boston mafia - Blog - Gangsters Inc. - www.gangstersinc.org
2024-03-29T07:23:28Z
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UFC president Dana White versus “Whitey” Bulger’s Boston Mob
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/ufc-president-dana-white-versus-whitey-bulger-s-boston-mob
2023-01-20T14:40:17.000Z
2023-01-20T14:40:17.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10945555671?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>Dana White is the most powerful figure in the world of mixed martial arts. As president of the UFC, he reigns over a roster of “baddest men on the planet” and killers row of knockout artists. His way of doing business reminds one of the American Mafia. It’s hardball interwoven with vague threats that might or might not come true. Where did he get his inspiration? Let’s take a ride to Boston.</p>
<p>Southie or South Boston to be precise. In the 1990s, White started a boxing gym with former Golden Gloves champion Peter Welch. It was set up for inner-city youths to come and blow off some steam and learn the noble art.</p>
<p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QcC5mB0i1pY" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Boxercise</strong></span></p>
<p>White himself never rose above the amateur level, but knew enough to run a few classes. But youngsters coming off the streets of South Boston didn’t have a lot of cash to spend. So White set up boxercise classes targeting housewives and businessmen.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-italian-mafia-irish-gangs-chinese-tongs-bootleggers-gamblers" target="_blank"><strong>The Italian Mafia, Irish gangs, Chinese Tongs: Welcome to Gangland Boston</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>His business looked to be doing well and it wasn’t long before the local mob started to notice. Back in the early to mid-1990s, South Boston was ruled by mob boss <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-making-of-mob-boss-whitey-bulger" target="_blank">James “Whitey” Bulger</a> and a motley crew of hitmen, drug dealers, and thieves.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“You know who we are?”</strong></span></p>
<p>“One day I’m actually in there teaching class,” White remembers. “And these guys literally walk right into the middle of the class. And they’re like: ‘Hey we need to talk to you.’ And I said: ‘I’m teaching a class here.’ And they’re like: ‘Meh, we need to talk to you outside.’”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10945552678,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10945552678?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="309" /></a>Once outside, the cliché talk begins. White: “They start asking me if I know who they are. I don’t. Whitey Bulger had a guy who worked under him and his name was Kevin Weeks (left). They wanted $2,500 dollars from me. I’m 21 years old! You might as well ask me for $25,000. I didn’t have $2,500 bucks.”</p>
<p>Hoping Bulger’s ‘muscle’ would realize this up-and-coming fitness kid didn’t have the money they wanted, White went about his business. “I ignored him,” he says. “I didn’t do anything. You know I tried to avoid him for a while and you can only avoid that shit for so long. One day I got a call at my apartment. The guy says: ‘You got until tomorrow morning to pay up.’ I said: ‘Or what?’ He said: ‘You’re gonna find out what.’ I said: ‘Okay.’ I hung up the phone, picked it back up and called Delta and got a one way ticket to Vegas.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/oh-so-predictable-yet-mysteries-surround-prison-murder-of-mob-bos" target="_blank"><strong>Oh so predictable, yet mysteries surround prison murder of mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>The rest, as they say, is history. A few years later, James “Whitey” Bulger became one of America’s Most Wanted Fugitives and was outed as an FBI informant. Kevin Weeks was arrested and became a government witness just like his boss, earning himself the nickname Kevin “Two” Weeks for the time it took him to flip. Bulger was eventually arrested as well and sentenced to life in prison. He was <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/oh-so-predictable-yet-mysteries-surround-prison-murder-of-mob-bos" target="_blank">murdered</a> behind bars <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/freddy-hated-rats-meet-the-hitman-who-allegedly-murdered-mob-boss" target="_blank">by inmates who hated snitches</a>.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Mob rules</strong></span></p>
<p>White, meanwhile, reconnected with childhood friends Lorenzo Fertitta and his older brother Frank Fertitta III and bought a fledgling Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion called Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 2001 for $2 million.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10945553084,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10945553084?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="300" /></a>Fifteen years later, they sold the company for over $4 billion. White (right) held an ownership stake of 9 percent. He also continued on as the company’s president.</p>
<p>As president, White is known for his brash and in-your-face style. He bullies around reporters and anyone standing in his way. Even if they are deemed “the baddest men on the planet”. White has no issues with berating or talking down to his most skilled fighters.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/ufc-champion-conor-mcgregor-s-fascination-with-gangsters" target="_blank"><strong>UFC champion Conor McGregor’s fascination with gangsters</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>If he learned one thing from his time in South Boston, it’s that the one who has the power holds all the cards. Either you get in line or you leave the city.</p>
<p>White’s harsh words usually come during contract negotiations between the UFC and fighters. He will claim said fighter isn’t very good, lacks popularity or – don’t laugh – <a href="https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2023/1/18/23559754/the-ever-growing-list-of-ufc-fighters-dana-white-claims-dont-want-to-fight-mma-news" target="_blank">doesn’t want to fight</a>. Now remember, White is promotor first and foremost, yet he always disses his fighters and champions if they dare to stand up to him. Compared to other (combat) sports, the UFC pays its fighters a pittance. Despite criticism from the media and athletes, White continues as he’s done before. So far it has made him an extremely successful man.</p>
<p>This week, he launched his <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-11654357/Dana-Whites-new-slap-fighting-league-slammed-expert.html" target="_blank">Power Slap League</a>, a tv show about men standing in front of each other and taking turns slapping each other in the face as hard as possible until only one man is left standing.</p>
<p>The show follows hot on the heels of a hectic New Year’s Eve party in which White was filmed getting into a drunken brawl with his own wife, slapping her multiple times. It was a scene a man like “Whitey” Bulger could appreciate, no doubt. </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/organized-crime-in">Organized Crime in North America section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
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<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p></div>
Oh so predictable, yet mysteries surround prison murder of mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/oh-so-predictable-yet-mysteries-surround-prison-murder-of-mob-bos
2023-01-04T19:45:18.000Z
2023-01-04T19:45:18.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10925436872?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>If you were told Boston mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, a man responsible for countless murders and a known snitch, was placed in a prison’s general population, what would you say? Probably that he was a dead man walking, right? It is this aspect of Bulger’s death that continues to mystify investigators looking into his predictable murder.</p>
<p>There is no doubt about it: <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-making-of-mob-boss-whitey-bulger" target="_blank">“Whitey” Bulger</a> was a hated man. On the streets of Boston, Massachusetts, and beyond, his name struck fear in the hearts of the public and underworld figures. He was known for violence and capable of murder at the drop of a dime. He was also known as a rat. Though it took until the mid-1990s until his status as a longtime FBI informant was made official.</p>
<p>By then, Bulger was on the run and would remain a ghost for 16 years. One of America’s Most Wanted Criminals. He was finally <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/mob-boss-whitey-bulger" target="_blank">arrested in 2011</a> and found guilty of 11 gangland killings and sentenced to life in prison in 2013.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Investigating Whitey’s murder</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10925436896,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10925436896?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="300" /></a>What happened since then and up until Bulger’s death at the hands of other inmates, has been investigated by the Justice Department inspector general and documented in a report released in December of 2022.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>INTERVIEW: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-italian-mafia-irish-gangs-chinese-tongs-bootleggers-gamblers" target="_blank"><strong>The Italian Mafia, Irish gangs, Chinese Tongs: Welcome to Gangland Boston</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>At the time of his sentencing, “Whitey” was a frail, old man. He was finally going to get a taste of justice and he wasn’t happy about it. Life in general is pretty hard for most 80-year-olds, never mind spending it behind bars at that ripe old age. To add to the hard time, Bulger suffered from serious health ailments, which included a heart condition known as atrial fibrillation.</p>
<p>His health issues caused authorities to place Bulger in U.S. Penitentiary Coleman in Florida, a prison able to treat his ailments. Only Bulger was having none of it. He allegedly threatened a nurse there in 2018. Prison officials then placed the elderly mob boss-turned-snitch in solitary confinement and began looking for a prison that would be a better fit.</p>
<p>This is when the murder mystery began. Instead of finding Bulger a prison facility that could handle his health problems and treat them accordingly, they started a transfer to Hazelton, a prison in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, that could not.</p>
<p>This was clear after three requests were turned down by officials in Hazelton. In order to make the move possible officials in Coleman had to downgrade Bulger’s medical status. According to the report, Bureau of Prison (BOP) officials failed to “accurately represent” Bulger's serious health ailments, contradicted a BOP medical director's guidance based on Bulger's medical record, “downplayed Bulger's cardiac incidents” and stated his chest pains were induced by anxiety.</p>
<p>After the downgrade nothing stood in the way of Bulger’s transfer to a prison ill-equipped to handle his health problems. It also gave way to the second mystery surrounding Bulger’s road to death.</p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">Bulger who? Winter Hill Gang what?</span> </strong></p>
<p>When inmates are transferred from one prison to another, officials check a database for gang or mob ties, possible enemies or threats. Upon his transfer, Bulger’s Winter Hill Gang, apparently, wasn’t listed as an organized crime unit in the BOP's Security Threat Group Roster. Because of that, “there was no reason to believe that Bulger could not be placed at Hazelton.”</p>
<p>An official told investigators that, “there was no information in BOP's databases indicating that Bulger was a gang member or a law enforcement cooperator.”</p>
<p>Like one had to check a database to know whether or not an infamous inmate like James “Whitey” Bulger had any gang ties. Had they missed any of the news reports? Headlines? Front pages? The books on his life of crime? The two movies based or inspired on his life? One in which he was played by Jack Nicholson and the other in which he was portrayed by Johnny Depp. Who needs a database with a notorious man like Bulger?!</p>
<p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QcC5mB0i1pY" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>But, oh well, let’s see where this story will go.</p>
<p>According to investigators, Bulger was eager to leave Florida for his new digs in West Virginia. He had apparently “lost the will to live” while incarcerated there and “adamantly” requested to be placed in the new facility's general population without any protection.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>WATCH | </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/watch-he-wanted-to-leave-this-earth-former-enforcer-for-mob-boss" target="_blank"><strong>“He wanted to leave this earth,” former enforcer for mob boss “Whitey” Bulger says</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>While prison officials supposedly could not find anything about Bulger’s gang or status as an informant in their database, he was famous enough for one Hazelton prison official to request he be placed in the unit he managed. Identified in the report only as “Unit Manager 2”, this official volunteered to have Bulger under his supervision due to Bulger's “broad publicity status.” He stated that he was best equipped to handle such a high-profile inmate’s incarceration.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Giving the rat a warm welcome</strong></span></p>
<p>The compound where Bulger was to be housed was also home to several inmates with ties to organized crime in Massachusetts and the Italian-American Mafia. Among them Genovese crime family hitman Fotios “Freddy” Geas, who <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/freddy-hated-rats-meet-the-hitman-who-allegedly-murdered-mob-boss" target="_blank">despised snitches</a>, and Boston mobster Paul DeCologero.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/freddy-hated-rats-meet-the-hitman-who-allegedly-murdered-mob-boss" target="_blank"><strong>“Freddy hated rats” – Meet the hitman who allegedly murdered mob boss Whitey Bulger behind bars</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>As staff discussed Bulger’s impending arrival at Hazelton, inmates picked up on the chatter and the entire place was buzzing as a result. “Both the inmates and staff were speculating about how long Bulger would stay alive in Hazelton,” the report states.</p>
<p>One inmate wrote an email on October 29, hours before Bulger’s arrival: “If i[sic] dont [sic] call you tomorrow then we are locked down for probably 30 days cause [sic] we got word whitey [sic] bulger [sic] is coming to the yard tonight.. you [sic] remember him as the boig [sic] boston [sic] irish [sic] mobster leader who was just caught afew [sic] years ago.. well hes[sic] been a government witness for 20 years aso[sic] yeah you already know…”</p>
<p>As Bulger arrived inmates began yelling “rat”. It was a fitting welcome for the man not listed in BOP databases as an informant.</p>
<p>Within 12 hours of his arrival, Bulger lay beaten to death in his cell. His eyes were gouged out and his tongue was cut out of his mouth, no doubt alluding to his status as a snitch. Prosecutors allege Fotios Geas and Paul DeCologero entered Bulger’s cell and beat him to death, while Sean McKinnon acted as lookout. The three men were charged in August of 2022 with conspiracy to commit murder. All pleaded not guilty.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Questions remain</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10925437263,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10925437263?profile=RESIZE_400x" width="300" /></a>“The fact that these serious deficiencies occurred in connection with a high-profile inmate like Bulger was especially concerning, given that the BOP would presumably take particular care in handling such an inmate's case,” Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said in a statement. “In our view, no BOP inmate's transfer, whether they are a notorious offender or a non-violent offender, should be handled like Bulger's transfer was in this instance.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/revenge-is-a-dish-best-served-cold-the-men-charged-with-killing-m" target="_blank"><strong>Revenge is a dish best served cold - The men charged with killing mob boss Whitey Bulger know this all too well</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Questions remain, however, why things happened the way they did in this particular case. Why did officials downgrade Bulger’s medical issues? How come the BOP database did not list accurate information which could easily be found on any Google search? And why did prison officials fail to act on the clear threat Bulger faced when entering another facility? Especially one housing members of organized crime.</p>
<p>The answers to these questions will probably never come. Bulger’s death is a happy ending to many people on both sides of the law and especially to those straddling the thin line between the underworld and the one above.</p>
<p>A lot of secrets were buried with Bulger. And that’s where they will remain.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/organized-crime-in">Organized Crime in North America section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p></div>
They whacked the payphone! The American Mafia bids it farewell with tears in its eyes
https://gangstersinc.org/blog/they-whacked-the-payphone-the-american-mafia-bids-it-farewell-wit
2022-05-26T14:34:04.000Z
2022-05-26T14:34:04.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/10517097266?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>Mobsters and payphones formed a decades long lucrative partnership. Conducting business on one of those things was part of their modus operandi. It was a way of avoiding wiretaps, while still getting to talk to associates far and wide. Unfortunately, the mighty payphone collected its last coin this week.</p>
<p>On Monday, the last standing public payphone in New York City was removed from a Times Square street. Its removal is the final step in the city’s project to replace all outdated technology with kiosks that offer free WiFi and mobile charging. The smartphone has officially won the war.</p>
<p>For decades, the payphone was the essential tool for any mobster, gangster, hoodlum, gangbanger, and drug dealer to conduct business in a relative secure manner. It was made iconic in movies such as <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-truth-behind-movie-classic-goodfellas" target="_blank">Goodfellas</a> and <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-truth-behind-movie-classic-casino" target="_blank">Casino</a> and television shows like the The Sopranos and The Wire.</p>
<p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wnnM0wBVrDc" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>Though, in these last two, technology had already started its brutal assault on the old school coin-operated communication tool.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Sicilian wiseguys discuss heroin… uhh t-shirts</strong></span></p>
<p>Payphones might have a reputation for making it possible to communicate in relative anonymity, but Mafiosi weren’t stupid enough to believe the law wasn’t listening in on their payphone conversations. That is why they would use code words to talk to their friends and colleagues.</p>
<p>This sometimes got quite elaborate. Like in the case of the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/sicilian-cosa-nostra-overview" target="_blank">Sicilian mobsters</a> involved in the heroin pipeline known as <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/how-the-sicilian-mafia-flooded" target="_blank">The Pizza Connection</a>. They discussed the quality and price of heroin and cocaine in Sicilian while using code words related to t-shirts.</p>
<p>“I think that by the beginning of next week they will come with 22 parcels or with 11 parcels, whatever you guys prefer,” Sicilian Mafia boss Gaetano Badalamenti, allegedly calling from Brazil, said in one telephone call in 1984.</p>
<p>“All right,” Sicilian drug trafficker Salvatore Mazzurco (pictured below) answered in a wiretapped phone booth on a street corner in front of a pizzeria in Queens.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10517097881,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10517097881?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a>Badalamenti: “Now there's another thing, I met the guy with the shirts of four years ago. But there's a little problem. But there is another guy here that has -there's 10 percent acrylic. I understand little about this.”</p>
<p>Mazzurco: “But 10 percent is not bad.”</p>
<p>Badalamenti: “It's not, it's not pure cotton. The cost over there will come to 60 cents. Whereas the other one will come to more than 90 cents.”</p>
<p>Mazzurco: “The one that is pure cotton.”</p>
<p>Badalamenti: “The one from five years ago. You guys already know the trademark because you have sold it over there. The one from five years ago, the suppliers that we had five years ago.”</p>
<p>Mazzurco: “All right. I will give you an answer regarding everything tomorrow.”</p>
<p>Badalamenti called again the next day to the same number and asked: “Should I send two shirts?”</p>
<p>“You can send all that you want,” Joseph Lamberti (talking on the phone in the photo below, Mazzurco nearby), another Sicilian mobster, answered.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10517099890,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10517099890?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a>“I'll send you two shirts,” Badalamenti said. “The guy, who is more experienced than I, told me it is good, he says. There's simply 10 percent acrylic - acrylic.”</p>
<p>“Well,” Lamberti said, “I think that the one from over there is not, is not a problem. I think that we can go on as far as possible.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>From the Sicilians to the Americans, from Capone to Whitey Bulger</strong></span></p>
<p>In this case, the Sicilians used the payphones to conduct an international drug operation spanning multiple nations and cities. American wiseguys gladly participated in the profitable scheme. Men like <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-decavalcante-crime-family" target="_blank">New Jersey</a> mobster <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/decavalcante-capo-francesco" target="_blank">Frank Polizzi</a>, shown below next to Sicilian drug trafficker Joe Ganci while standing in front of a payphone.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10517109495,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10517109495?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a>Most American mobsters, though, used payphones to handle business much closer to home. <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-lucchese-crime-family" target="_blank">Lucchese crime family</a> bosses <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/profile-lucchese-crime-family-boss-vittorio-vic-amuso" target="_blank">Vic Amuso</a> and <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/torture-murder-and-deceit-the-life-and-death-of-lucchese-mafia-fa" target="_blank">Tony Casso</a> can be seen below making a call. No doubt someone died just seconds later. If not, then the person on the other end of the line was whacked the next day for failing to murder the person ordered whacked the day before.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10517111466,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10517111466?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a>Boston crime boss Harry “Doc” Sagansky was bigtime into illegal gambling and accused of being a part of a multimillion-dollar number pool and horse race racket in 1943. His activities were even investigated during the Kefauver hearings into organized crime in 1950.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10517126081,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10517126081?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-colombo-crime-family" target="_blank">Colombo crime family</a> associate Larry Mazza dialing in to see to some business. Whether that was arranging a hit for his capo, <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/colombo-capo-gregory-the-grim" target="_blank">Greg “The Grim Reaper” Scarpa</a>, or making a date with Scarpa’s common-law wife, who knows?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10517131067,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10517131067?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a>Back in the mob’s good ol’ days phone booths were high tech. <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Chicago Mafia</a> boss <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/caponeville-how-chicago-mob-boss-al-capone-ruled-over-the-suburbs" target="_blank">Al Capone</a> had one installed at the Four Deuces, his headquarters in downtown Chicago. It can now be viewed at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10517133054,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10517133054?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a>Capone bodyguard and hitman “Machine Gun” Jack McGurn can be seen below exiting a phone booth in Chicago after making a call. Just a chat with some broad or setting up a deadly hit?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10517137277,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10517137277?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="595" /></a><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">Phone booth or deathtrap?</span> </strong></p>
<p>Because setting up a gangland assassination was easy using the payphone. Not just for ordering a gunman to go out and shoot someone, but also to lure a hapless victim to a location that was wide open.</p>
<p>You know you have to watch your step when someone nicknamed “Mad Dog” is coming after you. And Vincent Coll definitely earned the nickname. Back in the 1920s and early 1930s, he painted New York City red with blood.</p>
<p>His deadly skills were put to good use by mob boss Dutch Schultz. Taking a life gives some people a godlike feeling. Like they are capable of anything. In Coll’s case, he felt that after several years of taking orders from Schultz, he would be better off giving orders instead of taking them.</p>
<p>So, he went to war with Schultz. His lunacy caused many deaths and wreaked havoc on the city. In 1932, everyone had had enough of Coll. His end came on February 8 at 12:30 am when Coll was using a phone booth at a Manhattan drug store.</p>
<p>While on the phone, Coll was riddled with 15 bullets by a mob hitman. He died on the spot.</p>
<p>It is believed he was set up by his underworld enemies.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10517140497,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10517140497?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>James “Whitey” Bulger says hello</strong></span></p>
<p>What worked like a charm in 1932, continued to do so in 1975. This time it was the Irish mob in Boston that used the payphone in a murder plot. Their target? Edward Connors, a bar owner and former boxer who ran his mouth about a gangland murder. Loose lips sink ships and the underworld doesn't take too kindly to them. Connors fate was sealed. </p>
<p>Boss Howie Winter sent word to Connors that he wanted to talk about the situation and told him to give him the number of a safe payphone so they could talk.</p>
<p>Unbeknownst to Connors, Winter and his men ran the number and traced its location. Winter and Connors had agreed to call at a certain time so Winter’s hitmen - John Martorano, <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-making-of-mob-boss-whitey-bulger" target="_blank">James “Whitey” Bulger</a> and Stephen Flemmi - knew where to find their target: outside a gas station in Dorchester.</p>
<p>When Connors arrived at the payphone on June 12, 1975, he was greeted by Bulger and Flemmi who were armed with a shotgun and automatic carbine rifle and shot up the phone booth with Connors in it. He died on the spot.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10517150471,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10517150471?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“Paulie hated phones”</strong></span></p>
<p>To finish this story off and give the payphone the sendoff it deserves, we leave you with these two classic scenes from <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-truth-behind-movie-classic-goodfellas" target="_blank">Goodfellas</a>. Enjoy.</p>
<p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dwo3mBHFqMk" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>Now shut it down, Jimmy.</p>
<p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZwWCxIV6-GQ" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>Peeeeeeeeeep.</p>
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