis during Prohibition. Michaels had an agreement with the Italian Mafia, and they had a peaceful coexistence. However, after the death of St. Louis mafia Don Anthony “Tony G” Giordano, the Leisure family, half Syrian and half Lebanese, saw an opportunity to challenge Michaels and his organization. They blamed Michaels for not retaliating for the murder of one of their brothers years prior. The Leisures were involved in labor union racketeering, which was also a focus of Michaels’ organization. I explore the background of John Spica, an underling of Giordano with a criminal history, including murder. Giordano was grooming Spica for more significant things within the mafia. He was a rising star in the St. Louis mafia, and Giordano saw him as a surrogate son. Giordano’s trust in Spica was evident when he made him a part owner of a cigarette and amusement machine company. This episode sets the stage for the conflict between Horseshoe Jimmy Michaels and the Leisures and the internal power struggles within the St. Louis mafia. During his early days in prison, John Spica attempted to muscle in on the narcotics traffic, but other convicts quickly put him back in line. In 1979, he made a serious error in judgment by putting his loyalty to his prison buddy, Carl Spero, above his subservience to the Mafia. The Sparrow brothers were engaged in a deadly war with the Kansas City Mafia, and Spica’s actions were seen as a betrayal. Nick Civella, a member of the Mafia, demanded that Spica be murdered. However, Tony Giordano, a boss in the St. Louis family, believed Spica could still be valid and convinced Civella to spare his life. A sit-down was arranged between Spica and Civella to try and reconcile their differences, but the meeting did not go well, leading to tensions between St. Louis and Kansas City. A power struggle among the Syrians in the Laborers’ Union will cause problems. Giordano has appointed his nephew, Mike Trupiano, as president despite not having the interests of the working class at heart. Trupiano, known more for being a gambler, is seen as a bumbling mobster. A federal informant records Trupiano saying derogatory things about the rank and file, adding to his lack of respect. Tony G, suffering from cancer, is grooming Trupiano to take over as boss, but many doubt his ability to lead. To increase Italian influence and decrease Syrian influence in the union, a plan is launched to take money and power from Ray Flynn, a closer ally of the Syrians. Spica, already on edge from his troubles in Kansas City, openly discusses his plan to take out Flynn. Despite being assured of his safety by Giordano, Spica is killed in a car bombing. The murder sparks a war between the different crime families in St. Louis, particularly the Italian Mafia, the Syrian and Lebanese factions, and the Local ruled by Art Berne in Illinois. These families all have a stake in the lucrative construction contracts and control over influential labor unions. The power dynamics and conflicts within the St. Louis underworld will dominate headlines for years. In the final episode of our podcast, we delve into the cold case of the Spica bombing. This mafia murder has remained unsolved, with nobody coming forward to provide any leads. The hope is that someone involved in another case will confess to the murder, but that is unlikely. Over the years, it becomes apparent that Nick Civella is the prime suspect, and Paul Leisure is relying on this to avoid retaliation from the Italians. We also explore the story of Matthew Trupiano, a do-nothing boss,

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, we take a deep dive into the book “The Outfit” by Gus Russo, which explores the life of Al Capone and sheds light on the hypocrisy of the American justice system and the robber barons of the era. Capone ran his bootleg empire like a corporation, complete with divisions, managers, and a division of labor. He even had a political lobbying arm and a succession plan in place. Frank Nitti, who came from the Brooklyn to Chicago gangster pipeline, played a significant role in Capone’s organization. Starting as a barber, Nitti eventually became a top-shelf whiskey smuggler and took over as boss when Capone went to prison. However, the pressure of being the boss took its toll on Nitti, and he tragically committed suicide after taking the fall for a Hollywood extortion scam.
Capone often compared his organization to supposedly legitimate companies and robber barons of the time, highlighting their mistreatment of employees and battles against labor unions. It was an era with few federal regulations, allowing businesses to operate as they pleased. Capone even influenced dairy companies to put expiration dates on milk bottles after his niece fell ill from rancid milk. These parallels between so-called legitimate companies and mobsters are fascinating, as they both operated with little concern for the well-being of others.
In another part of our conversation, we delve into corruption involving banks and robber barons. During the time of the failing banks, certain individuals encouraged people to put their money into another bank that would also fail, yet no legal consequences were faced. We also discuss Joseph P. Kennedy, who engaged in unethical practices to acquire a chain of film theaters and was involved in bootlegging. Although he was initially convicted on false charges, his conviction was later reversed.
Regarding Joe Kennedy’s involvement in bootlegging, there is limited concrete evidence, but we do know that his father had a bar and a wholesale liquor business. Kennedy seized the opportunity to capitalize on liquor sales during Prohibition until it was lifted. He then made a significant profit through exclusive contracts with British distillers. In comparison, Al Capone had a different approach to illegal activities.
We want to give special thanks to Ben Ellickson for providing us with valuable reading material on this subject. Ben has also proven a great friend through his thoughtful gift of a Prohibition-era glass whiskey bottle and his expertise in operating a backhoe.
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. This is the first in my three-part series on the history of organized crime in St. Louis, MO. This episode delves into the fascinating world of St. Louis crime families. We are joined by author Daniel Waugh, who has written several books on the topic. Daniel introduces his books, including “Egan’s Rats,” “Gangs of St. Louis, Men of Respect,” “Off Color: Detroit’s Purple Gang,” “Vinnita: The Birth of the Detroit Mafia,” and “Beithioch: The Life and World of a Chicago Gangster.” We discuss the diverse mix of Syrians, Irish, and Italians in St. Louis, eventually forming the Italian and Syrian mafia. We learn about the connection between the Detroit and St. Louis mafia, as many families from both regions come from the same Sicilian towns.Click here to find all of Daniel’s books on Amazon.
Daniel takes us back to the early days of gangs in St. Louis, specifically discussing Egan’s Rats. This gang started as a riverfront gang and later became a political terrorist, engaging in illegal voting and other forms of intimidation. We also learn about Thomas Kenny, one of the early gangsters, and the relationship between Fred Killer Burke and Al Capone. Fred Killer Burke, who started as a small-time criminal in Kansas, joined Egan’s Rats and later became involved in bootlegging and high-profile thefts.
One notable crime committed by Egan’s Rats was the robbery of the United Railways Company office in St. Louis. They got away with $39,000 in cash but had to carjack another motorist when their getaway car had a tire issue. After Egan’s Rats went to prison, some members joined the Cuckoo Gang and later attached themselves to the Purple Gang. Fred Burke, in particular, became an expert with the Thompson machine gun and was eventually taken in by the Capone mob, carrying out high-risk assignments. He was connected to the murder of Frankie Yale and the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
We also explore the Pillow gang, originating from Sicilian Mafiosi, and their transition from homemade whiskey to illegal stills and beer production. A war broke out between the Sicilian gangs and the Cuckoo Gang in 1926, resulting in the Cuckoo Gang inflicting heavy casualties on the mafia and forcing other mob bosses to intervene. This war dealt a major blow to the St. Louis mob’s reputation.
We then delve into the Russo brothers and the migration of their faction to Cleveland and Detroit after they were killed during Prohibition. Thomas Licavoli established a powerful crew in Toledo, and his cousin, Jack Licavoli, became the boss of the Cleveland family. Another Licavoli brother, Pete, remained in Detroit before eventually moving to Arizona.
Tony Giordano emerges after Prohibition and becomes connected to a gangland homicide. We also discuss the Syrian families led by Jimmy Michaels, who grew up in Soulard and formed the Cuckoo Gang. They partnered with older crooks and eventually became leaders themselves through criminal actions. Jimmy Michaels, in particular, became a prime suspect in multiple gangland homicides by the age of 22.
We learn about the autonomous relationship between Jimmy Michaels and the Sicilian mafia and the emergence of the Leisure family, which later clashed with Michaels, leading to a war in the early 1980s. The St. Louis mob, managed by Chicago, made significant profits from gambling, union racketeering, and handling stolen goods. The Chicago outfit had a strong influence over the St. Louis mob, including approving the appointment of a new boss.
We also touch on the corrupt practices within the St. Louis Police Department during Prohibition,

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, we dive into the captivating life and legacy of Ruggerio “Ritchie the Boot” Boriardo, an infamous figure in organized crime. From his humble beginnings to his rise to power, we explore the triumphs and tragedies that defined his existence. Join us as we uncover the story of a man who became an emblem of a criminal empire.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
[0:00] Hey, guys, here’s a little bonus episode for you. The untold saga of Ritchie the Boot Boriardo.
In a dimly lit underworld of crime and betrayal, one name echoed through the decades like a haunting refrain.
Ruggiero Boriardo, also known as Boot, Ritchie the Boot.
Born on December the 8th, 1890 in Naples, Italy, Boriardo’s life unfolded like a gripping drama, leaving an indelible mark on the annals of organized crime.
From the gritty streets of Newark, New Jersey to the sprawling territories of North Jersey, Richie the Boot emerged as a formidable force, a capo regime in the New Jersey faction of the infamous Genovese crime family.
His ascent to power was marked by a web of intrigue and ruthlessness that captivated the criminal underworld for over three tumultuous decades.
[0:48] Boyardo’s early years were shrouded in mystery. He painted a vivid picture of a man molded by adversity.
Placed in an orphanage as a child, he spun tales of being the illegitimate son of an Italian nobleman claiming descent from Matteo Maria Boiardo.
His ominous moniker, the Boot, hinted at a heavy-footed disposition that struck fear in the hearts of his gangland foes.
Richie the Boot: A Rollercoaster of Violence and Vendettas
[1:11] In other words, he kicked their butt every once in a while.
[1:15] Richie the Boot had a career criminal that was a rollercoaster of violence and vendettas.
In In the early 1930s, he survived a vicious ambush, leaving him with 12 buckshot pellet wounds in his chest.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary discusses the Youngstown Mob. with special guests Johnny Chechitelli and James Jimmy Naples, who share their experiences and insights.  The conversation is about a tragic bombing that took place in 1962, where Charlie Cavallaro Sr. and his two sons were targeted. This incident sparks our interest in further exploring the history of the Youngstown mob. Jim Naples started a Facebook group called Youngstown Mob, which gained an impressive membership of 31,000. This online community eventually led to the creation of the Youngstown Mob Talk podcast, and their live shows also gained significant attention.   A particularly intriguing guest who joined their group was Charlie Cavallaro Jr., who survived the bombing despite severe injuries. Despite his involvement in the mob, Charlie had never spoken about his experience. However, he agreed to talk to the podcast hosts, forming a friendship with them through their online platform.   The guests tell us about an event they organized that focused on the Cavallaro bombing. They brought in Cecil Moses, the last living FBI agent who worked on the case codenamed CAVBOMB. Throughout the discussion, we learn about the various mafia factions involved in the Youngstown mob, such as LaRocca in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. The Naples faction, with Sandy Naples as its leader, engaged in racketeering and gambling operations. The story follows a familiar pattern of mafia conflicts, with the established mafia seeking a cut of Sandy’s successful operations.   The hosts share their experience organizing the CAVBOMB show, where they brought together the Naples and Cavallaro families for a memorable evening with dinner and live music. The event was filmed, and plans are underway to release it on pay-per-view for Christmas.  The conversation also touches on the history of remote car starters, the creativity of mob bombings, and Charlie Cavallaro Sr.’s involvement in the mob. Charlie traveled and worked in various cities, including Rochester, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh. Interestingly, despite facing numerous challenges and near-death experiences, Charlie survived and even became a family man.   The hosts discuss the Youngstown mob’s involvement in gambling, including policy operations and the tradition of gambling in Youngstown dating back to the 1940s. They also explore the FBI’s investigations into the mob’s activities but acknowledge that their efforts were often ineffective in bringing down the mob due to their ability to care for themselves.   To shed further light on the Youngstown mob, retired FBI agent Cecil Moses joins the conversation. He shares intriguing documents, including the story of an informant who was offered induction into the local mob and J. Edgar Hoover’s directive to persuade the informant to accept the offer. Moses also reveals that Youngstown was not under the rule of either Cleveland or Pittsburgh but operated separately by Italian factions.   The conversation weaves in personal anecdotes, emphasizing the deep ties between Youngstown and the mob. The hosts discuss their interactions with judges and their grandfather’s behind-the-scenes influence on local politics. They also mention various live shows and events, including a master class with a prominent burglar and the role of Eddie Allen, the former chief of police who consulted on the Godfather film.  
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. The Lucchese family, sometimes referred to as the “Brogada,” was involved in a wide array of criminal activities such as extortion, loan sharking, and gambling. As a cunning and violent leader, Lucchese aligned himself with Vito Genovese during Genovese’s bid to become the boss of bosses. However, Lucchese later allied with Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Meyer Lansky, and Carlo Gambino. He played a pivotal role in orchestrating a narcotics conviction against Genovese, which ultimately led to Genovese’s downfall and marked the beginning of the Mafia’s decline.
Interestingly, connections between families exist even within the criminal underworld. An example of this is seen in the feudal world where Thomas Gambino, Carlos Gambino’s son, married Frances Lucchesi, the daughter of Three Fingers Brown. It is these intricate webs of relationships that add further complexity to the fabric of organized crime.
Despite his involvement in nefarious activities, Lucchese garnered a level of respect within the community due to his charitable donations to local organizations. He passed away in New York City in 1969, leaving behind a notorious and influential legacy as one of the most dominant mobsters of the 20th century. While not as widely recognized as figures like Lucky Luciano or Frank Costello, Lucchese operated behind the scenes, exerting significant influence.
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Transcript
[0:00] Well, hey guys, Gary Jenkins here, retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Unit detective.
Back here with one of my little short bios. I, you know, I did Vito Genovese recently.
This is gonna be about Thomas Lucchese, better known as Tommy Brown or Three Fingers Brown.
He was a prominent American mobster and the founding member of the Lucchese crime family.
He was born June 10th, 1889 in Palermo, Italy and immigrated to the United States with his family at a young age. So he’s like a real Sicilian.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode of Gangland Wire, host Gary Jenkins dives into the thrilling story of Louie, “Louis the Coin” Colavecchio, a mob associate from Providence, Rhode Island, with guests Andy Thibault, the author of the book “You’d Think It Was More,” and retired Connecticut State Police officer Jerry Longo, who arrested Louie. The book delves into Louie’s life as a master thief and counterfeiter, providing intriguing stories about the Rhode Island mob. After reading a column that Andy and Jerry had published together, Louie approached Andy with his manuscript. With the help of their friend Franz Dusky and Jerry, they worked on the manuscript for several years and got it published. The book is set to be released next June. Jerry shares his experience as a Bureau of Criminal Investigations member and his involvement in catching the individual responsible for counterfeiting casino tokens. They collaborated with law enforcement in New Jersey and Connecticut, employing a unique approach to track the suspect’s presence in the casino using the inventory system. The suspect was eventually caught with evidence of counterfeiting tokens for various casinos. The conversation continues with discussions about Louie’s connections to the Providence mob and the involvement of the Patriarca crime family in his operations. The main speaker reflects on Louie’s charismatic personality and how he maintained a presence in the casinos despite being banned by many. Louie’s criminal activities ranged from insurance scams to counterfeiting money, and he had various professions, including being a metallurgist and reverse engineer. The conversation concludes with discussions on the gaming industry, Louie’s preferences for playing slot machines for perks, and his involvement in other illegal activities.
Click here to get the book, https://louisthecoinbook.com/
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Transcript

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode of Gangland Wire, we delve into the fascinating story of Giacomo “Blackjack” Tocco, an influential figure in the Detroit Mafia. Tocco, who was born in 1927 and spent his entire life in Detroit, came from a Mafia lineage. His father, William “Black Bill” Tocco, was one of the founding members of the Detroit Mafia, known as the partnership. Tocco’s ascent within the ranks was facilitated by his familial connections, as well as his reputation for violence and intimidation. The partnership controlled various illicit activities, including gambling, loan sharking, and drug trafficking, but their most lucrative venture was their control over Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamsters Union. We catch a glimpse of Tocco’s appointment as boss through an FBI surveillance squad, who witnessed the event at a hunting farm in rural Michigan. Tocco’s intelligence, leadership abilities, and knack for consolidating power cemented his status as one of Detroit’s most formidable and feared bosses.
Moving on, this part of the podcast focusses on a well-known photograph that has circulated on mob Facebook pages. When Joseph Zerrilli died in 1977, the most senior Mafia member, John Prizola, took the reins. Before Zerrilli died, he had given a blessing to his nephew, “Black Jack” Tocco to be considered as the future boss. When Prizola died two years after Zerrilli, Partnership members honored Zerrilli and named Giacomo “Black Jack” Toco boss. He became one of the most powerful bosses the city had ever seen because of his intelligence and leadership abilities.
In 1979, Black Jack Tocco was appointed as the boss of the Detroit Mafia. In an interesting sidenote to Tocco’s appointment, FBI agent Greg Stejskal and his surveillance squad were watching a rural Michigan farm the day Black Jack Toco was anointed boss. They even trespassed into the back of this farm and grabbed a photo of Black Jack talking with Anthony Corrado and Vito Giacalone immediately after the ceremony. During his tenure as boss, Tocco oversaw the Partnership’s various illegal activities and was responsible for the organization’s continued success.
It is later revealed that “Black Jack” Tocco orchestrated numerous illegal activities and expanded the Mafia’s influence, especially in Las Vegas. Despite his involvement in organized crime, Tocco was also respected within the Detroit Italian-American community for his philanthropic work and involvement in community events.
Tocco’s reign came to an end in 2014, marking the end of an era for the Detroit Mafia. Despite losing their grasp on the Teamsters and facing intense scrutiny from the FBI, Tocco will forever be remembered as a dominating presence in the Detroit Mafia. Additionally, I take this opportunity to remind our listeners to exercise caution on the roads and seek assistance if they are grappling with PTSD or substance abuse. Our friend Anthony Ruggiano, a former member of the Gambino crime family, is now a drug and alcohol counselor in Florida. Make sure to visit his website for valuable resources and treatment options. Lastly, we would greatly appreciate it if you could like, subscribe, and leave a review on podcast platforms. Your support means a lot to us, and we eagerly await your intriguing mob stories in our Facebook group.
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins tells a captivating story of Tommy Karate Pitera and his associates. We start off with the tale of Billy Bright, a New York kid who teams up with Frank Gangi, a man with a mafia background. Together with Arthur Guvernaro, they embark on a large-scale marijuana operation. However, when Guvernaro becomes unreliable and starts stealing from the business, Billy and Frank decide to take action. They lure him to a stash house and attempt to shoot him, but Guvernaro manages to escape only to run into a police car, where he eventually dies, revealing the culprits in his dying declaration.
After serving a prison sentence for weapon possession, Frank and Billy face threats of revenge from Guvernaro’s brother, Louis Bob. Seeking protection, they turn to Tommy Karate Pitera, a respected Bonanno soldier known for his karate skills and ability to earn money for the family. With the backing of Tommy and the powerful Bonanno and Genovese families, Frank and Billy feel secure.
However, their troubles continue when Greg Reiter, an associate of John Gotti Jr., enters the picture. Reiter complains to Frank Michael Harrigan, claiming that Harrigan and Gotti Jr. are squeezing him out of a business venture. Unfortunately for Reiter, Harrigan is aligned with Tommy Pitera, making it difficult for him to go against Pitera’s interests. Harrigan decides to discuss the situation with Pitera and arranges a meeting with Reiter, unaware that they are being watched by DEA agents.
Pitera suggests meeting in a Nassau County parking lot, with Billy Bright serving as backup. Pitera reaches out to Michael, another individual involved in their dealings, and calmly informs him that Greg Reiter needs to be dealt with immediately. Harrigan, initially hesitant, is swayed by the fear of losing money and potential involvement of dangerous individuals. When Reiter questions why this is happening, Pitera pulls out a shotgun and shoots him multiple times. Ken Harrigan points at Pitera in response to Reiter’s confusion. Reiter dies shortly after, and his body is placed in Harrigan’s car trunk. The three men then bury Reiter in a wildlife sanctuary in Nassau County.
Despite witnessing such brutality, Harrigan continues doing business with Pitera until he eventually distances himself. Harrigan faces legal consequences and is implicated in Pitera’s trial. Gansey, who testified against Pitera and joined witness protection, initially intended to give an interview but later retracted and may have passed away. Pitera, meanwhile, currently serves a life sentence for his involvement in drug dealings and sells paintings. Rumors circulate that Bright was killed in prison by the A.B. gang, allegedly hired by Greg Reiter’s brother, Mark Reiter, seeking revenge. It is noteworthy that they couldn’t get the A.B. to kill Tommy Karate, suggesting that Tommy himself pulled the trigger in Reiter’s shooting.
In further discussion, we explore Tommy Karate’s power and the mob’s influence within the federal prison system. While other groups hold some power, the ABs seem to have the most sway, not just in prisons but across the entire system. It’s yet another fascinating tale of murder and the mob in New York City. We appreciate your support and encourage you to like, review, and subscribe to our podcast. New episodes are released weekly, with occasional bonus episodes. If you ride motorcycles, stay alert on the streets, and if you’re dealing with PTSD, don’t hesitate to seek help from resources like the VA website and hotline. Anthony Ruggiano, a Gambino guy, is also available on his website, YouTube channel, and hotline to assist with drug and alcohol problems. Lastly, we welcome corrections if there are any inaccuracies in our presentation. Thank you once again for your support.
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We have an incredible story to share in today’s episode. It revolves around three burglars, Jerry Scalise, Art Rachel, and Bobby Palia, who were connected to the Chicago outfit. These individuals were planning to break into the home of the deceased leader of the vicious Chinatown crew, Angelo “the Hook” La Pietra. However, this case is even more intriguing because La Pietra was already deceased, yet his widow was still residing there.
At the same time, the FBI was conducting an investigation into these criminals. As a former cop, I can tell you that catching criminals in the act is an exhilarating experience. In 2010, the FBI had been closely monitoring Scalise, Rachel, and Palia, who were known to be highly skilled thieves. The FBI obtained audio intercepts of their conversations, which further piqued their interest.
Interestingly, these intercepted conversations hinted at the possibility of solving the infamous Marlboro Diamond Theft that had taken place in 1980. Scalise and Rachel, the leaders of the group, were involved in this diamond theft in London, where the Marlboro Diamond, worth millions of dollars, was stolen and never recovered.
The FBI also overheard the burglars discussing their plan to break into La Pietra’s house. They even mentioned using toothpaste to hide any holes they would drill. The FBI’s primary interest, however, was gathering information about the whereabouts of the stolen Marlboro Diamond.
As it turns out, the decision to target La Pietra’s house was fueled by the discovery that a high-ranking mob member, Nick Calabrese, possessed a considerable amount of cash and diamonds. This inspired the thieves to target La Pietra’s widow, as they believed valuable items would be inside the house.
This wasn’t just a typical burglary but a full-blown home invasion. The FBI had been diligently tailing these criminals and collecting evidence against them. Finally, in early April 2010, the FBI made their move and apprehended Scalise, Palia, and Rachel outside La Pietra’s home.
The burglars were caught red-handed with various tools such as drills, blades, a ladder, tool bags, black tape, and flashlights. They seemed to have all the necessary items to carry out their intended robbery. The presence of glass cleaner could have been an attempt to remove fingerprints, while the black tape was likely intended to restrain both the widow and the housekeeper.
Deciding when to intervene in a crime is always challenging for law enforcement. In this case, with evidence of the criminals’ plans and witnessing their movement towards the target location, the FBI decided it was time to take them into custody.
Scalise, Palia, and Rachel were all charged with attempted burglary and a gun possession charge. They received equal sentences for their involvement in the crime.
Catching criminals in the act is a thrilling experience for law enforcement, especially when it involves dismantling an entire crew. We appreciate your support and also like to remind you to be cautious of motorcycles on the road. If you or someone you know is dealing with PTSD, we recommend reaching out to the VA for assistance.
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In this episode, retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Unit detective Gary Jenkins dives into the thrilling story of two master thieves from Chicago, Jerry the Monk Scalise and Art the Brain Rachel. These notorious criminals were part of the infamous Wild Bunch and were involved in various criminal activities in Chicago. However, their story takes an interesting turn when they fly to London in 1980 to steal the famous Marlboro Diamond, a massive 45-carat diamond.
Lawrence Graff, the owner of Graff’s Jewelry Store in Knightsbridge, London, had acquired a reputation for luxury jewelry and had famous diamonds like the Emperor Maximilian and Idol Eye in his collection. In 1980, he purchased the Marlboro Diamond, which had an intriguing history as it originally belonged to Gladys Marie Spencer Churchill, the wife of the 9th Duke of Marlboro.
On September 11th, 1980, two men, eventually revealed as Jerry “the Monk” Scalise and Art “the Brain” Rachel, entered Graff’s store to assess its security measures. Two days later, they returned dressed in suits that allowed them easy access. Armed with a gun and what appeared to be a hand grenade, they threatened the security guard and swiftly grabbed the Marlboro Diamond along with other valuable pieces from the display.
Unbeknownst to the thieves, Colin Prothero, an alert accountant on his lunch break, and his girlfriend witnessed their suspicious behavior and promptly informed the authorities about the incident. Prothero even managed to jot down the license plate of their getaway car, which turned out to be a rental from Hertz at Heathrow Airport.
While the thieves made a hasty escape, the alert account followed them on foot through the bustling streets of London without being noticed. He observed their every move and noted important details that aided the investigation.
Meanwhile, the owner of Graff’s store had already called the police, and London detectives were on their way. The car was rented in the names of Joseph Scalise and Art Rachel, who had checked into the Mount Royal Hotel. The hotel staff confirmed their presence on September 4th, indicating that the thieves had meticulously planned their crime.
The detectives began checking flight manifests at the airport and discovered that Scalise and Rachel were on a British Airways flight bound for Chicago. The cunning thieves had already taken a cab to the airport and even sent a package along the way, leaving witnesses who remembered their actions. Scotland Yard swiftly contacted the Chicago police, who intercepted and arrested the thieves upon their arrival. Jerry “the Monk” Scalise and Art “the Brain” Rachel They were extradited to London, where the court convicted them based on eyewitness testimonies and additional evidence. Both Scalise and Rachel received 15-year sentences in a British prison.
To this day, neither of the thieves has admitted their involvement in the robbery, maintaining their innocence. Despite their advanced age, Jerry the Monk Scalise and Art the Brain Rachel are still recognized as skilled criminals. However, their return to Chicago proved to be their downfall as they were met by Scotland Yard and the FBI upon arrival. The authorities detained them, much to their confusion, as they claimed they had merely gone on a trip to London.
It is speculated that their familiarity with the leniency surrounding criminal activities in Chicago led to their carelessness in London. They likely underestimated the increased surveillance and scrutiny in a big city like London, ultimately leading to their capture.
In addition to this thrilling tale, Gary Jenkins takes a moment to remind listeners to be mindful of motorcycles on the road. Furthermore, he encourages those who have served in the military and are struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to visit the VA website for assistance and acce...

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, Gary discusses with Justin Cascio, a mafia genealogist, his book In Our Blood: The Mafia in Corleone, Italy,In Our Blood: The Mafia Families of Corleone. We explore the roots and activities of the Mafia in Western Sicily, debunking many romanticized notions. We also discuss the migration of mafia families to the United States and their influence in various cities. The conversation concludes with insights into the rise of the Mafia as a political force. Listen n to learn more about the history and impact of the Mafia.
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To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Transcript
Transcript
Introduction to Mafia genealogist Justin Cascio
[0:00] Well, welcome all you wiretappers back here in the studio of Gangland Wire.
You know, I have a guest that we had him before, Justin Cascio.
And if you follow my Facebook group, you’ll see him post a little bit.
And he is a mafia genealogist.
Justin, welcome. I really appreciate you coming back on the show.
[0:19] Thanks for having me on, Gary. Justin, I remember us talking before.
Now, you’ve written a book about your search for the roots the Mafia in Corleone, Italy, or Sicily.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into this work.
Mafia genealogy is kind of interesting. I think you have a personal connection, don’t you?
[0:39] I do. I first heard the name Corleone from my grandmother when I was a little kid.
So way too young to have watched The Godfather. It took me years before I made that connection between the mythical, fictional Don Corleone and the place where my grandfather was from.
Both of his parents were born in Corleone, which is a little mountain town about an hour away from Palermo. If you drive it today, I think it’s about an hour.
Country town, but it’s also a transportation hub, and it was also a center of culture in the mostly rural place that ...

In this episode of Gangland Wire, a Retired KCPD Intelligence Detective looks into the fascinating story of Giacomo “Blackjack” Tocco, an influential figure in the Detroit Mafia. Tocco, born in 1927 and spent his entire life in Detroit, came from a Mafia lineage. His father, William “Black Bill” Tocco, was one of the founding members of the Detroit Mafia, known as the Partnership. Tocco’s ascent within the ranks was facilitated by his familial connections, as well as his reputation for violence and intimidation. The partnership controlled various illicit activities, including gambling, loan sharking, and drug trafficking, but their most lucrative venture was their control over Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamsters Union. We glimpse Tocco’s appointment as boss through an FBI surveillance squad, who witnessed the event at a hunting farm in rural Michigan. Tocco’s intelligence, leadership abilities, and knack for consolidating power cemented his status as one of Detroit’s most formidable and feared bosses.
Moving on, this part of the podcast focuses on a well-known photograph circulated on mob Facebook pages. The picture captures a conversation between Greg Stejskal, his accomplice Anthony Corrado, and Vito Giacalone, which took place after a ceremony. Stejskal and his partner trespassed onto someone else’s property to get close enough to the house for the photo. It is later revealed that Thomas “Black Jack” Tocco, who was the boss during that time, orchestrated numerous illegal activities and expanded the Mafia’s influence, especially in Las Vegas. Despite his involvement in organized crime, Tocco was also respected within the Detroit Italian-American community for his philanthropic work and involvement in community events.
Sadly, Tocco’s reign ended in 2014, marking the end of an era for the Detroit Mafia. Despite losing their grasp on the Teamsters and facing intense scrutiny from the FBI, Tocco will forever be remembered as a dominating presence in the Detroit Mafia. Additionally, I take this opportunity to remind our listeners to exercise caution on the roads and seek assistance if they are grappling with PTSD or substance abuse. Our friend Anthony Ruggiano, a former member of the Gambino crime family, is now a drug and alcohol counselor in Florida. Make sure to visit his website for valuable resources and treatment options. Lastly, we would greatly appreciate it if you could like, subscribe, and leave a review on podcast platforms. Your support means a lot to us, and we eagerly await your intriguing mob stories in our Facebook group.
Subscribe to get new gangster stories every week.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, he interviews Peter Edwards, a reporter from the Toronto Star who specializes in covering organized crime.
Peter’s Background: Peter Edwards explains his extensive experience as a journalist at the Toronto Star, specializing in organized crime. He mentions his numerous books on the topic, including an encyclopedia on organized crime. He also notes that he collaborates with reporters from other cities due to the mobility of organized crime figures.
Sicilian Mafia in Canada: The discussion delves into the history of the Sicilian Mafia’s presence in Canada, focusing on the 1950s and the influence of individuals like Carmen Galante. The conversation also highlights the role of Frank Catroni, Vic Catroni, Nicoli Rizzuto, and Vito Rizzuto of the Montreal Mafia.
Power Struggles: The conversation covers the power struggles within the Montreal Mafia, including Vito Rizzuto’s leadership and subsequent imprisonment in the United States. The murder of three Capos in New York is mentioned, and the intriguing involvement of a mob figure from Montreal in that event is discussed.
Changing Alliances: Peter Edwards discusses how organized crime in Canada is evolving, with a shift away from strict family lines. He emphasizes the importance of alliances and connections between different criminal groups, which have become more prevalent with the advent of the Internet.
Hells Angels: The conversation turns to the Hells Angels, exploring their rise in Canada. They discuss the structured nature of the Hells Angels and their complex, sometimes unscrupulous, alliances. The shift from being “thugs” to a formidable organization is highlighted.
Modern Activities: The discussion touches on the diversified activities of organized crime, including involvement in strip clubs, girls, and white-collar crimes. The role of gambling in power struggles between different crime groups is also mentioned.
Organization and Alliances: The conversation elaborates on the structure and alliances of the Hells Angels. It is noted that the Hells Angels prefer to be seen as equals rather than a pyramid structure, which is common in the traditional mafia.
Biker Clubs and Mob Associations: The conversation delves into the concept of biker clubs, their affiliations, and how they can be incorporated into the larger Hells Angels network. Peter explains how different provinces in Canada have different criminal organizations, with the Drangheta being more prominent in Toronto.
Drug Trafficking: The conversation briefly touches on the historical “French connection” for smuggling heroin into Montreal and then into New York City. The ease of drug trafficking across the Canada-U.S. border and strategies for evading law enforcement are discussed.
Changing Tactics: The conversation mentions how criminals adapt to law enforcement efforts. Criminals are now forming alliances, sharing loads, and utilizing encrypted messaging, making it difficult for authorities to track their activities. The use of GPS technology to target victims is also highlighted.
Covert Assassinations: The conversation discusses the changing tactics in assassinations, with drive-by shootings becoming more common, increasing the risk to bystanders.
Starbucks and High-End Operations: Criminals are increasingly seen at high-end locations like Starbucks. They spend on expensive coffee, reflecting their evolving operations and changing preferences.
Overall, the conversation provides insights into the shifting dynamics of organized crime in Canada, the roles of different criminal organizations, and their adaptation to modern challenges, including the use of technology and changing criminal tactics.
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this bonus episode, we explore the fascinating relationship between Tony Accardo and Paul Ricca, two influential figures in Chicago’s organized crime scene. Ricca held Accardo in high esteem, appointing him as his second in command and entrusting him with the outfit’s leadership during Ricca’s incarceration. Together, they orchestrated a strategy to infiltrate labor unions and extort funds from Hollywood studios during the 1940s. Accardo’s skills proved invaluable as he managed to secure Ricca’s early release and that of their associates, serving only three years of a ten-year prison sentence. While Ricca and Accardo were behind bars, they devised a cunning scheme to maintain communication through a lawyer named Elmer Bernstein and his associate Joseph Bulger, who was, in fact, Accardo in disguise. Unfortunately, this scheme was eventually uncovered, leading to a federal trial where Accardo and Bernstein faced conspiracy charges to defraud the government. Remarkably, despite overwhelming evidence against them, they were acquitted, showcasing the immense power and influence of the outfit. With Ricca stepping back, Sam Giancana emerged as the new face of the Outfit. However, Giancana’s downfall eventually paved the way for Joseph Aiuppa to become the new boss. This episode sheds light on the pivotal role played by Accardo as Ricca’s chosen successor. As we conclude, I’d like to remind you to support veterans dealing with PTSD and to remain vigilant and mindful of motorcyclists on the road. If you or someone you know struggles with substance abuse, I encourage you to contact Anthony Ruggiano’s treatment center in Florida. To learn more about Anthony Ruggiano and access additional resources, you can easily find his website by searching for him on Google or YouTube. Thank you all for your continued support of the show. Your presence and engagement mean so much to me. As always, please show your support by liking, subscribing, and leaving reviews for the podcast. I apologize for neglecting to mention these in recent episodes. I truly value your connection and enjoyment of the content. Thank you wholeheartedly for being a part of this journey with me.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
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In this episode of Gangland Wire, Gary looks into the life of Andrea Giovino and her long-standing involvement with the mafia. Growing up in Brooklyn, Andrea’s family was deeply intertwined with organized crime, with her mother running illegal gambling games and her brothers becoming contract killers for various crime families. During our interview, Andrea shares intimate details of her time in the drug trade and her relationships with prominent mob figures.
She is in the recently released Netflix documentary, “Get Gotti,” which sheds light on the infamous mobster John Gotti. Andrea reveals that she had a personal connection to Gotti’s inner circle, as she was once the live-in girlfriend of Bonanno capo Frank Lino, who later became a government witness against his own son. With her firsthand experiences, Andrea provides an intriguing perspective on the documentary and its portrayal of the mob’s inner workings.
Furthermore, Andrea opens up about her past relationships with drug dealers, including her involvement with a Gotti-connected heroin dealer named Mark Reiter. She later married another drug dealer named John Fogarty, who had strong ties to the Gotti family and a reputation for being tough. Andrea shares the challenging dynamics of her relationship with Fogarty, suspecting him of committing a murder and eventually praying for his arrest as a means to escape the chaos.
Andrea’s life takes a sharp turn when Fogarty is caught in a drug deal and subsequently arrested. At this time, her phone is tapped, uncovering conversations about violent threats and debt collection. Both Andrea and her brother are also arrested and charged. However, Fogarty eventually confesses to several murders, spending six years in prison before entering witness protection. During this tumultuous period, Andrea herself provides valuable information to the authorities and is rewarded with a settlement, which enables her to relocate to a small town in Pennsylvania under the protection of DEA agents.
Reflecting on her past, Andrea reveals how her upbringing in a neighborhood plagued by poverty and influenced by street guys led her into the mafia lifestyle. Initially attracted to their way of life, she found herself dating and associating with high-profile organized crime figures like John Gotti. Andrea recounts a story where she sought the assistance of respected figure Danny Marino to recover funds that she had put down on a house. This anecdote highlights the deep sense of loyalty and protection within organized crime.
However, as Andrea’s life unravels, she becomes increasingly disillusioned with the criminal lifestyle. She loses custody of one of her children and faces threats on her life. Today, she is unafraid to speak out against criminal activities and is determined to turn her life around. Andrea displays a newfound appreciation for integrity, honesty, and a humble life. She encourages others, especially women, to avoid being enticed by bad characters or the allure of quick money, emphasizing the importance of education and making better choices.
As the conversation draws to a close, they discuss the consequences faced by those involved in criminal activities, dispelling the misconception that they can avoid prison time. Despite her own struggles and regrets, Andrea is grateful for her past experiences, as they have allowed her to grow and develop a deep understanding of the wrongs inherent in that lifestyle. She expresses appreciation for the support of her listeners and encourages them to engage with her content, as well as explore Andrea’s book, “Divorced from the Mob,” and the Netflix series, “Get Gotti.” Additionally, she highlights resources for individuals dealing with PTSD, substance abuse, and encourages feedback and discussion.
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary and Australian contributor Tony Taouk examine the life and career of mob lawyer Frank Ragano. He started defending mafia boss Santo Trafficante Jr.’s Bolita bankers and runners, defended James Hoffa, and advised Carlos Marcello on some matters. One of the most exciting things Frank Ragano claims was that Santo Trafficante Jr. and New Orleans mob chieftain Carlos Marcello ordered the assassination of JFK. He claimed that Santo Trafficante Jr. confessed this to him shortly before his death. More specifically, Trafficante supposedly said he regretted killing John Kennedy and that he should have killed his brother, Robert Kennedy.
Tony Taouk is an Australian lawyer and a Mafia researcher who specializes in the subject of mob trials and mob lawyers. He has also traveled to the United States and visited mob-related sites in New York, Chicago, and Las Vegas.
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GARY JENKINS 00:00
Well hey guys back here in the studio gangland wire. This is your intelligence unit detective Gary Jenkins retired former guys. We’re here with Tony toke from Down Under. He is our expert on mob lawyers. We’ve done several in the past. Tony, we did Oscar Goodman last. And what did we do before that? Oh, we did Roy Cohn and today we’re going to do Frank Ragano. And guys, there’s a heck of a book out there Mob Lawyer if you want to know a lot more about them. What we’re going to say about Frank Ragano get this book that he co wrote with a really highly respected well known mob historian Selwyn Rob wrote the Five Families I believe was his quiz, his premier work. And so it’s called Mob Lawyer. So Tony, let’s talk a little bit about how he got started. I was reading the book and it looks like as a young lawyer down in Tampa Ybor City, there’s a lot of numbers racket or boleto going on. And as any young lawyer, he starts taking some of these low level cases, probably in city court, more than likely that’s what it would be here in Kansas City or maybe the lower level the associate Circuit Court taken on some of those and I believe, Santos Trafficante took notice that a man what do you remember about how I got into this business of being a mob lawyer?
Tony Taourk 01:26
Well, frankly, Ragano was born in 1923. He grew up poor in Tampa, Florida.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, Gary talks with retired NYPD cop turned-author Vic Ferrari. Vic has written several books depicting his experiences as an NYPD officer and detective. They discuss a recent documentary, Blue Code of Silence, and a narrative movie about the same subject, Prince of the City. Vic and Gary discuss the problems of working with Federal law enforcement when uncovering corruption within a police department.
Click here to find Vic Ferrari’s books on Amazon
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Transcript
Gary Jenkins: [00:41:00] Well, hey guys, Gary Jenkins here, retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Unit detective. I’m here with my good friend Vic Ferrari, another retired copper out of New York City. Welcome,
Viv Ferrari: Vic. Hey, Gary, how you doing today? Thank you for having
Gary Jenkins: me on your show. Well, it’s really great to have you back. I love talking to you.
Gary Jenkins: You know, it’s kind of like, you know, I sit down with my buddies once a while, about I don’t know, once a week, he’s easily for coffee or we go play golf and we, you know, we ended up telling old war stories. Of course it is. There’s such an ease between coppers and their life, right?
Viv Ferrari: We speak the same language.
Gary Jenkins: It’s funny. It’s, it’s, it’s a club, I guess. We have our own little club. It’s like the Palma Boys social club that Tony Fat Tony Salerno had, or the Bergen Hunt and Fish Club Ravenite that Gotti
Viv Ferrari: had. Yeah. I never saw the rate. Well, I did see the Ravenight years later, the Bergen Hunt and Fish club. I never saw, but the Palmer boys.
Viv Ferrari: Yeah. Remember
Gary Jenkins: that one, that one. [00:42:00] So anyhow, of course, this, this podcast is mainly about organized crime, but we like to spin off into other things. I’ve got a ton. I’ve got 400 and some organized crime stories out there, probably 375, but I like to spin off and other things. I’d like to give you guys. Kind of a little inside look at police department and police officers, detectives, and how we work with other agencies, particularly the FBI, the U S attorney’s office.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary interviews David Rabinovitch, an EMMY-winning investigative journalist and filmmaker, about his uncle Wolf Rabin and his association with Pittsburgh mafia member Sam Mannarino. David wrote a book titled Jukebox Empire: The Mob and the Darkside of the American Dream and told several stories from his book. Sam Mannarino was a prominent La Cosa Nostra figure in Western Pennsylvania when he went into business with Wolf Rabin. Mannarino and his brother, Gabriel “Kelly” Mannarino, controlled gambling and related activities in New Kensington for the Pittsburgh Crime Family. Of interest is that Sam Mannarino also had an interest in the Sans Souci casino in Cuba in the 1950s. This Cuban connection will be instrumental in the laundering of stolen bonds. David tells a story of international crime that stretches from the US to Canada to Cuba and Switzerland. David’s uncle, Wolf Rabin, got into the Jukebox business in the 1930s and developed many organized crime connections.
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Transcript
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, David Rabinovitch
GARY JENKINS 00:00
Well welcome all you Wiretappers out there. It’s good to be back here in studio gangland wire. I have a really interesting story. I didn’t remember how I got onto this somewhere on the internet of course. And it was about a man named Wolf Rabin now what a cool name Wolf Rabin. And he got involved with Sam Mannarino, who was a many of you all know is a big time Pittsburgh mafia member and they did a international kind of a crime and then I found there’s a book on it, you know, and then it’s by I believe a relative of south of not Sam Manariono but of Wolf Rabin, and so I have that man here, David Rabinovitch. Thanks a lot for coming on, David.
David Rabinovitch 00:41
Nice. Thank you for inviting me Gary was one thing in my family we pronounce to Rabin.
GARY JENKINS 00:48
Rabbit work. Okay. All right, a little more Russian, Russian. My grandpa used to say those Russians,
David Rabinovitch 00:57
My grandfather left Ukraine
GARY JENKINS 01:04
in hell really interesting. David is an Emmy winning documentary filmmaker and has a bunch of stuff out there.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this short episode, Gary tells a short overview of the feared Mafia boss Vito Genovese.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, I speak with author Matt Birkbeck about the life of William “Big Billy” D’Elia, a prominent figure in the mafia. We discuss D’Elia’s role as a negotiator for the mob and his close relationship with Russell Bufalino. The conversation delves into behind-the-scenes dealings, connections to influential individuals, and the complexities of the criminal world. We highlight the scarcity of information about the Russell Bufalino family and the power they held.
One fascinating aspect that emerges is Billy’s role as a negotiator for the mob across different industries, including films, music, and politics. We discuss his connections with influential individuals like Nick Civella and Tony Ripe Civella, the nephew who took over the family business. A notable episode involves Billy intervening when Donald Trump wanted Michael Jackson to perform at his casino, ultimately becoming Jackson’s co-manager.
The book offers unparalleled insights into the inner workings of organized crime, including behind-the-scenes dealings and Billy’s rise to power within the mob. We uncover Muhammad Ali’s visit to Ted Kennedy on Russell Bufalino’s behalf, showcasing these hidden alliances’ unpredictable nature. The power and respect commanded by Bufalino become evident as we explore anecdotes of his interactions with figures like Frank Sinatra. We also touch on Bufalino’s influence through his connection to the Teamsters Union.
We recommend Matt Birkbeck’s book for true crime enthusiasts and provide valuable resources for listeners dealing with PTSD and substance abuse.
Get the Book The Life We Chose by Matt Birkbeck.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
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Transcript
Introduction of special guest Matt Birkbeck
[0:00] Welcome, all you guys back here in the studio Ganglans Wire where I have a special guest today, Matt Birkbeck.

In this episode of Gangland Wire, Gary Jenkins delves into the story of Donnie Brasco, aka Joe Pistone, and his introduction to the mob through a minor criminal named Jilly Greca. Jilly, whose real name was Angelo J. Greca, was a member of the Colombo family and owned a store in Brooklyn called Acerg that was a front for stolen goods. Jilly and his crew would meet at the store to plan heists and socialize. Donnie Brasco became close with Jilly and started hanging out at the store, discussing scores and sharing stories. Jilly’s crew was involved in stealing from docks, warehouses, and truck lines, with inside connections to dock workers and truck drivers. Donnie, an undercover FBI agent, gained acceptance among the crew and played a role in getting Jilly indicted. Donnie engaged in illegal activities throughout his undercover work but constantly fed information to the FBI. Jilly was later killed, possibly due to the information provided by Donnie. Jilly’s capo, Charlie “Moose” Panarella, was a renowned and feared mafia figure known for torturing and killing a powerful capo named Dominic Mimi Schiallo. Despite Jilly’s lack of earning power, his murder became necessary due to his potential murder charge and the risk he posed to the crew. Moose Panarella was eventually exiled to Las Vegas but was called back periodically by Carmine Persico to carry out murders. The episode concludes with reminders to seek help for PTSD or substance abuse, and recommendations for resources, like Joe Pistone’s book, “Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia.”
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Transcript
The Mysterious Jilly Greca – Donnie Brasco’s First Target
[0:00] Well, hey guys, Gary Jenkins here, back here in the studio of Gangland Wire, bringing you a story. I’ve been asked several times about Donnie Brasco or Joe Pistone, and how did he really get started?
And one guy mentioned that the very first guy was Jilly Greca.
As a matter of fact, I think it was a comment on YouTube or email or Facebook.
I don’t remember, but he asked about Jilly Greca and a little bit about him and he said this was the very first guy that got Joe Pistone going into the Bonanno family and actually the Colombo family and then the Bonanno family. And, you know, I looked it up. I did all the research I could.
There isn’t a lot about this guy.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. He welcomes Mafia author Blair Kenny, who lived through the Rochester Mob wars and has written on the battle between the A-Team, the B-Team, and later the C-Team. We explore the rise and fall of Frank Valenti, the boss of the Rochester crime family in the 1960s and 1970s. Valenti ran a tight ship, appointing Samuel Russotti as his second-in-command, Rene Picarreto as his advisor, and five other men as his captains. He assigned them different rackets, such as gambling, extortion, loan sharking, insurance fraud, arson, narcotics, and weapon trafficking. He also orchestrated a series of bombings in 1970 to divert the attention of the authorities from his operations. However, Valenti’s reign was challenged by Russotti, Picarreto, and one of his captains, Salvatore Gingello, who accused him of pocketing money from the family. They also had the support of the Bonanno crime family from New York. Valenti refused to step down, but he lost his most trusted ally and bodyguard, Domenic Chirico, who was shot and killed. Valenti decided to leave Rochester and retire in Phoenix, Arizona, where he was later arrested and convicted of extortion. He died in 2008. After Valenti’s departure, Russotti took over as the boss, with Picarreto and Gingello as his right-hand men. The family seemed stable until January 1977, when they were all arrested and convicted of murdering Vincent Massaro based on fabricated evidence. They received 25 years to life sentences. Thomas Didio became the acting boss but soon faced problems from within and outside the family. So tune in and learn more.
To find Blair Kenny’s book, click onThe Rochester Mob Wars.
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary and Tony Taouk discuss the famous mafia attorney Bruce Cutler and his representations of John Gotti. We learn why a judge denied Bruce Cutler the ability to represent Gotti at his last trial. We also learn how Bruce Cutler represented a Chicago Outfit boss after Chicago got permission to hire him from Gotti.
Tony Taouk is an Australian lawyer and a Mafia researcher who specializes in the subject of mob trials and mob lawyers. He has also traveled to the United States and visited mob-related sites in New York, Chicago, and Las Vegas.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
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To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Transcript
SPEAKERS
Tony Taourk, GARY JENKINS
GARY JENKINS 00:00
Well welcome all you Wiretappers. I’m back here in studio Gangland Wire with our good friend from Down Under Tony Taourk. Tony. Welcome.
Tony Taourk 00:09
Glad to be here.
GARY JENKINS 00:11
All right, Tony. It’s good to have you and I understand that it’s winter down there while it’s summer here. Always seems kinda weird. I’m talking to a dude in Australia sit there in Kansas City.
Tony Taourk 00:23
Live Yes. Match up courtesy,
GARY JENKINS 00:27
magic of the inner that this morning down there just before you go to work in your office. And it’s evening here just as I’m getting ready to get off. Yeah. Anyhow, so we’re gonna talk about Bruce Cutler, guys. You know, Tony is our expert on mob lawyers. And we’ve done Frank Ragano and Roy Cohn. And we do another one or just those two. Oscar Goodman, Oscar, Oscar Goodman. How could I forget Oscar Goodman, the guy that cross examined me and Oscar Goodman. So we’ve been fun shows are fun stories. And nobody really talks about in these other podcasts out here. I don’t see him talking about the mob lawyers. And they play an important part in Bob history, a huge part in mob history. And somebody policemen always think that they’re part of the mob now Bruce Cutler, he, he may have been he actually was kicked off a case because and I’ll let Tony go into that he knows more about that than I do. But Bruce Cutler it was famous because of John Gotti. And he was and he played the cameras too. And he played doing like an audience in the theater all the time, too. So Tony,

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary and Camillus “Cam” Robinson compare and contrast the lifestyles, management styles, and organizational abilities of Scarface Al Capone and The Dapper Don, John Gotti.
Overview
Al Capone and John Gotti are two of the most infamous figures in the history of the American Mafia. They both rose to power through their involvement in dealing in contraband, racketeering, murder, gambling, and other crimes. However, they also had notable differences in their personalities, styles, and fates. Here are some points of comparison and contrast between them:
Early Years
Al Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York 1899, to Italian immigrants from Naples. He dropped out of school at 14 and joined a street gang led by Johnny Torrio, a mentor who later brought him to Chicago. John Gotti was also born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1940 to Italian-American parents with roots in Naples. He also dropped out of school at 16 and became involved in various gangs and criminal activities.
Rise to Power
Al Capone became the boss of the Chicago Outfit, one of America’s most powerful crime syndicates, after he orchestrated the murder of his rival, Big Jim Colosimo, in 1920. He expanded his empire by eliminating or allying with other gangs, bribing public officials, and controlling all bootlegging activity and other Chicago illicit businesses. John Gotti became the boss of the Gambino crime family, the largest and most influential Mafia group in New York, after he ordered the assassination of his predecessor, Paul Castellano, in 1985. He consolidated his power by promoting loyal associates, intimidating rivals, and cultivating a public image as a charismatic and generous leader.
Publicity: Al Capone was known for his flamboyant lifestyle and lavish spending. He wore expensive suits, drove luxury cars, and frequented nightclubs and restaurants. He also donated money to charities and soup kitchens, earning him some popularity among the poor. He was often featured in newspapers and magazines as a celebrity gangster. John Gotti was also fond of dressing well and living large. He frequented social clubs, bars, and casinos, where he mingled with celebrities and politicians. He also enjoyed media attention and often gave interviews or made statements to reporters. He was nicknamed “The Dapper Don” for his style and “The Teflon Don” for his ability to evade prosecution.
Downfall
Al Capone’s downfall came because of his tax evasion. Despite being suspected of numerous crimes, he was never convicted of anything more severe than contempt of court until 1931, when he was found guilty of failing to pay taxes on his illegal income. He was sentenced to 11 years, where he contracted syphilis and suffered mental deterioration. He was released in 1939 and died in 19471. John Gotti’s downfall came because his underboss, Sammy Gravano, turned government informant and testified against him. After being acquitted in three previous trials, he was convicted of murder and racketeering in 1992. A Court sentenced Gotti to life without parole, where he died of cancer in 2022. It should be noted that no Outfit members testified against Capone, while several Mafia members testified against Gotti.
Don’t forget to look at Chicago Swan Song: A Mob Wife’s Story, co-written by Camillus with Lisa Swan, the wife of Frank Calabrese Jr., about her life in the Calabrese Crew.
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this sixth and final episode of the six-part series documenting the life and crimes of the marijuana smuggler kingpin Jimmy Chagra, Gary tells tells about the trial, imprisonment and death of Jimmy Chagra.
Hey all you wiretappers welcome back to the end of Jimmy Chagra. A little recap, Jimmy Chagra was the son of Lebanese immigrants who settled in El Paso after the last Mexican Revolution. His brothers Lee and Joe both became successful Texas criminal attorneys specializing in defending smugglers. Jimmy Chagra makes connections with Colombian marijuana growers and starts exporting shiploads of high grade Colombian weed landing on the East coast. After losing a couple of shiploads, a couple of planes and a pilot, he throws in with another smuggler. This partnership goes south, and the new partner starts informing and setting up Jimmy Chagra. In November 1978 someone ambushes US Attorney James Kerr as he drives away from his El Paso home. Kerr has been on a crusade to put together a conspiracy charging Jimmy and his brother Lee Chagra under the narcotic kingpin laws. In November 1978, someone fires several rounds at James Kerr as he leaves his El Paso home. One month later, A couple of off-duty solders rob Lee Chagra at his law office and murder him. Jimmy Chagra is distraught after the murder of his brother and suspects the Feds may have orchestrated the murder of his brother. He makes some vague threats and names Judge John Wood as the possible man behind the murder of his brother.
In March of 1979, 3 months after Lee Chagra’s murder, El Paso cops arrest the suspects. One confesses and shortly after everybody knows this was a run of the mill robbery planned by the uncle of his brother’s landlord who hired a couple of soldiers from nearby Ft. Bliss to do this robbery. No big dastardly federal plot here. But Jimmy has other worries. The Feds have indicted him and many others in his network and he is arrested about the same time. Of course, this case will be heard by Maximum John Wood and prosecuted by James Kerr. The government ensured that Judge Wood will preside over Jimmy’s trial because they indicted him in Midland Texas. Maximum John hears all the criminal cases in the Western District of Texas.
Jimmy’s main relief from his grief is the action around the table in Las Vegas. He does not believe the men really confessed to robbing and murdering his brother Lee and suspects a government coverup. He is arraigned in Judge John Wood’s court. The US Attorney removes James Kerr from this prosecution. The new attorney reindicts Jimmy Chagra in El Paso and adds the continuing criminal enterprise and designates him the Kingpin. These charges can result in life in prison. He is out on bond when the Benny Binon hosts a month’s long poker game between Nick the Greek and Johnny Moss. This game will be the inspiration for the World Series of Poker. Las Vegas is hopping. Binon’s Horseshoe is the only casino left that will take Chagra’s crazy giant plays. He would arrive and place 100 K on a blackjack table and demand to risk it on one turn of the cards. Binon claimed later that between the time the court released Jimmy on bond and his trial, the Horseshoe lost 2 million dollars to Jimmy Chagra. Everybody noticed he played as if there were no tomorrow. Jimmy noticing the recent publicly generated for Oscar Goodman, he hired him for his El Paso case. Jimmy’s brother, Joe Chagra, joined Goodman on the defense team. I read that Jimmy really wanted his brother Lee and was distraught about his murder. Joe Chagra filed a motion for Judge Wood to recuse himself because of public remarks made by Wood. It seems he had called this case “The Colombia connection” case and was known to leak derogatory information to the media. A year before, Judge Wood had remarked to Lee Chagra in open court,

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Remo Franceschini was a famous mafia-busting NYPD Intelligence officer. This is another story of his vaunted career. Gary tells about how Remo worked on a Lucchese Capo named Big Sam Cavalieri. He installed a hidden microphone inside his social club on Second Avenue between 111th and 112th. Among other tidbits of information, he heard the Lucchese acting boss, Carmine Tramunti, Mr. Grebs, call Jilly Rizzo and invite him to a feast at the social club. He asked Rizzo to bring some of the NY Yankees players who frequented Jilly’s, and Rizzo replied, “Sure, and Franks in town, so I will get him.” Everybody in that world knew he meant Frank Sinatra.
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GARY JENKINS 00:00
Well hey guys, I’m bringing you another story of the well known and hated and feared New York copper Lieutenant Remo Franceschini and nobody hated him more than John Gotti because Gotti knew that Remo focused a lot of manpower on Gotti and a lot of attention on Gotti especially once he ascended to become the boss of the Gambino family after they killed Paulie Castellano. The NYPD intelligence unit was not like the FBI. Now Remo Franceschini’s worked for the NYPD intelligence unit. And they investigated all five families that kind of depending on you know, where what looked fine, what looked interesting what looked possible, or if there was some crime had been committed that ...

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this fifth episode of the six-part series documenting the life and crimes of the marijuana smuggler kingpin Jimmy Chagra, Gary interviews Jason Cavanagh, an expert on Charles Harrelson, and they examine whether or not Jimmy Chagra paid Charles Harrelson to assassinate Federal Judge John H, Wood aka Maximum John. Cavanagh extensively researched Charles Harrelson’s life and relationship with his two sons. One of those sons is the famous actor Woody Harrelson. Jason produced and hosted a 10-episode podcast series titled Son of a Hitman.
Transcript
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, Jason Cavanagh
00:00
Well hey guys, all you Wiretappers out there. Welcome back to the show. You know, I’m back here to studio gangland wire. But I’ve got a famous man here. A guy that that agreed to come on the podcast, Jason Kavanagh. You know, I got on to Jason. I was researching his stories, Jimmy Chagra story and I found this podcast called Son of a Hitman and I listened to it was about Charles Harrelson who was the man who was convicted of murdering Judge John Wood and Jimmy Chadwick was not convicted. He was arrested and accused of paying Charles Harrelson and Jason did a real in-depth. Deep Dive into the life of Charles Harrelson, the hitman who has a great podcast. It’s called Spn of a Hitman. And I highly encourage you to listen to that. Jason, welcome. I really appreciate you coming on the show. Thanks so much for having me. Now working guys find that Son of a Hitman is not on the Apple app. So you explain to him how to find that.
01:00
Sure. So it is you know, we originally produced it for Spotify with Spotify. So it is exclusive to Spotify at the moment. Although actually today, I just spoke to Spotify, we’re going to be getting a wide release where it’s going to be available on all platforms in the near future, probably in a couple of weeks. So at the moment, check it out on Spotify. But yeah, it will be it will be wide very soon.
01:23
Okay. And by the time this is released, guys, just look out look for set of the Hitman on whatever podcast app you’ve gotten, you’re gonna be able to find it. So I looked at this story. And it’s a story that just keeps on givin this Jimmy chakra and his whole marijuana smuggling operation as we’ve already had a couple of episodes, three episodes by now. And it’s just, it’s the most complex, interesting. And he is the most complex and interesting guy and story that I have done that I can find so much information about to it’s just, it’s amazing. And I want to go in on a deep dive on Charles Harrelson with Jason because he is the expert on Charles Harrelson. And as you all know, he is the father of Woody Harrelson, the actor. And as I understand and what he’s not really crazy about anybody doing that there’s no movies about this. I don’t know if you’ve noticed that guys, but there’s no movies about this. And I don’t know if there ever will be. Jason, you know, we talked a little bit before in Harrelson goes back into South Texas, Texas roots and he was a Texas criminal for sure. From day one. Tell us a little bit about that first murder. I think that that Berg murder, the first
02:39
murder that Charles Harrelson was charged with was Alan Berg. He was a carpet salesman in Houston, Texas. I was introduced to the story of Charles, you know, based on the rumors, you know, he claimed that he had been involved in the JFK assassination. So that was how I, like entered into the story in the first place began looking at it then of course, the judge would murder.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary and James Cosenza from the Chicago Mob Trials YT channel discuss how Angelo LaPietra extorted two Million dollars from a prominent Chicago real estate businessman named Victor Cacciatore. In the famous Family Secrets trial, Cacciatore testified against the notorious Chicago organized crime syndicate known as The Outfit. He told about how the Chinatown Crew boss; Angelo LaPietra extorted two million dollars from him. Nick Calabrese also testified that he was the person who made the actual threats.
Victor Cacciatore was a prominent Chicago businessman, lawyer, and banker who died in 2014. He was also a victim of extortion by the Chicago Outfit, a notorious organized crime syndicate that dominated the city for decades. He told how he kept getting threats from two men asking for money, and later, he found dead rats in his car and other similar threatening behavior. Cacciatore visited Angelo LaPietra, the boss of the Chinatown crew, and asked for help. He didn’t realize that this man, the feared Angelo LaPietra, was behind these threats. This Family Secrets trial was a landmark federal prosecution that exposed the inner workings and crimes of the Outfit. Victor Cacciatore was not a member of the Chicago mafia but rather a successful entrepreneur who faced threats and violence from them. He was also a philanthropist who supported various causes and institutions in the Italian.
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this second episode of the six-part series documenting the life and crimes of the marijuana smuggler kingpin Jimmy Chagra, Gary tells tells about the life and death of Lee Chagra, Jimmy Chagra’s brother and lawyer. But first we learn about the attempted murder of the Chagras’ nemesis, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Kerr and shortly after someone murders Lee Chagra.
Hey Wiretappers, welcome to the ongoing series on the shenanigans of the El Paso drug smuggler Jimmy Chagra. By now as a little recap, Jimmy Chagra was born to Lebanese immigrants in El Paso Texas. He started his life working at his parent carpet store. Kind of a cliché, a Lebanese rug merchant. His two brothers, Lee and Joe Chagra become well respected and almost famous drug lawyers. As best as I can tell, neither of them became involved in the drug smuggling ventures of Jimmy. But Lee was a flamboyant degenerate gambler, and he ran though a lot of dirty money from other smugglers. Lee’s main nemesis was a Texas Assistant U.S. Attorney or AUSA named James Kerr. The Judge he practiced in front of was John “Maximum John” Wood. Jimmy has earned millions from his ventures smuggling high grade Colombian marijuana up the Atlantic Coast to New England where they off-loaded into a safe house and distributed it throughout the United States. He had a bad year in 1977 where he lost two airplanes and a lot of dope. He threw in with another smuggler and made an enemy. Fellow smuggler Henry Wallace ended that year working with the DEA to make a case on Jimmy Chagra. The Federal law enforcements in the southwest circling around the Chagra enterprise.
James Kerr had been a young Department of Justice attorney how had written the continuing criminal enterprise section of the 1970 Drug Control Act. The Department of Justice moved him to El Paso to prosecute these drug conspiracies and he found a friend in Judge William Wood. Some lawyers would even later say they thought the two were too friendly and often saw them socializing together away from work. They both hated drug dealers and were on a warpath to rid the country of this scourge. James Kerr learned that Lee had been charged in Tennessee for a conspiracy to distribute marijuana after he had defended a local smuggler. The Tennessee court quickly dismissed this charge after Lee asked for the production of evidence and got a hearing. The only evidence of Lee Chagra’s involvement was the unsubstantiated word of one defendant about a meeting at Chagra’s law office. Kerr was looking at the entire Chagra family as part of a conspiracy, so he traveled back to Tennessee to review this case. He was convinced that Lee Chagra was the actual brains behind his brother, Jimmy, Jack Stricklin who was involved in the Ardmore bust, and others. He pulled a little-known section from the 1970 Drug Control act that gave a road map how to prosecute a drug organization as a Continuing Criminal Enterprise with a special sentence for the person deemed as the Kingpin. That is what they used on my friend Steven St. John to get him 12 years. He was offered many chances to talk, and he refused.
The US Attorney called a special grand jury to investigate this conspiracy and the Chagra’s knew that the government was declaring war on them. James Kerr would not finish what he started.
On November 21, 1978 AUSA James Kerr was driving his one luxury he permitted himself, a Lincoln Continental. A series of gunshots ran out from a van causing him to dive down onto the floorboard. When he peered out, he could see nobody. Responding El Paso cops find his car had been riddled with .30 cal. bullets and buckshot but none of them struck Kerr. A AUSA like Kerr could have many enemies and the FBI and local cops asked informants and did an area canvass and came up empty, except for a possible suspect van.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary interviews true crime author Ron Chepesiuk about an upcoming series on VIX TV he helped write. Ron is a well-known and prolific author and expert on the South American cocaine cartels. In this episode, we discuss Carlos Lehder.
We learn that Lehder began his criminal career stealing cars and making small sales of marijuana. He met the famous cocaine smuggler (see Blow with Johnny Depp) George Jung in prison. In the film Blow, Carlos connected Jung with Pablo Escobar, and together these two men brought thousands and thousands of cocaine kilos into the United States. They were the first to use airplanes that flew directly from the Colombian jungles to Norman Key in the Bahamas. These men sent planes or boats to Florida from their own private island.
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. We last heard the inside story of the enormous Folly Cove marijuana smuggling operation. Gary continues this six-part series in Part 3 where he tells several harrowing stories of Chagra’s bold marijuana smuggling capers.
In the Fall of 1976, we can see the beginning of the end for Jimmy Chagra. At that time, Jimmy made friends with two Las Vegas-based private pilots that often flew him to Vegas on gambling junkets. He recruited Jerry Wilson and Dick Joyce pilots to help fly in loads. Wilson will go on to invent and become fabulously wealthy from inventing the Soloflex. Chagra recruited these two pilots to fly Colombian weed from the Cayman Islands. They were both private pilots in Las Vegas, and Jimmy had used their air service when he flew back and forth between El Paso and Las Vegas on gambling junkets. By 1976, Jerry Wilson was flying a DC-4 and Dick Joyce a Cessna 310. The DEA had put trackers on other planes used by these men, but not the new DC-4 and Cessna. In December 1976, DEA and Customs had information Chagra was expecting shipments from Colombia, and they were probably going to a rural area around Ardmore, Oklahoma. This is a middle size town about halfway between Ok City and Dallas Ft. Worth.
On December 30, 1976, Dick Joyce landed his Cessna 310 in New Orleans, told Customs he was coming in from the Cayman Islands, and headed to Ok City. Agents found no drugs on this plane. They alerted DEA and an army of DEA and Customs agents, and the Air Controllers went on the alert as Joyce took off. They tracked him as he headed north through Texas. At about the same time, other air traffic controllers had a request from a DC-4 for a place in Texas to refuel. A DC 4 is a huge plane with 4 propeller-driven engines. The pilot claimed he was carrying Radioactive waste. Th DC-4 landed, refueled, and took off again before anyone could get there. Next, Ft. Worth air controllers saw blips for two planes traveling parallel heading north. One was a DC-4, and the other was Dick Joyce in his Cessna 310. Customs and the DEA were all over this. Joyce and Wilson were using a known scam called the piggyback formation. A plane with a known destination would fly close to the plane carrying the contraband to appear as one plane. When they reached the destination, the aircraft with the narcotics drops down quickly while the other empty plane continued the planned route. It was New Year’s Eve, but the DEA assembled a large ground crew who drove to Ardmore, OK, and alerted the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigations. This combined force blasted in the early morning hours toward Ardmore. The DC-4 lost one engine, and for unknown reasons, both planes landed at a small airport just south of Ardmore. This gave the agents the exact location. When they arrived, the cops stopped 4 U-Haul trucks and drivers with the marijuana. They caught the pilots and two others driving away from the scene in rental cars. The authorities arrested ten men and recovered 17,000 lbs of pot in 276 burlap bags. The searches on the U-Haul trucks were shaky, and they would have difficulty linking the pilots with the planes. They missed Jimmy Chagra at the scene. Jimmy’s brother, Lee Chagra, will coordinate the legal defense.
Before the El Paso 10 trial, as they became known, another unfortunate event occurred in Colombia. The Colombians fronted the load lost at Ardmore, and Jimmy had to make good. The Colombian supplier was Lionel Gomez, who operated out of Santa Marta, Colombia. This small city on the northeast coast is one of the points nearest to the Caymans and other Caribbean Islands. Chagra sent one of the Ardmore defendants, Jerry Wilson, and another pilot down to get another load. This plane was overloaded, and they crashed on takeoff. Wilson was injured but not badly, while the co-pilot burned over 70% of his body and was taken...

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this short bonus episode, Gary tells about his experiences working with the agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Listen to the end and hear a short trailer from a new podcast series titled Betrayal on the Bayou. Gary encourages you to check this new series out and listen by clicking here inBETRAYAL ON THE BAYOU.
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this second episode of the six-part series documenting the life and crimes of the marijuana smuggler kingpin Jimmy Chagra, Gary interviews one of Chagra’s low-level smugglers. Kermit Schweidel tells about the famous Folly Cove operation. In this famous operation, Jimmy Chagra partners with two other El Paso smugglers, and they orchestrate an entire sea-gong freighter load of Colombian marijuana. After an adventurous trip up the Atlantic Coast, they arrive off the Massachuttas coast at Folly Cove. Here Kermit Schweidel and others off-load the post and distribute it to hiding spots throughout the United States.
Click here to buy Folly Cove: A Smuggler’s True Tale of the Pot Rebellion written by my guest Kermit Schweidel.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
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SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, Kim Schwiedel
 
Kim Schwiedel  00:00
Well, of course everybody started out using it, smoking it and liking it. The whole trick was, hey, I can I can buy half a pound or a pound or a kilo. I can break this down and sell it to my friends and then I can smoke for free. That’s probably how 90% of the people that were in it started. Just wanted some good good old free pot, our geographic location on the border being what it was. It was very tempting to take that pound and turn it into five pounds...

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary gives an overview of the La Cosa Nostra in Dallas, Texas.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
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To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Transcript
GARY JENKINS 00:00
Well welcome all you Wiretappers out there back here in studio Gangland Wire. As you can see, I don’t know why I say that each time. I’m going to look at the Dallas family now. Dallas. It was part of the Midwest families of those Dallas was they weren’t really connected to Kansas City or Chicago. They were more connected if anybody to Carlos Marcello down in New Orleans, you know southern people. There’s a little bit of action down in Houston and a regular family in Dallas, the first man who be like The Godfather, shall we say the first one from Sicily was a Carlo Paraino to Carlo Paranio came to the United States from Sicily in 1901, with his brother Joseph who will work with him and become his underboss. As he formed a family. They first settled in Shreveport, Louisiana, which is real close to Dallas. I don’t know if you know how close that is, but it’s real close. He began the Dallas faction in 1921, with Joseph as his underboss he will be described as mob historians look back as the original head of the mafia in Texas. Carlo Piraino was born in Corleone, Sicily in 1876. At the same hometown as one of the early New York bosses Giuseppe Morello. He married Carlo Pariano married an 18 year old Italian girl in 1903.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary Starts a six-part series documenting the life and crimes of the marijuana smuggler kingpin Jimmy Chagra. In this first episode, Gary starts a story that will eventually end with the 1979 murder of Texas Western District Court of Texas Judge John Wood, aka Maximum John. This investigation became the FBI’s most expensive operation since the JFK assassination. The Bureau collected 500,000 pieces of information, conducted 30,000 interviews, and had hundreds of hours of recorded conversations. In the end, the government convicted Woody Harrelson’s father, Charles Harrelson, of being the trigger puller, Harrelson’s wife for obtaining the murder weapon, a lawyer named Joe Chagra for conspiracy, and Elizabeth Chagra, the wife of marijuana smuggler Jimmy Chagra for delivering the payment to the wife of the hitman, Harrelson. The government charged the mastermind behind this plot, a marijuana smuggler named Jimmy Chagra. Jimmy Chagra hired famous Las Vegas mob lawyer Oscar Goodman, and in Goodman’s biggest win ever, the jury found him not guilty. Folks, get ready for a ride because I am taking you down many twists and turns through the seamy underbelly of the southwest Texas underworld.
To give you an idea of where we are going, let’s start back to the 1960s.
The 1960s counterculture demanded Marijuana, and the descendant of a Lebanese Immigrant started smuggling marijuana and made millions. His brothers, Joe and Lee Chagra went to law school and practiced criminal law in El Paso. Lee Chagra became the go-to lawyer for drug smugglers along the border. Richard Nixon started the war on drugs. An attorney named James Kerr went from private practice into the U.S. attorney’s office, and he is assigned to a court overseen by a hanging judge named John Wood, aka Maximum John, because of the draconian sentence he hands down. Jimmy Chagra is bubbling to the top of the DEA hit list because of his larger-than-life persona and gambling habits in Las Vegas. A tip to all you big-time criminals, keep a low profile.
This story contains the attempted murder of AUSA James Kerr outside his home, the murder of Lee Chagra shortly after, the arrest of Jimmy Chagra, and the murder of Judge John Wood. The investigation of these events was the most extensive and expensive FBI investigation since the JFK case in 1963. They will conduct over 30,000 interviews, gather 5000,000 pieces of information, and record hundreds of hours on hidden microphones and wiretaps.
I will start with El Paso because that city is just as much a character in this story as the individuals.
El Paso has long had the reputation as a wild west kind of town. El Paso earned this reputation over its long checkered history. It is an old town, and the Spanish built a mission here in 1659. El Paso del Rio Grande del Norte, or the Pass of the Great River of the North, became an important trading center on the south bank and will be renamed Ciudad Juarez. After Sam Houston and other settlers fought off Mexican troops, they formed the nation of Texas. Missouri merchants split off from the Sana Fe trail to carry trade goods to Juarez and south to Chihuahua City. Smugglers, bounty hunters for Comanche and Apache scalps, gamblers, and adventurers found a home in El Paso. Of all the old west cities, only El Paso maintains the reputation of being a wild city in modern times. At one time, the Director of U.S. Customs said that if he stopped all smuggling through El Paso, the economy of both sides of the border would collapse. DEA made El Paso the center of all their nationwide intelligence gathering about the international narcotics smuggling trade.
The 1970s Drug scene
During the 1970s, under President Richard Nixon, the United States started the never-ending war on drugs and promoted draconian laws to deal with drug or...

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. During the 1940s, an Outfit turncoat named Willie Bioff implicated all the Outfit’s higher echelon in an extortion scheme. They had infiltrated labor unions connected to the film business and started extorting money from Major Motion Picture Studios. After they went to prison, Anthony Accardo was left. Paul Ricca had a plan to run the Outfit through Accardo. Listen to hear that plan.
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Retired intelligence detective Gary Jenkins interviews former Mob Wife, Lisa Calabrese Swan, about her life with Frank Calabrese Jr. and the Calabrese family. Lisa takes the listener from her first days meeting a young, exciting, handsome man named Frankie Calabrese. She did not know or even understand what his family was all about. She describes the gradual realizations she experienced as she saw Frank Calabrese Jr. becoming more involved in the Outfit life as he descended into an addiction to cocaine. She stuck by him like any good Outfit wife until she could not handle the stress. Losa Swan found life as a Mob Wife to be anything but glamorous and exciting.
Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week.
Get the book by Lisa Swan by clicking on the title, Chicago Swan Song.
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To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Transcript
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, Lisa Swan
 
00:00
My husband was dealing cocaine and using cocaine and I would find bags of cocaine in his closet in his drawers, and I was totally against drugs. And I would just dump everything in the toilet 1000s of dollars of cocaine in the toilet. And it was something that didn’t belong to him or he was selling for somebody else. And any time I looked, I found it. And I made sure I got rid of it. Yeah, I think was he was gone for a weekend, or he didn’t come home one night. So I packed all this stuff and put it on the front steps. And when his friend went to drop him off, he goes,

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. David Berman was a Jewish-American organized crime figure active in Sioux City, Iowa, the Twin Cities, and the Las Vegas Strip. He was a casino gambling pioneer in Las Vegas, a partner with mobster Bugsy Siegel at the Flamingo Hotel. Berman died in 1957 during surgery.
Berman began his criminal career at 13 by running a crew of teenage thugs committing petty extortions and eventually a string of illegal distilleries. He then went on to supplement his earnings by also running his own armed robbing crew. Later after a time in the Twin Cities and serving in WW II, Berman moved his crew to the Las Vegas strip and operated there in concert with Genovese Family associates Bugsy Siegel, Dutch Goldberg, and Moe Sedway. According to journalists Ed Reid and Ovid Demaris, Berman was involved in the mob’s investigation into Siegel and the missing profits of the Flamingo Hotel and Casino. Both journalists further allege that Berman “had talked to Benny many times about it, warning him that if the matter was not settled soon, he was going to find himself minus a head.” Twenty minutes after the 1947 assassination of Bugsy Siegel in Beverly Hills, California, Gus Greenbaum, Moe Sedway, and David Berman walked into the lobby of the Flamingo and announced that they were in charge.
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you a little different show today. He interviews well-known true-crime author Ron Chepesiuk about his latest book. In Bad Henry, Ron strays from his usual topic of organized crime, drug cartels, and cocaine smuggling to the work of serial killers.
Click here to find a copy of Bad Henry.
This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Remember to click on www.BetterHelp.com/gangland for 10% off
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Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire
Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”



To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here! 

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary interviews author Ronald Fried about his book on Frank Costello. Mr. Fried researched Costello and crafted a novel using actual situations and Costello’s exact language taken from newspapers, court proceedings, and transcripts from the famous Kefauver hearings. He tells how Frank Costello helped the Mafia transition from bootlegging during Prohibition into the 1930s and showed them how to transfer the organization into interstate gambling. Some of the stories he learned were how Costello ensured his slot machines had a step stool for kids to reach the coin slot. We learn how Costello was such a serious gambler that he would drink water and challenge other men to see who could urinate for the longest time. He won every time.
This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Remember to click on www.BetterHelp.com/gangland for 10% off
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Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire
Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”



To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes, click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here! 
 
Transcript
GARY JENKINS 00:00
But welcome all you Wiretappers out there back here in the studio of gangland wire in the studio with me and Ron Fried. Right. Okay, Fried has written a book about the Prime Minister of the underworld. And he was an immensely important man in that transition from the old mustache Pete days on into the modern crime syndicate. He was kind of the, I’d say the brains behind Lucky Luciano, in my opinion. But anyhow, rod has written a book about the Prime Minister of the underworld. So rod, welcome.
Ronald Fried 00:33
Thanks a lot. Thanks for having me.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary interviewed author and retired NYPD Detective Vic Ferrari. Gary and Vic exchange several stories from the streets. Vic starts with a brush with an NYPD Internal Affairs investigation that connects directly to the new podcast, The Set: The Story of the Dirty 30. Vic describes how his father worked as a butcher in a Mob-owned meat locker. Vic tells about other confrontations with the New York Mafia before becoming a cop.
Click here to find Vic’s books.
Click here to find Vic’s new podcast.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary interviews fellow podcaster Adrien Martinez from Invest in Yourself and A Lifetime of Mafia Stories. Go to @investinyourself6878 to see his show. We show and discuss clips from his new Mafia history documentary. You will learn about mob figures like Lucky Luciano, Joe Bonanno, Vic Amuso and Greg Scarpa.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, Gary tells a few stories from his days as a soldier in Ronnie Reagen’s War on Crack Cocaine. He also plays a trailer from a new podcast titled The Set. The parent company of this new podcast helped Gangland Wire out by broadcasting free promos. In exchange, Gangland Wire is doing free promos for this new exciting documentary-style podcast titled The Set. This is the story of the NYPD officers assigned to the 30th Precinct in Harlem. I hope you will give it a try. Click here to go directly to this new show, The Set.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
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To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary tells stories about the Black Mafia in Kansas City, from their early days when they dominated the Heroin market to the murder of a prominent Black politician, Leon Jordon, to the epic war between Sam Haley and Aaron Gant. Finally, he ends with a disturbing story about a drug house robbery. The primary connection between the La Cosa Nostra Mafia and the Black Mafia appeared to be between a fence named Jimmy Ciarelli and a black liquor store owner called Baby Face Norris and one of the suspects in the Leon Jordan murder named Jimmy Willis.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Transcript
GARY JENKINS 00:00
Hey, all you Wiretappers out there. Good to be back here in the studio Gangland Wire. I’ve got a story of the Black Mafia in Kansas City. Now, I’ve often been asked what connections did the Italian Mafia have with professional black criminals or African American criminals. And there was some. And it all revolves around drugs and politics. So let’s go back to some of the early days in the late 60s and early 70s. What we had in Kansas City there, the heroin racket, back in the day, blacks had heroin, and the Italians got the heroin and sold it to the blacks go all the way back to the French Connection days and Carmine Galante in New York. Now, by the late 60s, early 70s. Our local African American guys got a connection in Los Angeles to get heroin now it was seemed like it ...

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. He interviews former Brooklyn prosecutor Michael Vecchione about the case of the disgraced dentist who started a bone harvesting business. If you ever got a dental implant, you know the dentist uses a bone graft to prepare for the implant. This fact creates a market in human bone. Michael Vecchione tells about a case he worked on where he investigated and prosecuted a dentist who was robbing human bodies to get bone for resale.
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Support the Podcast.
Click here if you want to listen to the new podcast called The Set. 
Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. He interviews former Brooklyn prosecutor Michael Vecchione, who helped uncover the Mafia Cops Louis Eppolito and Steve Caracappa. Michael Vecchione tells how he worked with NYPD Det. Tommy Dades to expose these traitors to law enforcement. They learned how Eppolito and Caracoppa worked under the direction of Lucchese’s Underboss, Anthony Gaspipe Casso. Michael Vecchione tells how a mother saw Eppolito on TV promoting his mafia book and remembered he was a cop looking for her son, Jimmy Hydell, just before someone murdered him. Starting with this clue Vecchione and Dades gathered all the information they could find on these two cops and exposed their life-long pattern of committing crimes for the Mafia.
Eppolito’s Mob connections were deep. His father, Ralph “Fat the Gangster” Eppolito, acted as a Gambino soldier and enforcer. His uncle was James “Jimmy the Clam” Eppolito, a Gambino captain who led gambling and other rackets. “Jimmy,” who made his son, James Jr., a family member, had once worked for family boss Carlo Gambino and associated closely with racketeer Carmine Lambordozi.
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If you want to listen to The Set podcast click here.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Transcript
GARY JENKINS 00:00
They had one called gangster capitalism and I asked them if they do a promo for me on their...

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary tells how NYPD Intelligence Unit Lt. Remo Franceschini led an investigation into Bonanno boss Phil “Rusty” Rastelli for extorting money from lunch wagon drivers in New York City. Next, he tells how Lt. Franceschini learned about a mob hit and missed putting detectives on the scene before the murder. We also learn about the Bonanno Family funeral fight. Remo Franceschini quickly became a hero cop when he saved his partner’s life in a violent gun battle with an armed robbery suspect.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here! 
Transcript
GARY JENKINS 00:00
Hey guys, it’s Gary Jenkins and welcome back in the studio Gangland Wire, which we’ll get to say my name I don’t know most people do say that but I think all you guys probably know who I am by now. I would hope anyhow. So I’m starting a series of shorts about the exploits of the colorful New York City Police mob Buster, Lieutenant Remo Franceschini, it’s hard name for me to say Franceschini. I got it there. Franceschini. Remo was known to every mob boss in New York City as a tough, incorruptible and determined, dude. And he worked his way up to the different branches of the NYPD intelligence. He started out as a street policeman, of course, got a shootout saved his partner got like the Medal of Honor whatever they got in New York City, and ended up in the intelligence unit kind of like me, No,

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, Gary and Chicago Outfit expert and author Camillus Robinson discuss Mafia Boss Anthony “Big Tuna” Accardo and the most significant criminal charge he ever faced. The IRS charged Anthony Accardo with tax evasion, just like Al Capone. Accardo went to a jury trial where several people testified that he was a beer salesman and always drove his Red Mercedes Benz sports car when he called on customers. They had to do this because he had deducted his depreciation, mileage, and gasoline for his work use of this unlikely car. We learn that future Southside Chicago Height’s Capo Al Pilotto was instrumental in testifying for Accardo.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Transcript
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, Camillus Robinson
GARY JENKINS 00:00
Well welcome all you Wiretapperss back here in studio Gangland Wire got my good friend Camilius “Cam” Robinson. Welcome cam.
Camillus Robinson 00:06
How you doing? Very good to see you.
GARY JENKINS 00:08
Well, it’s a cold up there in Chicago with cold and hell down there.
Camillus Robinson 00:12
Yeah, it is it was in the it was in the teens earlier I might get up into the midterm needs to
GARY JENKINS 00:16
do. Anyhow, we’re going to talk about the big Tuna or Joe Batters, Anthony Accardo today and him and I both stumble across this little story.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, Gary and mob lawyer expert Tony Taouk examine the life and career of famous mafia lawyer Oscar Goodman. Based in Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman has been the Midwest and Western Mob’s go-to lawyer for his 40-year career. Oscar Goodman remained professional in all his encounters with Mob bosses like Tony Spilotro, Nick Civella, Lefty Rosenthal and many others. Mr. Goodman’s most dramatic courtroom victory had to be when he obtained a Not Guilty verdict for the El Paso drug kingpin, Jimmy Chagra. In this case, juries convicted Woody Harrelson’s father, Charles Harrelson, for the murder of Texas Federal Judge John “Maximum John” Wood in El Paso. The government claimed that Jimmy Chagra paid Harrelson to murder the judge. Harrelson’s wife, Chagra’s wife, and Chagra’s brother were all convicted in the same case.
Tony Taouk is an Australian lawyer and a Mafia researcher who specializes in the subject of mob trials and mob lawyers. He has also traveled to the United States and visited mob-related sites in New York, Chicago, and Las Vegas.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Transcript
SPEAKERS
Lefty Rosenthal, Announcer, GARY JENKINS, Tony Taourk, Harry Reid, Oscar Goodman, Tuffy DeLuna, Nick Civella
00:00
Frank Rosenthal was obviously ruffling a few feathers because he’s high profile battle with the authorities in Las...

Retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins interviews non-fiction author Frank Hayde about his newest book, Mafia Dreams: A True Crime Saga of Young Men at the End of an Era in Kansas City.  Frank tells how an FBI investigation into the insurance crimes of Travis Riley ended with his son, Joe Riley, being shot to death during a drug reverse-sting in an Airport hotel room.  The FBI turned their sights on Riley’s son, Joe Riley, to put pressure on the Father and learn where he had hidden all his hidden assets. Joe Riley delivered himself up to the FBI because he was trying too hard to be a gangster. He was inexperienced and easily tricked. Before that investigation was done, an FBI agent shoots and kills Joe Riley.  This story also tells about the demise of the KC Mafia and how the FBI used the grand jury immunity process to jail many young men whose only crime was to be seen talking to a made guy and then refuse to testify.
Other books by Frank Haye are The Mafia and The Machine,  The Italian Gardens: A History of Kansas City though its Most Favorite Restaurant.  
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Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here! 
Transcript
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, Frank Hayde
00:00
Welcome all you Wiretappers out there good to be back here in studio Gangland Wire. I have a Kansas City story but it kind of stretches out to Las Vegas you’re gonna hear a little tidbit little interesting teaser about Oscar Goodman, the famous mob lawyer which is you know, I’ve done a story about so Welcome Frank. Hey, I really appreciate you coming on the show Frank.
00:24
Thanks for having me back Gary
00:26
Now we did another show about the Mafia and the Machine is like the history of the mob and Kansas City so Frank is steeped in the mafia in Kansas City.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this bonus episode, Gary tells five short stories about the New York City Police Intelligence Unit and their efforts to plant hidden microphones on John Gotti and Neil Dellacroce in and around the Ravenite Social Club. Gary found these first-person accounts in a book titled Cop Talk : True Detective Stories From the NYPD by E. W. Counts.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here! 
Transcript
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS
00:00
Hey all you Wiretappers out there back here in the studio of Gangland Wire, this is kind of a shorty want to take care of you guys in the especially the audio. I started working on a book written by some New York City policemen or they like collaborated with another author and they told a lot of stories about being in New York City policeman and in particular they got a bunch of guys from the Intelligence Unit to tell stories and so I was going through them and they were great stories about trying to bug the Ravenite Social Club which was Gotti’s social club and Dellacroce social club also, before then before that, you know, it’s this social club the Raven night on 477 I think Mulberry Street and he has in Mulberry Street down there little it lay in Manhattan. It goes all the way back to Albert Anastasia. And then Carlo Gambino took it over and then Carlo Gambino, you know if you know anything about him at all, he likes to keep a low profile. And by the time he took it over and been there for a while there was so much heat on it and so much police and agents, FBI agents attention that he left there, and he gave it to Neil Dellacroce. So he took it over and then God he will eventually take it over. So it’s got a long and storied history, it’s a shoe store. Now by the way, I’ll put some pictures up here on the YouTube channel. But the NYPD we’re working on it big time because like Gambino noted noted there’s a lot of attention paid to it and they got what what the FBI was called a plant or an observation point. And that would be a upper floor apartment with a window and where you could see the front of the social club but we did it down here in Kansas City boy and we were in what we call Little Italy or Columbus Park down here for our social club and it was really hard to ...

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary interviews well-known mob historian and author Scott Dietche about his most recent book, Hitmen: The Mafia, Drugs, and the East Harlem Purple Gang. Scott Dietche is a nationally recognized expert on organized crime in the United States. This Tampa-based author has written books like Garden State Gangland: The Rise of the Mob in New Jersey, The Silent Don: The Criminal Underworld of Santo Trafficante Jr., Cigar City Mafia: A Complete History of the Tampa Underworld, and The Everything Mafia Book. Click anywhere on the highlighted text to find these books. In Hitmen, Scott tells of this minor league New York City Mafia crew known as the Purple Gang. These gangsters aspired to make their Purple Gang into the 6th Family by selling narcotics, committing murder, and extortion.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Transcript
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
mafia, gang, east harlem, purple, connection, drug, genovese, family, murders, tied, heroin, mob, early 70s, guns, killings, la cosa nostra, florida, gangs, new york, drug dealers
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, Scott Dietche
 
00:00
The early years of the purple gangs appearance on the drug scene were a tumultuous era for many of the mob like drug syndicates operating in New York City, including the ones operating in East Harlem. But within the gangs own ranks internal strife and petty beefs led to several killings that law enforcement scrambled to solve more often than not, they were added to the list of unsolved gangland homicides. This early violence was one catalyst that led to the myth us of the Purple Gang as something akin to an elite hit squad for hire in the underworld. There were a lot of blood spatter drug related homicides, everybody suspected them the Purple Gang of doing a bunch of them, but we couldn’t prove it. The drug game was a violent one and the gang was certainly amenable to dispatching business rivals with little to no provocation. A 1976 DEA report stated much like the original Purple Gang that terrorize Detroit during the Prohibition era,

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary interviews KC Mafia historian Frank Hayde, author of The Mafia and the Machine. They discuss the KC Mob from Prohibition to the Murder of the Two Charlies. Charlie Binnagio became a dual threat when he joined Tom Pendergast and became a political boss and the mob boss of Kansas City. His bodyguard, Charlie Gargotta, remained in the shadowy world of mafia hitmen and enforcers. Someone will murder both of the men dramatically. These dramatic murders expose the unholy partnership between the Mafia and the Machine.
Get Frank Hayde’s book The Mafia and the Machine
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here! 
Transcript
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, Frank Hayde
00:00
Well, hey, all you Wiretappers out there. It’s good to be back here in studioof Gangland Wire. First of all, I want to introduce you to my friend and fellow mob historian Frank Hayde, as you can see right there. I know many of you and because I’ve seen you on Facebook talking about the Mafia and the Nachine. Well, this is the dude that wrote the mafia machine, the first the first definitive history of the mob in Kansas City. So and you know, my friend Bill Ouseley wrote another one called Open City, but this was the first one and, you know, Frank, I know he was working on at the time and all sudden, the both of them came out at about the same time, if I remember right, and, you know, Frank helped me out with an interview, if you guys have seen my Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup about the theft of the 1946 election, which a lot of you have, and if you want to see it, you got to go to my website, and I can, I can rent you a link for $1.99. But Frank helped me out with that. And, you know, he’s just he is an expert on the mob and Kansas City, there’s the whole over you, you know, me I, I mainly know about the skim days and the days when I was a copper, but I don’t know that old history, like, like Frank does. And today, we’re going to talk about the joining of the Irish political machine and the Italian Mafia, and a man named Charlie Binnagio. That came out of it. Frank, welcome. I really appreciate you being here.
01:28
Gary Thank you for having me. It’s great to be on your show.
01:31

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, Gary interviews Bulldog John Drummond. The listener learns about filming the Chicago Outfit up close and personal. Bulldog Drummond tells about a situation where it got almost too personal for Bulldog and his camera crew. Bulldog and his film crew watched as Chicago outfit associate and enforcer William “Billy” Dauber and his wife Charlotte left the Will County courthouse after the judge continued his hearing for cocaine and weapons charges. Bulldog wanted to follow the couple to find their county home because he had heard it was like a fortress. Bulldog’d editor ordered them back to downtown Chicago because he wanted coverage of another incident at the Cook County courthouse. The crew did not know that an Outfit hit team was waiting to follow the Daubers with guns, not cameras. They narrowly missed becoming witnesses and possibly victims of an Outfit hit team in the act of killing the Daubers.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
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To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Transcript
Well, hey guys, all you wiretappers out there, another show of Gangland Wire back here in the studio. You can see my little library over there. A couple of last legal manuals I’ve got over there, those black and gold things, I need to get rid of them too. So today I went back to an old interview where I did with John Bulldog Drummond. You guys in Chicago will remember John Bulldog Drummond he was a very famous, very well known dynamic TV reporter at the time over the 50s 60s and 70s is kind of cut his teeth on the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Actually, I interviewed him years ago and and we just went on, I just let him have his head and he just told about all his different Bob stories and his relation to him. And he’s got some good ones we start off with let’s see, I had to make some notes here. We started off with what he remembers about Jerry Scalise and Rachel coming back on the airplane from England after they stole the Marlboro diamond and then when they got caught trying to break into Angelo law presenters house, then we go to oh, he he does the whole thing on Tony Spilotro and Lefty Rosenthal. But I think I think the best story in here, and it’s worth going through the early stories, he talks pretty fast, but I know you guys in Chicago will enjoy listening to Bulldog grumman’s voice again.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins interviews Chicago Outfit Historian James Cosenza about the second trial of Outfit gambler, fixer, and killer Bobby Salerno. We learn Salerno worked with a Cicero shakedown and hit team that went too far when they murdered bookmaker Hal Smith. An Outfit associate named B. J. Jahoda turned witness after the Hal Smith murder because they used him to set up Smith without his cooperation and foreknowledge. Salerno was represented by his son, defense attorney Alex Salerno. James reports that during the trial, the prosecutor elicited from Jahoda that Salerno and others killed Smith because he refused to pay any extra tribute to the crew. He felt he had paid enough “street tax.” When a crew member named Solly DeLaurentis asked for more, Smith refused, and they got into a loud argument in a public place.
James Cosenza did not perceive that B. J. Jahoda was a believable witness. He spoke with Bobby Salerno at the water fountain during a break. Salerno said he was so proud that his son, Alec Salerno, was one of his two lawyers at the Defense table. He said, “I told my son that if he lost, don’t feel too bad because I have been around, and I can take it.”
In this trial, the government used William B.J. Jahoda, who had been Solly DeLaurentis’ driver, as their star witness. Jahoda owned the Long Grove, Illinois home where the crew murdered Hal Smith. Jahoda testified that he was ordered to bring Smith to his house for a “talk.” Instead, Bobby Salerno, Robert (Bobby the Gabeet) Bellavia, and Louis (Louie Tomatoes) Marino murdered Hal Smith.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Transcript
SPEAKERS
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, James Cosenza
00:00
During B. J. Jahoda’s testimony now he was the star witness against Bobby Salerno. He was a kind of a tough witness to listen to. And they called the break outside in the hallway near the water cooler. For some reason, Gary, I was so aggravating, a little little disturbed by B. J. Jahoda’s testimony that I made a couple of comments out loud that I normally don’t do. And to my surprise, Bobby Salerno actually replied and spoke to me. And he told me I’ll never forget it. He said that you can see my son Alex, who’s representing me is a very fine attorney....

Retired intelligence detective Gary Jenkins interviews Robert McNeese, a man who served many years in two different federal prisons and was the cellmate of Lucchese Boss Vic Amuso. He was nearby when Colombo mobster Greg Scarpa Jr. attacked and injured Vic Amuso. Robert tells precisely how this fight started and what resulted. Robert McNeese tells how Danny Marino introduced him to the federal prison Mafia society. Marino suggested that Vic Amuso take him in as a cellie. Robert McNeese became good friends with Amuso, which gave him credibility with every other Mafia nab he met in the Federal prison system. He tells about Mafia prison life, prison guard corruption, and how he received a life sentence while in prison for a much shorter bank robbery sentence. The most exciting story is how he befriended a female inmate and learned information that assisted authorities in finding the bodies of two dead children and earned an early out.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
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Transcript
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, Robert McNeese
00:00
The one day that was had open court on handball, Greg Scarpa, Jr. and his friend approached Vic and his friend aspect that they wanted to play doubles. And Vic said no, because you know dudes old man’s a snitch, and I don’t know if if he’s tainted, you know, he might be one two, I don’t know. So later that day or that evening, we had all had some pasta not to pick was Washington’s bowl out in my closet. He was bent over that. And Greg Scarborough Jr. You’re walked in there with a pipe and cracked him in the back of the head with a Game Over 170 stitches. They locked down the hole. Actually, they lock down the entire Bureau of Prisons when it happened. And then they ship colonial was out of there, and I went to Atlanta, and then about two weeks later, Vic showed up in Atlanta. But welcome
00:43
Welcome all you Wiretappers out there back here in the studio Gangland Wire, got a show for you today with a man named Robert McNeese. I got onto him. I can’t remember he was on another podcast I think and I listened to his stories and and he was great update you I was impressed and and we have Robert McNeese here Welcome, Robert. Thank you. I’m really happy to have you on the show we you know, we’ve had a couple three conversations and you know, I understand you live up in Cedar Rapids Iowa right now and there’s about five feet of snow or some...

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary interviews the author of Steel City Mafia: Blood Betrayal and Pittsburgh’s Last Don. Starting with the bombing of mob associate Paul Hankish, this is a story of Mafia life in Steel City with all its blood and betrayal. Paul Hankish was the boss of Wheeling West Virginia and he kicked up the Pittsburgh Family. Plus, we learn about the last Don and how a 1/2 Sicilian named Chuckie Porter became Underboss and took down the family.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here! 
Transcript
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, Paul Hodos
00:00
So you may have heard of Paul Hankish. He was a Wheeling associated Pittsburgh mobster, his nickname was No Legs basically how he got that nickname is pretty interesting story. He was an up and coming bookmaker and gambler and his rival and Wheeling was getting a little nervous about him in 1964. Paul Hankish on one morning was coming out of his house and he got into his car and started the car. Fortunately for him, there was a dynamite bomb in the engine block, his car exploded. Basically there was a shock wave throughout the neighborhoods and windows were blown out. The authorities arrived pretty quickly. Luckily for him, he was conscious throughout the ordeal was car was on fire. He was stuck in there. His one leg was partially severed and the other one was completely blown off. When the police arrived. He was basically just screaming come and help me please. And so they got him out, took them to the hospital and it ended up that they had to amputate his other leg. That’s how he basically had to go and wear prosthetics to walk with crutches basically for the rest of his life.
00:55
But welcome all you Wiretappers back here in the studio of Gangland Wire, I’ve got a story that I think a lot of you guys would really be interested in because it was such a big response to my friend Steve say John talked about being in the penitentiary down at Springfield in the hospital penitentiary with Lefty Ruggerio. And he told a story about a man named Paul Hankish. And we’re going to talk about Paul Hankish, a little bit and his connection to the Pittsburgh crime family and more about the Pittsburgh mob. So welcome my guest, Paul Hodos. Paul, welcome.
01:28
Thank you, Gary. Nice to be here.
01:30
It’s really great to have you here.

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary found a clip of Ray Liotta telling about working on the set of GoodFellas and how one of the Mafa Cops, Lou Eppolito stole his wallet. He also adds a story about how Gaspipe Casso refused to hire the Mob cops because they wanted too much money. Gaspipe paid some other mob guy to do a hit, and the guy murdered the wrong man.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here! 
Transcript
SPEAKERS
JEFFREY SUSSMAN, GARY JENKINS, Ray Liotta
 
00:00
Hey all you wiretap errs out there welcome back to the studio is kind of low shorty I was noodling around and I found this clip of Ray Liotta talking about filming Goodfellas and dealing with Lou Eppolito The mom one of the mafia cops Steven Caracappa and Lou Eppolito where the mafia cops they were New York City policemen that that really they should have been mob guys then they were mob guys that went on the police department work there waves and positions that one of them was in the intelligence unit and actually for a while and then there was a homicide Dick I think they also did hits for mainly for Gaspipe Casso. Eppolito wrote a book and was pretty popular and he was consulting with on Hollywood movies and even at a small bit part in Goodfellas. And I think maybe it’s something else to do in the movies. But I thought Ray Liotta had some really interesting stories about working with the mob working with Joe Pesci working with Eppolito on Goodfellows check this out
 
01:02
Bob was there dinero Lorraine pesci didn’t make it though. Oh, he didn’t know he sent the letter. Oh, really old fashioned Bob read it. Did he really um basically it said sorry I can’t be there but the even curses when he writes he’s a funny guy. That is that might be the greatest scene ever. I mean really? It still makes me nervous even though I know what’s happening in that scene. So Goodfellas eatery right? You learn to ride a horse do you learn to be a mobster for a movie like that? And can you even What they said they gave me a guy who used to be a cop whose family was in the mob and he later went mob and I remember one day we go to we go to lunch right we go we get there eating and I want to pay he’s he’s you know he’s telling me things and sharing things with my my wallets left they’re like what the heck...

Retired Intelligence detective Gary Jenkins interviews Nathan Masters about his new book Crooked: The Roaring ’20s Tale of a Corrupt Attorney General, a Crusading Senator, and the Birth of the American Political Scandal. We learn about a corrupt U.S. Attorney General named Harry Daugherty, the puppet master behind President Warren G. Harding’s unlikely rise to power. Daugherty was well-known to maintain cozy relations with bootleggers and gamblers like Arnold Rothstein and other scofflaws. When his constant companion and trusted fixer, Jess Smith, is found dead of a gunshot wound in the apartment the two men share, a corruption-busting senator from Wyoming and the incorruptible J. Edgar Hoover go to work.
This book is packed with political intrigue, salacious scandal, and many similarities to our modern era of political discord. Nathan Masters’ thrilling historical narrative shows how this intricate web of inconceivable crookedness set the stage for the next century of American political scandals.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, Nathan Masters
00:00
Yeah, so one of the scenes that really got me going when I started writing this book was something that happened on Memorial Day 1923 at the Wardman Park in fashionable Hotel in Washington where the Attorney General lived, there was a gunshot somebody and there was a man dead from a gunshot wound inside the suite that the Attorney General lived in. And the first law enforcement officer in the scene was none other than the head of what became the FBI, a man named William J. Burns, which if you think about it, it’s a pretty unusual circumstance to have the head of the FBI investigating a local homicide. I’ll read it from my book here a little bit inside the bedroom suite 600 E. Burns found the body of a man named Jeff Smith 50 crumpled at the foot of two beds, in his right hand was a 32 caliber revolver, single bullet had plowed through his head. This was clearly a matter for the local authorities burns knew better than to summon the police immediately, the situation called for discretion for a few in Washington had known as much as the man who now lay before him in a bloody heap, then the book just sort of unfolds from there.
00:56
Thanks a lot. That’s great. Yeah, guys, welcome.

Retired intelligence detective Gary Jenkins researched many well-known myths about Al Capone. In this episode, Gary explains the myths and the real story behind each myth. If you want to learn my about these myths, go to My Al Capone Museum website.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Transcript
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
scalise, capone, chicago, al capone, policemen, people, sicily, gangsters, big, starts, sicilian, gun, named, real, jenna, banquet, kill, olson, outfit, firing
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS
 
00:00
They can see he’s got a blue steel turned out a 30 caliber gun in his hand and he starts firing at them as he falls down. Well, he already had a severed femoral artery in his leg at the time, but he’s still going and, of course, they open up on him. And he’s still alive when they call an ambulance and Genna, Genna starts kicking at the ambulance drivers and you know, take that you son of a bitch. I tell you what, he was a bad dude. Hey, oh, all you wiretappers out there back here in the studio gangland wire. Good to be back here. And I have a story for you today about the myth about how Al Capone had this big banquet and he had some guy there who was a traitor that he knew about and he called him out and he beat him to death with a baseball bat and made famous in the movie. The Untouchables was Sean Connery and and I can’t think of that the guy’s name you know who it is who played Eliot Ness? Anyhow, Connor, he played the tough old Irish, Chicago copper. First of all, I saw a video the other day my my daughter My granddaughter told me about this is a true crime podcast on YouTube. And this wouldn’t work on the audio platform that I mainly use. A lady starts telling about some horror crime primarily some kind of a true crime deal, but she also instructs people on how to put on makeup the time so I thought well, well, there’s a gimmick. We’re always looking for a gimmick. There’s a gimmick. Here’s a gimmick. So what can I do? Alright, here’s what I’m thinking I should tell you how to clean and get a 4026 Smith and Wesson my old service pistol ready to go but you know I tell you what, I don’t know if I can tell that story a true crime story or keep concentration because it takes way too much concentration, I be going God Damnit , where is that spring,

Retired intelligence detective tells about the time that the daughter of Tony Accardo took off with her friend on an unapproved trip out west. “The Boys” had given her a Triumph Sports car as a gift, probably for graduation. Without permission, she convinced her best girlfriend to accompany her on a driving trip out west. She neglected to tell her father, feared mob boss Tony Accardo. Gary received an anonymous email from this friend’s sister, who told the story.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this video, Gary interviews retired Assistant US Attorney Chuck Ambrose. He tells us the story of two brothers who were mob associates. Steven Vest was married to the granddaughter of Joe Filardo. Filardo took Nick Civella to the famous Mob Meeting in upstate New York when New York State Troopers arrested them. Steven Vest was a vicious and greedy cocaine dealer. Chuck tells how a witness described a double murder and pointed out the burial site. This investigation took the FBI into a dark underground of addicts, cocaine, and drug houses. Among many other crimes, Steven and Darrell Vest murdered two Colombian drug mules, buried the body, and kept the cocaine claiming the couriers never arrived.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Transcript
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
mob, kansas city, book, couriers, case, money, son, homicide, brothers, food stamp fraud, prosecutors, running, kilos, business, chuck, cocaine, spend, cartel, vest, rules
SPEAKERS
Chuck Ambrose, GARY JENKINS
00:00
One thing I can get into a little bit if you want me to is that you got the old mob mythology that they never did dope. But we all know that not the case. Even the New York families were running heroin wherever the money was the fastest. That’s where they win. You are listening to gangland wire hosted by former Kansas City Police Intelligence Unit detective, Gary Jenkins.
00:24
Welcome all you Wiretappers out there back here in the studio gangland wire. And I have an old friend of mine in many ways. We crossed paths many times. But we didn’t really know each other. He worked with the guys that worked for me, I was a sergeant in the intelligence unit. So I kind of stayed out of the day to day activities. And I had, you know, 12 guys that I was overseeing what everybody was doing and, and so my guys work with US Attorney’s Office and a particular FBI agent, who was one of the best I’ve ever met Larry Tongate. We have the US attorney that’s Assistant US Attorney that a lot of the guys worked with on several narcotics cases involving the mob in Kansas City. Chuck Ambrose, welcome, Chuck. Thank you, glad to be with you. It’s great to have you and kind of get to know you. Like I said, I heard your name so many times from these guys. But somehow we just our paths never crossed,

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins interviews Tony Scarpo about his family and how they fought to establish themselves independently of the Trafficante Mafia Family. Tony’s grandfather migrated from Bari, Italy, to the Pennsylvania coalfields and moved to Tampa, Florida, for an opportunity. His grandfather, Antonio, fought off gangsters in Pennsylvania, and his father, Art Scarpo, found himself in the same battle when they opened a bar and restaurant in Tampa. When the Scarpo family arrived, they encountered the powerful Trafficante family, an established American Mafia family. Tony Scarpo grew to adolescence witnessing and helping his father and uncles fight back against the Trafficantes. As an adult, Tony Scarpo achieved great success as a diamond importer and has become a generous philanthropist. At one point, he asked his sister, “Did we live through what I remember?” This put him on a path to document and memorialize his exciting family history in this book. Tony has obtained interest from a motion picture company, and a screenwriter is working on a script.
Please click here to buy the book La Mia Famiglia: Never Let Them Steal Your Name.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Transcript
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
tampa, father, book, mafia, people, dad, family, mob, anthony, italian, story, began, fbi, bar, growing, narcotics, man, sat, brothers, bookmaking
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, Tony Scarpo
 
00:00
I don’t know the circumstances of how this meeting came about. He may have been invited. He may have been forced, or he may have been thinking he was going to dinner with friends, but he found himself at a scene straight out of the godfather. Two men he had never seen before asked him to join them for a cup of coffee. The meeting was to take place at hares diner on Hillsborough Avenue. When my dad entered to the well known restaurant, he was escorted back to a dimly lit banquet room, wondering why the main diner tables weren’t sufficient. He heard the door slam behind him. They’re sitting at a four top or two men waiting to meet him. He noticed several other men scattered throughout the room, all standing with their eyes focused intently on him, each man standing at attention as if waiting for some sort of signal. Well, thanks a lot. Anthony.

Retired intelligence detective Gary Jenkins explains the Purple Gang of East Harlem in this bonus episode.
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins interviews an expert on Mob lawyers,  Australian lawyer Tony Taouk, about Roy Cohn. We learn that Mr. Cohn was a flamboyant fixture in New York City and “made his bones” as the advisory lawyer to Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Committee on Un-American activities during the 1950s. One of Roy Cohn’s most famous mob cases was the time he helped Carmine Galante beat a parole revocation.
To contact our guest or get a good lawyer in Syndey, Australia, Click here
Tony Taouk is an Australian lawyer and a Mafia researcher who specializes in the subject of mob trials and mob lawyers. He has also traveled to the United States and visited mob-related sites in New York, Chicago, and Las Vegas.
Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week.
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Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire
Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”



To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
 
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, Roy Cohn, Tony Taouk, Carmine Galante
00:00
And this grandfatherly man said that I’m gonna leave
00:04
the country good. What
00:05
are you gonna do when you get to the country?
00:07
Well, I mean, I tried peppers last week now I’m gonna plant tomatoes.
00:11
His name is Carmine Galante, the late Carmine Galati, who the papers said was the godfather of the mafia. Okay.
00:18
You think that had an influence on the federal judgment? He held that you were right in the parole customers role? I
00:23
think so
00:24
he thinks a farmer ought to be able to say the right thing.
00:26
So I mean, it’s very well known that what I do,
00:29
I don’t have to believe a person is innocent. Like we thought we got Galante or Tony Salerno or something like that. I don’t have to believe in their innocence in a particular case, I have to believe one of two things. Number one, that that person is innocent in the particular case, or that there are some extraordinary circumstances which make the prosecution unfair.
00:50
Well, hey all you wiretappers out there. Welcome back to the studio of Gangland Wire. We got a special show if you listen to that little promo that was Carmine Golante talking with his lawyer Roy Cohen right after Roy did a deal that got him out of jail. He was talking about that what he was gonna go do. I’ve got a an Australian lawyer, Tony Taouk, from down-under from Sydney, Australia,

Retired Intelligence Unit detective Gary Jenkins interviews Andrew DiDonato, a former mafia associate of the Gambino crew that Nicky Corazzo skippered. Andrew tells how Corazzo took him in and groomed him to be a part of his crew and how he made money for the Gambino family. He learned the hard way that there is no real honor in the mafia, only greed. As he brought in guys from other families and created a bank robbery crew, Corazzo became jealous and wanted more money and more money while Drew took all the risks. He describes a successful bank robbery in great detail.
Andrew DiDonato and his co-author Denny GFriffin released a popular book about his exploits. Click here to get Surviving the Mob: A Street Soldier’s Life inside the Gambino Crime Family.
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Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes, click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Transcript
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
money, knew, bags, life, lawyer, run, people, kill, friend, bank robbery, pinched, gary, day, put, nicky, street, lived, problems, location, years
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, Andrew DiDonardo
00:00
Hey all you wiretappers out there back here in the studio gangland wire. Nice sunny day here in Kansas City. This is the second of a two part episode with Andrew D DiDonato. A Gambino family Nicky Corazzo crew associate and in this he tells about, a litle bit about his life getting into the Mob, how they recruited him how they groomed him. He tells in great detail, you got to wait a little bit for it stick with it about doing a big bank robbery, which is really interesting. Now he did it. Then it ends up down about how he ended up going into witness protection. Actually, he never went into witness protection. He lived in New York as you see him on Facebook every once awhile, I think he if you remember from the last episode, he was talking about being in the car business, I think he’s in the car business, I need to get ahold of him and see how he’s doing and what’s going on with it was really a good guy. I really liked talking to him and would mind talking to him to get an update on what’s going on. You know, he was involved with Nicky Corazzo in that crew during the time when Michael DiLeonardo ends up coming in and and he knew about that whole deal where John Gotti Jr. was gonna try to kill or actually was only gonna have him beat up and then the guy tried to kill him, Curtis Sliwa. And so he was real close to all those guys that were close to God. And he was. I mean, he was in there and he was a moneymaker for him. And he got tired of being, you know,

Retired Intelligence Unit detective Gary Jenkins talks with former Gambino Crime Family associate Anthony Ruggiano about his life as the son of Gambino member Fat Andy Ruggiano. Anthony Ruggiano was born into Mob life and never had a chance. It was a typical day for him as a young man to meet others at his Father’s Social Club and plan scores like sending people out to the suburbs with stolen credit cards. He would meet them on their return and pay them a small amount on the dollar for various electronic goods and other small high-dollar items. Then take these items to the retail fence he used. This was his college and internship. He got hooked on the action, drugs, and alcohol from this dangerous fast-paced life. Ultimately, he couldn’t take it any longer and realized he could not maintain this lifestyle and stay alive. He went into treatment and then long-term recovery. He found he could not return to criminal life, and Anthony now works at an addiction treatment center. For help from Anthony, if you have a problem, call 855-963-2113. To see Anthony’s show click here on his YouTube channel, Reformed Gangsters.
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Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire
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To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup  click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. 
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes, click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
 Transcription
00:00
Hi my name is Anthony Ruggiano Jr. and I am the son of Anthony Fat Andy Ruggiano who became a main member of the American mafia in 1953. When I became a teenager at 16, I followed my father into that life and he started schooling me he was a member of the Gambino crime family at that time, I started to work with him at the age of 16. I started using drugs around that time and committed crimes with him when I was age 23. I went to prison for the first time when I came out. I was friendly with John Gotti through my father’s Association, I stopped running around with that Crow and also continued using drugs. My father was a high ranking member of the Gambino family in 1984. My father was arrested by the FBI at that point in time I was still in the street I started freebasing cocaine and I guess that’s what I crossed over the line into addiction my father was doing for two years in prison, John Gotti was the boss of the Gambino family at the time. I had a very good relationship with them. Welcome all you wiretappers out there. It’s good to have you back here in the studio gangland wire. I have a really special guest today. And if you’re out there on YouTube, and you’re a real mob fan and YouTube Bob fan, you know there’s a lot of guys that were formerly in the life that are out there on YouTube. Sammy the bull, Michael Franchese,

Retired Intelligence Unit detective Gary Jenkins interviewed retired NYPD auto theft detective Vic Ferrari about his experiences with the mob and the horrible auto theft problem in New York City. Vic Ferrari has written extensively about the NYPD culture, the mob, and his time in the Auto Theft Unit. Vic Ferrari’s colorful and unique storytelling style entertains and enlightens simultaneously. He grew up on these “mean streets” and knows the Borough neighborhoods like a New York native who spent his career as a cop.  Click here to link to Vic’s books.
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Transcript
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
nypd, car, stolen, shipping, thieves, chinese, stolen cars, worked, run, case, brooklyn, winds, stolen vehicles, bronx, drive, cops, stories, year, precinct, books
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, Vic Ferrari
00:00
He’s parked and this is on a midnight so my lieutenant gets on the radio goes Hey Vic, go up there recover that car and try not to be seen like not to be seen. So I I walk up there the cars running it’s on a midnight I’m in this car. I’m like in a tomb the whole interior has been stripped. So there’s no door handles no nothing. I don’t even know how to get back out of the car. The dashboard is stripped and the interior of the car had been sprayed with WD 40. So so it’s so you can’t recover fingerprints. So now I’m sliding around in this car. I can’t get out of it. And a four seven police car drives by and I said oh shit. If they run my plate, it’s got to come back stolen. I can’t even roll down the windows.
01:35
Well, welcome all you wiretappers out there back here in studio gangland wire. And I have an interesting guy to say the least another retired copper just like me. And like I used to say out of the mouths of the men that did it. Well, this is a guy that did it. And now he writes stories about it while he writes fiction, but he uses his real life experiences, of course to tell these fictional stories. Vic Ferrari Welcome Vic.
02:01
Gary, thank you so much for having me on your show. I’m a big fan. Great. Well, you
02:05
know, when you got hold on me, you said you’d been listen to the podcast for a while and I appreciate that. And we take all the listeners we can and I like to entertain people and I can tell you do too. I looked at some of the clips of you and other shows that are that he likes to entertain people So anyhow vic, I get you were with NYPD and where do you spend most of your career like I spent most of mine with the intelligence un...