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2024-03-29T12:37:38Z
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Gangsters Inc.'s Showbiz
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/gangsters-inc-s-showbiz
2023-02-17T12:30:00.000Z
2023-02-17T12:30:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gangsters-inc-s-showbiz" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237061671,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237061671?profile=original" width="600" /></a>Organized crime is big business. And not just of the illegal kind. Each year, millions are made by film studios, writers, and media giants by turning stories about stone cold gangsters and Mafiosi in cold hard dollars.</p>
<p>We at Gangsters Inc. thoroughly enjoy these products and decided to shine some light on them in this section. This is where we discuss the true story behind some of cinema’s biggest mob classics and keep an eye out for stories about the mob in Hollywood and showbiz, either as a connection or on the silver screen.</p>
<p><strong>Below are some stories, for film trailers visit <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gangsters-inc-at-the-movies">Gangsters Inc. at the movies</a>.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/the-10-best-gangster-tv-series-made-outside-the-usa">The 10 best gangster TV series made outside the USA</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/blue-murder-profile-of-australian-crime-boss-neddy-smith">Blue Murder: Profile of Australian crime boss “Neddy” Smith</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/music-business-execs-arrested-for-working-with-promoter-with-ties">Music business execs arrested for working with promoter with ties to Mexican drug cartels</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/underworld-fame-genovese-mafia-family-capo-and-albanian-gangster">Underworld Fame: Genovese Mafia family capo and “Albanian Gangster” movie actor busted in extortion scheme</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/watch-series-the-offer-depicts-how-hollywood-took-on-the-new-york">Series The Offer depicts how Hollywood took on the New York Mafia to make The Godfather</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/the-real-peaky-blinders-attacking-coppers-gambling-on-horses-figh">The Real Peaky Blinders: Attacking coppers, gambling on horses, fighting with fists and guns</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/a-new-york-mafia-capo-a-member-of-the-yakuza-a-mob-soldier-ex-con">A New York Mafia capo, a member of the Yakuza, a mob soldier, ex-convicts & an Irish gangster rate crime movies</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/the-time-two-hells-angels-saved-hollywood-actress-salma-hayek-fro">The time two Hells Angels saved Hollywood actress Salma Hayek from a knife-wielding nut</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/the-end-of-narcos-mexico-ushers-in-the-beginning-of-narcos-usa">The end of Narcos: Mexico ushers in the beginning of Narcos: USA </a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/what-happened-to-tony-soprano-series-creator-david-chase-reveals">What happened to Tony Soprano?</a> Series creator David Chase reveals New Jersey mob boss’ fate</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">From Grammys to prison: <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/from-grammys-to-prison-rap-artist-fetty-wap-caught-in-100kg-multi">Rap artist Fetty Wap caught in 100KG multimillion-dollar drug trafficking organization bust</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;">WATCH: <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/watch-bmf-shows-rise-of-detroit-s-flenory-brothers-as-they-start">BMF shows rise of Detroit’s Flenory brothers</a> as they start their Black Mafia Family</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/lucchese-mafia-family-member-john-perna-gets-30-months-in-prison">Lucchese family member John Perna</a> gets 30 months in prison for attack on Real Housewives star’s hubby</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Famous movie star and respected gangster - <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/famous-movie-star-and-respected-gangster-profile-of-14k-triad-bos">Profile of 14K Triad boss Michael Chan</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/johnny-stompanato-a-gangster-s-life">Johnny Stompanato: A Gangster’s Life</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/lucchese-family-soldier-beats-up-new-husband-of-one-of-the-real-h">Lucchese family soldier beats up new husband</a> of one of “The Real Housewives of NJ” as favor to her ex</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gangster-movies-around-the-world-a-greatest-hits">Gangster movies around the world: A Greatest Hits</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/realism-is-key-in-bronx-based-albanian-gangster-as-it-depicts-war">Realism is key in Bronx-based “Albanian Gangster”</a> as it depicts “war-torn psyche fused with honor code”</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/pinky-rings-and-murder-brooklyn-gangland-of-the-80s-comes-to-life">Pinky rings and murder:</a> Brooklyn gangland of the ‘80s comes to life in new Mafia series Gravesend</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-irishman-meet-the-real-mafia-muscle-behind-martin-scorsese-s">The Irishman: Meet the real Mafia muscle behind Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/music-label-or-violent-gang-original-block-hustlaz-provided-sound">Music label or violent gang?</a> Original Block Hustlaz provided soundtrack while it flooded Philadelphia with drugs</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/barstool-sports-reviews-alleged-buffalo-mafia-boss-pizza-place">Barstool Sports reviews alleged Buffalo Mafia boss’ pizza place</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/alleged-street-guys-bring-irish-mob-crew-the-westies-back-to-life">“Alleged” street guys bring Irish mob crew The Westies</a> back to life in upcoming tv series The Flannagans</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-real-john-wick-separating-fact-from-fiction-in-hollywood-s-vi">The Real John Wick</a>: Separating fact from fiction in Hollywood’s violent gangster vengeance blockbuster</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/film-detailing-life-of-mafia-snitch-tommaso-buscetta-competes-for">Film detailing life of Mafia snitch Tommaso Buscetta</a> competes at Cannes Film Festival</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/elusive-drug-boss-frank-matthews-to-hit-the-big-screen-from-narco">Elusive drug boss Frank Matthews to hit the big screen:</a> From narco billionaire at 28 to mysterious phantom</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/cocaine-godmother-griselda-blanco-s-son-michael-corleone-returns">“Cocaine Godmother” Griselda Blanco’s son Michael Corleone</a> returns in Cartel Crew, new reality show</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/hardened-gangster-told-child-actor-you-are-the-only-person-who-ha">Hardened gangster told child actor:</a> “You are the only person who said that to me and lived to tell tale”</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/former-hells-angels-boss-tells-his-story-on-stage-in-outlaw">Former Hells Angels boss tells his story on stage in ‘Outlaw’</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-godfather-comes-home-to-dartmouth-author-mario-puzo-s-collect">The Godfather comes home to Dartmouth:</a> Mario Puzo’s collection on display at Ivy League college</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/prosecutor-made-famous-by-american-gangster-avoids-prison-time-af">Prosecutor made famous by ‘American Gangster’ avoids prison time</a> after guilty plea to federal tax charges</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/mr-undercover-details-life-of-ron-fino-son-of-mafia-capo-who-beca">Mr. Undercover details life of Ron Fino,</a> son of Mafia capo who became undercover operative</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/mob-artist-michael-bell-about-fighting-the-system-being-teacher-o">“Mob Artist” Michael Bell about painting portraits of Sopranos & John Gotti</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-facts-behind-the-gotti-biopic">The facts behind the Gotti biopic starring John Travolta</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/now-go-home-and-get-your-fucking-shine-box-iconic-actor-frank-vin">Iconic actor Frank Vincent passes away at age 78</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-real-dea-agents-of-narcos-javier-pena-and-steve-murphy-talk-a">The Real DEA Agents of Narcos Talk Fact & Fiction</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-truth-behind-movie-classic-goodfellas">The Truth Behind Movie Classic Goodfellas</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-truth-behind-movie-classic-casino">The Truth Behind Movie Classic Casino</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-facts-behind-the-kansas-city-mob-depicted-in-fargo">The Facts Behind the Kansas City Mob depicted in Fargo</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/inside-the-fbi-new-york-from-hunting-bank-robbers-and-mobsters-to" target="_blank">Inside the FBI: New York</a> - From hunting mobster to fighting terrorism</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">The story behind the documentary: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-story-behind-the-documentary-back-home-years-ago-the-real-cas" target="_blank">Back Home, Years Ago: The Real Casino</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-godfather-cast-reunites-at-tribeca-film-festival" target="_blank">The Godfather cast reunites at Tribeca Film Festival</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/snl-does-the-sopranos-finale-parody-with-robert-de-niro-as-robert" target="_blank">SNL does The Sopranos finale parody</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-mafia-and-seal-team-6-joining-forces">The Mafia and SEAL Team 6 joining forces?</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;">Owner of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rumble-at-rao-s-it-s-not-over-till-the-fat-lady-sings-the-night-l">Rao's</a> and Sopranos actor <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/owner-of-rao-s-and-notable-actor-frank-pellegrino-sr-dies-at-age">Frank Pellegrino Sr. dies at 72</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;">EXCLUSIVE: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/exclusive-gotti-film-cast-and-crew-get-together-for-big-celebrato">Gotti film crew gets together for dinner</a> - <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/exclusive-gotti-film-cast-and-crew-get-together-for-big-celebrato">New cast members revealed</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;">EXCLUSIVE: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/tj-english-s-cuban-mob-book-the-corporation-turned-into-film">TJ English's Cuban mob book to be turned into movie</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;">EXCLUSIVE: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/new-mob-tv-series-bad-blood-the-vito-rizzuto-story-promises-shake">TV series Bad Blood: The Vito Rizzuto Story</a> promises Shakespearian tale of power and revenge</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">FUNNY VIDEO: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/funny-video-walter-heisenberg-white-to-become-head-of-dea-under-p">Breaking Bad's Walter White to head DEA under Trump</a> (SNL sketch)</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/ufc-champion-conor-mcgregor-s-fascination-with-gangsters">UFC champion Conor McGregor’s fascination with gangsters</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/american-gangster-myth">American Gangster Myth:</a> The True Story Behind Frank Lucas</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/mafia-traitor-tommaso-buscetta-s-life-story-to-hit-big-screen">Mafia traitor Tommaso Buscetta's life story to hit big screen</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gotti-family-takes-film-director-on-mafia-tour-through-city">Gotti family takes film director on Mafia tour through NY</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/interview-john-gotti-jr-sits-down-with-gangsters-inc">Gangsters Inc. interview with John Gotti Jr.</a> in which he discusses the movie about his father's life</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/nathan-barksdale-inspiration-for-the-wire-dead-at-54">"Bodie" Barksdale, inspiration for The Wire, dead at 54</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/breaking-bad-comes-to-las-vegas-mob-museum">Breaking Bad comes to Las Vegas' Mob Museum</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/better-call-saul-here-s-our-top-5-mob-lawyers">Better Call Saul? Here's our top 5 mob lawyers</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/media-savvy-hells-angels-turned-notoriety-into-business">Media-savvy Hells Angels turned notoriety into business</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/real-life-owner-of-bada-bing-strip-club-turns-rat">Real life owner of Bada Bing strip club turns rat</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/will-johnny-depp-s-whitey-bulger-stick-to-facts">Will Johnny Depp's Whitey Bulger stick to the facts?</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/with-broome-street-boys-director-brings-back-gritty-mob-flick">With Broome Street Boys director brings back gritty mob flick</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/what-was-sean-penn-s-role-in-the-capture-of-el-chapo">What was Sean Penn's role in the capture of El Chapo?</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/joe-pesci-actor-rapper-wiseguy">Joe Pesci: Actor, Rapper, Wiseguy</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/insulting-mobsters-with-don-rickles">Insulting mobsters with comedy legend Don Rickles</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/how-someone-stole-the-watch-off-a-dying-tony-soprano">How someone stole the watch off a dying Tony Soprano</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/how-the-chicago-outfit-made">How the Chicago made its Hollywood dreams come true</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/michael-harris-a-convicted">Michael Harris</a>: Convicted drug kingpin who gave actor Denzel Washington his start</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/reality-tv-showing-audiences-fake-ganglands">Reality TV showing audiences fake ganglands</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/jon-stewart-s-the-daily-mafia-show">Jon Stewart's The Daily Show's greatest Mafia hits.. uh bits!</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/supreme-gangster-giant-towers-over-queens-rap">Supreme: Gangster giant towers over Queens rap</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/hong-kong-triads-and-their-lucrative-movie-industry">Hong Kong Triads and 'their' lucrative movie industry</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rap-mogul-suge-knight-shot-six-times-at-vma-party">Rap mogul Suge Knight shot six times at VMA party</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/mob-wives-gangster-gets-20-years-to-life-in-weapons-case">Mob Wives gangster gets 20-years-to-life in weapons case</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gangster-squad-cop-celebrates-100th-birthday">Gangster Squad cop celebrates 100th birthday</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/art-imitating-life-imitating">The Mob: Art imitating life imitating art</a></p></div>
The Mother Snake: Profile of female Shanghai crime boss She Aizhen
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-mother-snake-profile-of-female-shanghai-crime-boss-she-aizhen
2021-05-14T09:47:36.000Z
2021-05-14T09:47:36.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-mother-snake-profile-of-female-shanghai-crime-boss-she-aizhen" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237160863,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237160863?profile=original" /></a>By “Asian Gangsters” for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>Female gangsters have always been a rare phenomenon in any time and place. Female gangsters like Bonnie Parker and Griselda Blanco are some of the best known lady outlaws, but little is known about the women from the east. Shanghai, China which was historically a breeding ground for organized crime, produced many females who rose to prominence in the underworld. One of these women was She Aizhen 佘爱珍.</p>
<p>She Aizhen’s (photo above, left) name is mostly unknown, but she was notorious in her day. Aizhen was a not just a female criminal, she was a certified gangster who struck fear into the hearts of many Chinese. Her interesting biography includes her days pulling off heists on the street, all the way to working for a secret police force during World War 2. Aizhen’s unbelievable story will show people that not only men were respected in the Chinese underworld.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237161069,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237161069?profile=original" /></a>Tiger mom</strong></span></p>
<p>Aizhen was born in the year 1900 in Shanghai to a wealthy family comprised of descendants of Qing royalty. As a young girl, she was always the toughest one in school and she beat up many of her classmates. Aizhen (right) was fascinated with gangsters at a young age and desired to be an outlaw. At the age of 14, she got pregnant from an older gangster from the neighborhood. The boy didn’t want to marry her, so she threatened him with a knife until he accepted marriage. This is when she realized that she he could bully anyone into submission. She became a loyal housewife until the unexpected death of her son at 9 years old. After the death of her son, she divorced the young man and began to work in a casino in Shanghai.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The Green Gang</strong></span></p>
<p>Around the early 1920s Shanghai was booming and became known as the Sin City of the East. Gangsters ran the city and it was infested with <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Casino" target="_blank">casinos</a>, opium dens and whore houses. The <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triads-overview" target="_blank">Green Gang</a> dominated the all these rackets. The Green Gang were best known for its three prominent leaders: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/profile-shanghai-triad-boss-du-yueh-sheng" target="_blank">Du Yuesheng</a>, Huang Jinrong and Zhang Xiaolin. Aizhen caught the attention of an older leader from the Green Gang named Ji Yunqing 季云卿. They became so close that Ji and his wife adopted Aizhen as their daughter. This led to her formally joining the Green Gang as a low level gangster. She became involved in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Extortion" target="_blank">extortion</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Robbery" target="_blank">robberies</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Drugs" target="_blank">drug dealing</a> and shootouts - and she earned the reputation as the number one female gangster in Shanghai next to Huang Jinrong’s wife Lin Guisheng.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237161289,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237161289?profile=original" /></a><em>Photo: Green Gang members.</em></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Asian Bonnie and Clyde</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237161669,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237161669?profile=original" width="122" height="199" /></a>Ji Yunqing eventually introduced She Aizhen to another prominent Green Gang gangster named Wu Sibao 吴四宝 (left). Wu was a well-respected figure in the underworld and he earned a fortune from running casinos. He had the reputation of a merciless gangster who would routinely torture his enemies. Wu was also Ji Yunqing’s bodyguard and he saved Ji’s life from an assassination attempt. To repay his trusted bodyguard, Ji promised Wu his newly adopted daughter to marry—She Aizhen. Wu and She eventually got married and became the Asian Bonnie and Clyde. </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>ALSO READ: Famous movie star and respected gangster - Profile of</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/famous-movie-star-and-respected-gangster-profile-of-14k-triad-bos" target="_blank"><strong>14K Triad boss Michael Chan</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Despite Wu’s reputation as a tough guy, it was said that even he feared his wife. On one instance, Aizhen caught her husband fooling around with a female singer, so she went to the singers house with armed men and shot in the air as she scratched the skin off her face. After Wu heard about the incident he feared for his own life and begged on his knees for his wife’s forgiveness.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Mother Snake</strong></span></p>
<p>Fast forward the late 30s. Wu Sibao became associated with the Wang Jingwei regime, which was a puppet state of Japan during their conquest of China. Wu and Aizhen became prominent members of the “No.76” which was the secret service of the puppet regime. They were employed to intimidate, beat, and sometimes kill Chinese people who were plotting against the Japanese. From 1939 to 1943, the No. 76 was involved with over 3000 assassinations and kidnappings.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-deadly-battle-for-control-over-new-york-s-chinatown" target="_blank"><strong>The deadly battle for control over New York’s Chinatown</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>One famous case of the secret service was the torturing and killing of Zheng Pingru 鄭蘋如. Zheng was an outspoken anti-Japanese social figure from Shanghai, which got her tortured by Aizhen and eventually shot dead. Aizhen’s role in the brutality earned her the name “Mother Snake” and she was considered the most feared woman in Shanghai.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Shootout with British police</strong></span></p>
<p>Despite She and Wu’s government collaboration, they were still outlaws and heavily involved in the underworld. In 1941, She Aizhen and others were in a major shootout with British police after police asked them to hand in their guns when they were crossing the British Shanghai International Settlement border. The shootout ended with people dead on both sides, but Aizhen miraculously survived. Her driver and bodyguards were killed but Aizhen was found taking cover in a car covered in shattered glass. Aizhen became a legend in the Shanghai underworld after the shootout.</p>
<p>In the spring of 1942, Wu Sibao planned a major heist against the Japanese. He heard the Japanese wanted to ship a large amount of gold to the Zhengjin Bank. Wu Sibao sent gangsters to ambush the vehicles carrying the gold on Sichuan Road. The Japanese men fled, and Wu’s men successfully took over the vehicle. The problem was the driver fled with the key which caused the men to stall. The delay allowed Japanese authorities to come and arrest all the men.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/mama-san-godmother-of-the-chinese-underworld" target="_blank"><strong>Mama San: Godmother of the Chinese Underworld</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237160492,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237160492?profile=original" width="146" height="199" /></a>Wu Sibao was eventually found guilty for masterminding the failed heist and he was imprisoned. She Aizhen bribed the Japanese so her husband can have good treatment in prison. Li Shiqun 李士群 (right), the leader of the No.76, bailed Wu out of prison one month later. Three days after his release, Wu was found dead in the city of Suzhou. The cause of death was said to be poisoning. It is believed that Li Shiqun poisoned Wu on orders from the Japanese. A year later Li Shiqun was also found poisoned to death, which led many to believe that She Aizhen avenged her husband’s death, however the case remains a mystery till this day.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Exile</strong></span></p>
<p>At the end of World War 2, China was liberated after Japan surrendered to the allies in 1945. Any former collaborators with the Japanese were considered traitors and they were executed or imprisoned. She Aizhen was tried for her collaboration and sentenced to 7 years in prison. After her release she immediately fled to Hong Kong.</p>
<p>While in Hong Kong, She Aizhen reunited with another traitor from the Wang Jingwei regime named Hu Lancheng. Hu was a prominent figure in the regime and he was married to the famous feminist novelist Eileen Chang. She Aizhen became Chang’s rival and made it her goal to steal her husband. Despite Eileen Chang’s talent and beauty, Hu Lancheng could not resist She Aizhen’s charm and the two became a couple. Shortly after, the two fled to Japan to avoid further prosecutions.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237162262,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237162262?profile=original" /></a><em>Photo: She Aizhen and Hu Lancheng</em></p>
<p>In Japan, She Aizhen and Hu Lancheng officially got married in 1954. She Aizhen ran a restaurant and was very popular amongst the Chinese community in Japan. She managed to get herself locked up again for a short period of time for unknown trivial matters. After her final imprisonment, She Aizhen lived a peaceful secluded life with her husband until his death in 1981. She Aizhen’s death date is unknown but it is rumored she died not long after.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triads-origins-of-the-chinese-mafia" target="_blank"><strong>Triads: Origins of the Chinese Mafia</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>She Aizhen was a tough woman who didn’t let her gender define her role in society. The time period in which she lived, makes her life even that much more extraordinary. Although She Aizhen is considered a traitor to the Chinese, she will still go down as a legendary figure in the history of organized crime. We hope this article will teach more people about this forgotten gangster lady.</p>
<p><strong><em>For more on Asian Gangsters check out this <a href="https://www.instagram.com/asian_gangsters/" target="_blank">instagram page</a> or watch the videos on this</em></strong> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo8NubkCy2A_70gyjpnXSYQ" target="_blank"><strong><em>YouTube channel</em></strong></a></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/triads-overview">Triads 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>
<p> </p></div>
Organized Crime in Australia
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/organized-crime-in-australia
2021-04-05T14:36:16.000Z
2021-04-05T14:36:16.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9237008287,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237008287,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237008287?profile=original" width="600" /></a>As the sixth largest country in the world, Australia has a lot of room for people who are looking for new territory to commit crimes. Discovered by Dutch explorers, Australia eventually fell under British rule. The British used the far-away continent as an isolated prison in the sun after they lost control of the United States. Britain sent its most hated inmates to penal-colonies in Tasmania and New South Wales.</p>
<p>This peculiar practice did not harm the Australia’s growth or development. It is among the most wealthy and prosperous nations on earth and a favorite among tourists who, out of free will, come to enjoy the beautiful nature and cities the country has to offer.</p>
<p>Despite the happy ending, Australia has got its fair share of problems with organized crime. From outlaws like Ned Kelly (nineteenth century) and Mark “Chopper” Read (1970s and on) to the Italian Mafia and biker gangs, Australia has them all.</p>
<p>Gangsters Inc. will bring you the news and stories behind these gangsters and criminal groups. Below you can find our most recent postings dealing with Australia and its criminal elements.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>ARTICLES:</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/blue-murder-profile-of-australian-crime-boss-neddy-smith">Blue Murder: Profile of Australian crime boss “Neddy” Smith</a><br /> <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/underworld-of-pattaya-the-thai-city-that-attracts-the-most-notori">How Australian Hells Angels took control of a charter in Pattaya, Thailand</a><br /> <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/squizzy-taylor-the-roaring-twenties-fast-cars-guns-crime-death-do">Squizzy Taylor: The roaring twenties, fast cars, guns, crime & death down under</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/fat-joe-versace-and-the-calabrian-mafia-a-murder-in-australia">Fat Joe Versace and the Calabrian Mafia:</a> A Murder in Australia<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/ex-president-of-rebels-outlaw-motorcycle-gang-shot-dead-at-biker">Ex-president of Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang shot dead at biker race</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/bandidos-biker-president-found-murdered-by-gunshot-to-the-head">Bandidos biker president found murdered by gunshot to the head</a><br /> Investigation: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/cocaine-delivered-faster-than-a-pizza-though-cost-varies-around-t">Cocaine delivered faster than a pizza, cost varies around the world</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/largest-ever-drug-bust-in-australia-s-history-ex-rugby-player-bon">Largest ever cocaine bust in Australia’s history</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/australian-ndrangheta-mafia-boss-bruno-romeo-dies-at-87">Australian ‘Ndrangheta Mafia boss Bruno Romeo dies at 87</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/mafia-bosses-challenge-casino-and-racetrack-bans">Mafia bosses challenge casino and racetrack bans</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/murder-blue-two-dogs-cops-have-to-die">Murder Blue in Melbourne, Australia: “Two dogs (cops) have to die!”</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/assault-on-law-and-order-melbourne-australia">Assault on Law and Order: Melbourne, Australia</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/honest-businessman-or-australian-ndrangheta-boss">Honest businessman or Australian ‘Ndrangheta boss?</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/ndrangheta-mob-war-in-australia">‘Ndrangheta Mob War in Australia</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-calabrian-ndrangheta-in-australia">The Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta in Australia</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/italian-australian-gangsters-mafiosi">Italian-Australian Gangsters & Mafiosi</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/italian-australian-gangsters-criminals">Italian-Australian Gangsters & Criminals</a></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>BIKERS:</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/ex-president-of-rebels-outlaw-motorcycle-gang-shot-dead-at-biker">Ex-president of Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang shot dead at biker race</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/bandidos-biker-president-found-murdered-by-gunshot-to-the-head">Bandidos biker president found murdered by gunshot to the head</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/how-to-destroy-outlaw-biker-gangs">How to destroy outlaw biker gangs</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/police-ask-for-info-about-bandidos-clubhouse-bombing">Police ask for info about Bandidos clubhouse bombing</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/australian-bikers-fighting-wars-while-cashing-with-the-cartel">Australian bikers fighting wars while cashing with the Cartel</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/biker-news-war-down-under">Biker News: War Down Under</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/biker-news-gang-war-in">Biker News: Gang war in Australia, Angels go to trial in Denmark</a></p></div>
The Truth Behind Movie Classic Casino
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-truth-behind-movie-classic-casino
2020-12-30T06:09:05.000Z
2020-12-30T06:09:05.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9237026457,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237026457,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237026457?profile=original" width="600" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Hollywood loves gangsters. Not because film makers condone their crimes, but because their stories make them lots of money. It’s difficult to name any other genre that has so many titles based on a true story. Yet, despite this label, the true story often gets twisted to fit the silver screen. That is why Gangsters Inc. shares its knowledge of the facts and truth behind these blockbuster gangster flicks.</p>
<p>When it comes to epic mob movies director Martin Scorsese outdid himself with <a href="http://amzn.to/1p3HFhM" target="_blank">Casino</a>. It tells the true story of Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-soldier-anthony-the">Anthony “The Ant” Spilotro</a> and how the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview">Chicago Outfit</a> dominated gambling in Las Vegas and is based on the research and eventual book <a href="http://amzn.to/1mq8yrQ" target="_blank">Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas</a> by Nicholas Pileggi.</p>
<p>In the movie the names have been changed. Lefty Rosenthal turned into Sam “Ace” Rothstein while Spilotro was now named Nicky Santoro. Thankfully their actions remained the same and the acting of Robert De Niro as Rothstein and Joe Pesci as Santoro is, as you can expect from these two stars, top notch.</p>
<p>Where Scorsese had shown the gritty streets of New York City mob life in Goodfellas, in Casino he upped the ante and showed us the glamorous lives of the men who controlled a billion dollar industry. And, “how [they] messed it all up.”</p>
<p>The true story of Casino was featured in several Gangsters Inc. stories. Most dealing with the individual players or certain incidents more than with the exact plot of the movie. The men responsible for the Las Vegas skim and the money from the Teamsters were bosses <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-antonino-accardo">Antonino “Joe Batters” Accardo</a> and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-joseph-joey-doves">Joseph Aiuppa</a>, while capo <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-joseph-lombardo">Joseph “The Clown” Lombardo</a> saw to it their orders were carried out as commanded. We have profiled them all.</p>
<p>Spilotro was sent to Vegas to oversee the skim at the casino. He had made a name for himself back in Chicago after learning the ropes from <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-soldier-mad-sam">“Mad Sam” DeStefano</a>, one of the most evil mobsters ever to walk the streets of Chi Town.</p>
<p>All in all the violence portrayed in Casino did a good job at showing the capabilities of the group of stone cold killers the real Chicago Outfit had at its disposal. Like when Chicago boss Antonino Accardo needed to send <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-message-dont-fuck-with">a message</a> to some guys wo burglarized his home.</p>
<p>In the movie Scorsese even cast real mob killer <a href="http://amzn.to/1qt3e9n" target="_blank">Frank Cullotta</a> to play, essentially, himself as he shoots his way through the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FZ2FA-epcE" target="_blank">final scenes</a> of the movie.</p>
<p><strong>More on Casino:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/video/2ycb">The 25th Anniversary of Casino:</a> Looking Back with Nicholas Pileggi and Oscar Goodman</li>
<li><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/former-mafia-hitman-frank-cullotta-dies-at-81-story-was-immortali">Former Mafia hitman Frank Cullotta dies at 81</a></li>
<li><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/video/frank-cullotta-on-casino-tony-spilotro-killing-informants">Mafia hitman Frank Cullotta on movie 'Casino', Tony Spilotro,</a> Killing Informants, Cooperating with FBI</li>
<li><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-beginnings-of-tony-spilotro-s-infamous-hole-in-the-wall-gang">The beginnings of Tony Spilotro's infamous Hole in the Wall gang</a></li>
<li>The lucrative and violent years of Las Vegas mobster <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-lucrative-and-violent-years-of-las-vegas-mobster-tony-spilotr">Tony Spilotro’s infamous Hole in the Wall gang</a></li>
<li><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-demise-of-chicago-mobster-tony-spilotro-s-hole-in-the-wall-ga">The demise of Chicago mobster Tony Spilotro’s Hole in the Wall gang</a></li>
<li><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/from-violent-to-loving-in-a-heartbeat-the-two-sides-of-infamous-c">The two sides of infamous Chicago Outfit mobster Tony Spilotro</a></li>
<li><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/sometimes-the-most-obvious-is-the-best-way-the-kansas-city-mob-an">The Kansas City Mob and the skimming of Las Vegas casinos</a></li>
<li>The story behind the documentary: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-story-behind-the-documentary-back-home-years-ago-the-real-cas">Back Home, Years Ago: The Real Casino</a></li>
<li><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/insulting-mobsters-with-don-rickles">Insulting mobsters with Don Rickles</a></li>
<li><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/las-vegas-sin-city">Las Vegas: Sin City</a></li>
<li><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-message-dont-fuck-with">The Message: Don't Fuck With Antonino Accardo</a></li>
<li><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/tony-spilotro-and-his-hole-in">Tony Spilotro & His Hole in the Wall Gang</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<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>
<p> </p>
<p> </p></div>
The Chicago Outfit: From
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview
2020-09-03T19:33:58.000Z
2020-09-03T19:33:58.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><div style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:x-large;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9236981095,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236981095,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9236981095?profile=original" width="600" /></a></span></span></div>
<p><span style="font-weight:bold;">First Boss</span>: James "Big Jim" Colosimo<br /> <span style="font-weight:bold;">Primary rackets</span>: Gambling, extortion and loan sharking.<br /> <span style="font-weight:bold;">Boss</span>: The Chicago Outfit has always been very secretive about its bosses. This has been one of their strong points and ensured their continued survival.</p>
<div style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">BOSSES</span>:<br /> <br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/longtime-chicago-mob-boss-john-no-nose-difronzo-dead-at-89">John "No Nose" DiFronzo</a> (dead)<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/untouchable-little-jimmy-profile-of-chicago-mafia-boss-james-marc">James "Little Jimmy" Marcello</a> (in prison)<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-joseph-lombardo">Joseph "The Clown" Lombardo</a> (dead, natural causes)<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-joseph-joey-doves">Joseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa</a> (dead, natural causes)<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-antonino-accardo">Antonino "Joe Batters" Accardo</a> (dead, natural causes)<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-paul-the-waiter">Paul "The Waiter" Ricca</a> (dead, natural causes)<br /> <br /> <br /> <span style="font-weight:bold;">CONSIGLIERI</span>:<br /> <br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-mover-profile-of-chicago-outfit-consigliere-marco-d-amico">Marco "The Mover" D’Amico</a> (dead)<br /> <br /> <span style="font-weight:bold;">SOLDIERS</span>:<br /> <br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-soldier-anthony-the">Anthony "The Ant" Spilotro</a> (whacked)<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-soldier-mad-sam">Sam "Mad Sam" DeStefano</a> (whacked)<br /> <br /> <span style="font-weight:bold;">ASSOCIATES</span>:<br /> <br /> <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/another-chicago-mob-story-the-german-and-the-outfit">Frank "The German" Schweihs</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/former-mafia-hitman-frank-cullotta-dies-at-81-story-was-immortali">Frank Cullotta</a> <br /> The Hook: Life and bloody crimes of feared Chicago Mafia enforcer <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-hook-life-and-bloody-crimes-of-feared-chicago-mafia-enforcer">Harry Aleman</a> <br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/nothing-gets-my-juices-flowing-like-putting-a-gun-to-someone-s-he">Charles Russell</a> <br /> <br /> <span style="font-weight:bold;">ARTICLES</span>:<br /> <br /> <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/another-chicago-mob-story-the-german-and-the-outfit">Another Chicago Mob Story: The German and The Outfit</a><br /> <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/mafia-boss-al-capone-s-13-minute-home-movie">Mafia boss Al Capone’s 13-minute home movie</a> <br /> <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/house-once-owned-by-legendary-chicago-mafia-boss-anthony-accardo">House once owned by legendary Chicago Mafia boss Anthony Accardo</a> sold for $1.5 million<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/caponeville-how-chicago-mob-boss-al-capone-ruled-over-the-suburbs">Caponeville: How Chicago mob boss Al Capone</a> ruled over the suburbs and two small towns in particular<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/former-mafia-hitman-frank-cullotta-dies-at-81-story-was-immortali">Former Mafia hitman Frank Cullotta dies at 81</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/watch-chicago-mobster-frank-calabrese-jr-s-dad-would-strangle-you">Chicago mobster Frank Calabrese Jr.’s dad</a> “would strangle you, cut your throat from ear to ear”<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-beginnings-of-tony-spilotro-s-infamous-hole-in-the-wall-gang">The beginnings of Tony Spilotro's infamous Hole in the Wall gang</a><br /> The lucrative and violent years of Las Vegas mobster <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-lucrative-and-violent-years-of-las-vegas-mobster-tony-spilotr">Tony Spilotro’s infamous Hole in the Wall gang</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-demise-of-chicago-mobster-tony-spilotro-s-hole-in-the-wall-ga">The demise of Chicago mobster Tony Spilotro’s Hole in the Wall gang</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/a-tale-of-espionage-the-cia-the-mafia-double-agents-cuban-exiles">A Tale of Espionage</a>, the CIA, the Mafia, double agents, Cuban exiles, and President Kennedy: Plot to kill Fidel Castro<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/visiting-chicago-s-prohibition-era-underworld-with-new-gangster-t">Visit Chicago’s Prohibition-era underworld with new gangster tour</a> <br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/from-violent-to-loving-in-a-heartbeat-the-two-sides-of-infamous-c">The two sides of infamous Chicago Outfit mobster Tony Spilotro</a> <br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/legendary-mob-boss-al-capone-s-miami-beach-mansion-up-for-sale-fo">Al Capone’s Miami Beach mansion up for sale for $15 million</a> <br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/when-the-american-government-asked-the-mafia-for-a-favor-the-assa">When the American government asked the Mafia for a favor:</a> The assassination of Fidel Castro<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/al-capone-s-beer-wars-chicago-s-prohibition-era-gangland-laid-bar">Chicago’s Prohibition-era gangland laid bare by mob historian John Binder in new book<br /> </a> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/frank-cullotta-the-las-vegas-hitman-made-famous-by-scorsese-s-cas">Frank Cullotta</a> comes to Mob Museum for book signing <br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/there-goes-the-neighbor-hood-take-a-tour-through-chicago-s-gangla">Take a tour through Chicago’s gangland with Oak Park River Forest Gangster Tour</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/once-a-crook-always-a-crook-the-gangster-who-joined-the-witness-p">The gangster who joined Witness Protection Program</a> but never left his life of crime<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-secret-police-in-the-united-states-how-local-law-enforcement">The Secret Police in the United States</a>: How local law enforcement took on organized crime and LCN<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/al-capone-s-beer-wars-book-delves-into-prohibition-era-chicago-ga">New book delves into Capone's Beer Wars</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/world-series-2016-winners-chicago-cubs-meet-your-most-notorious-f">Chicago Cubs' biggest fan: Mob boss Al Capone</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-mob-underboss-anthony-zizzo-disappeared-10-years-ago-but">Chicago mob underboss Anthony Zizzo disappeared 10 years ago</a>, FBI continues search, offers $10G<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/take-a-tour-through-mob-boss-al-capone-s-playground">Take a tour through mob boss Al Capone’s 'playground'</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/cops-make-the-deadliest-mafia-hit-men">Cops make the deadliest Mafia hit men</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/puparo-s-gangland-history-of-the-chicago-boroughs-1">Gangland History of the Chicago Boroughs and its Racketeers</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-a-gangster-history">Chicago: A Gangster History</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-hitman-frank-calabrese-sr-dies-in-prison">Chicago Hitman Frank Calabrese Sr. Dies in Prison</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/how-the-chicago-outfit-made">How The Chicago Outfit Made Its Hollywood Dreams Come True</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-message-dont-fuck-with">The Message: Don't Fuck With Antonino Accardo</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/tony-spilotro-and-his-hole-in">Tony Spilotro & His Hole in the Wall Gang</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicagos-family-secrets">Chicago's Family Secrets</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/hollywood-to-tell-story-of-chicago-bosses-accardo-giancana">Hollywood tells story of Chicago bosses Accardo & Giancana</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-truth-behind-movie-classic-casino">The Facts Behind Movie Classic Casino</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/how-bank-robber-machine-gun-kelly-got-his-nickname">How bank robber “Machine Gun” Kelly got his nickname</a><br /> <br /> <strong>VIDEO:</strong></div>
<div style="text-align:center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/watch-film-the-outfit-uses-english-tailor-to-fashion-story-of-chi">Film "The Outfit" uses English tailor to fashion story of Chicago’s Mafia</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/watch-chicago-mobster-frank-calabrese-jr-s-dad-would-strangle-you">Chicago mobster Frank Calabrese Jr.’s dad</a> “would strangle you, cut your throat from ear to ear”<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/video-al-capone-s-beer-wars-ravage-chicago">Al Capone's Beer Wars ravage Chicago</a></div></div>
Profile of Mafia hitman Frank Cullotta – Story was immortalized in Martin Scorsese’s epic Casino
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/former-mafia-hitman-frank-cullotta-dies-at-81-story-was-immortali
2020-08-21T08:52:07.000Z
2020-08-21T08:52:07.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/former-mafia-hitman-frank-cullotta-dies-at-81-story-was-immortali" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237153092,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237153092?profile=original" /></a>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>Frank Cullotta, once one of the most feared men in Las Vegas, passed away on Thursday. He was 81. As the right-hand of Anthony Spilotro, the mobster who oversaw the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Chicago Mafia</a>’s interests in Sin City, Cullotta’s life was a rollercoaster ride filled with heists, beatings, and mob murders.</p>
<p>According to Geoff Schumacher, vice president of exhibits and programs of The Mob Museum in Las Vegas, Cullotta (photo above, far right) was suffering from several medical issues, including COVID-19. At 81, it doesn’t take much to push a person into the other world.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Mean streets of Chicago</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236977072,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9236977072?profile=original" /></a>Though a man like Cullotta never had much trouble pushing men decades younger to the other world either. Growing up on the streets of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a>, he showed he had no problem with violence. His willingness to scrap earned him the friendship of Anthony Spilotro, who would go on to become a powerhouse in the city’s Mafia family known as <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">The Outfit</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/from-violent-to-loving-in-a-heartbeat-the-two-sides-of-infamous-c" target="_blank"><strong>The two sides of infamous Chicago Outfit mobster Tony Spilotro</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>The pair mixed business with pleasure as both men continued carving their own path in the underworld. After Spilotro (right) was sent to Las Vegas to oversee the Outfit’s <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Casino" target="_blank">casino</a> interests there in 1971, he invited Cullotta in 1978 to join him and run the street rackets for him.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Hole in the Wall gang</strong></span></p>
<p>Spilotro and Cullotta assembled a crew comprised of burglars, thieves, and killers that became known as The Hole in the Wall gang, because of its modus operandi of drilling holes to enter homes and businesses. According to Cullotta, the crew was responsible for around 250 burglaries between 1978 and 1981.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>WATCH: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/video/frank-cullotta-on-casino-tony-spilotro-killing-informants" target="_blank">Mafia hitman Frank Cullotta on movie 'Casino'</a>, Tony Spilotro, Killing Informants, Cooperating with FBI</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>During that time things began spiraling out of control. Spilotro’s power had gotten to his head and he began making mistakes that had large consequences. Like sleeping with the wife of Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, the man who managed casino operations for the Outfit.</p>
<p>The police and other agencies were also breathing down Spilotro’s neck. At one point, authorities managed to place an informant inside the Hole in the Wall gang. He tipped them off of a planned heist at Bertha’s home and furnishings store. All the men involved, including Cullotta, were arrested near or on the spot as the break-in took place.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237154073,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237154073?profile=original" /></a>Fall guy</strong></span></p>
<p>It is all part of doing business. But this time something had changed, Cullotta (right) later recalled. Spilotro knew he was in trouble with the bosses back in Chicago and he needed a fall guy. Cullotta was to be it. And he would pay for that role with his life.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-truth-behind-movie-classic-casino" target="_blank"><strong>The Facts Behind Movie Classic Casino</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>As is custom when the feds find out there is a threat on a person’s life, they make a visit to the intended target with information about the threat without revealing the source or the individual or group that aims to attack. Cullotta let it sink in and began to see he had no other options but to cooperate.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“Take care of your dirty laundry”</strong></span></p>
<p>Once he made a deal with the FBI to become a government witness against Spilotro and his old crew, the feds let him listen to some wiretaps they made of Spilotro talking on the phone with his capo, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-joseph-lombardo" target="_blank">Joseph “Joey the Clown” Lombardo</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Spilotro</strong>: “I’m telling you, Joey, this fuckin’ Frankie is a goddamn maniac. I can’t control him any longer, and he’s gonna get all of us locked the fuck up.”</p>
<p><strong>Lombardo</strong>: “I get what you’re saying. Take care of your dirty laundry. Understand?”</p>
<p><strong>Spilotro</strong>: “I understand.”</p>
<p>If Cullotta had any doubts about whether the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=FBI" target="_blank">FBI</a> had been honest with him, they were buried somewhere in the desert now. He testified against Spilotro in court, but the case ended in a mistrial. He didn’t get a second shot at his former friend and boss, because Spilotro was himself killed by the Outfit just before his retrial was scheduled to begin.</p>
<p>By the end of the 1980s, the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mafia" target="_blank">Mafia</a>’s control over Las Vegas was all but gone. They were kicked out of the casinos and pushed on to the streets. Afterwards, Cullotta disappeared into the witness protection program, but reemerged in Las Vegas where he began giving mob tours through the city. He authored several books about his life of crime, featured in mob documentaries and attended many public events with a focus on the mob and Vegas.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Scorsese’s Casino</strong></span></p>
<p>His best-known role, however, was as a hitman in director <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Scorsese" target="_blank">Martin Scorsese</a>’s gangster epic <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-truth-behind-movie-classic-casino" target="_blank">Casino</a> in 1995. The film told the story of Spilotro, now named Nicky Santoro and played by <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Pesci" target="_blank">Joe Pesci</a>, and “Lefty” Rosenthal, now called Sam “Ace” Rothstein and played by Robert De Niro.</p>
<p>Cullotta had confessed to two gangland slayings and now got to show off his skills on the silver screen. A weird case of a real hitman faking his actions on camera. Just another day in the rollercoaster ride that was the life of Frank Cullotta.</p>
<p>Also read:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-beginnings-of-tony-spilotro-s-infamous-hole-in-the-wall-gang" target="_blank">The beginnings of Tony Spilotro's infamous Hole in the Wall gang</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>The lucrative and violent years of Las Vegas mobster <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-lucrative-and-violent-years-of-las-vegas-mobster-tony-spilotr" target="_blank">Tony Spilotro’s infamous Hole in the Wall gang</a></strong></li>
<li><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-demise-of-chicago-mobster-tony-spilotro-s-hole-in-the-wall-ga" target="_blank"><strong>The demise of Chicago mobster Tony Spilotro’s Hole in the Wall gang</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>--</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview">Chicago Outfit 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>
<p> </p></div>
WATCH | Chicago mobster Frank Calabrese Jr.’s dad “would strangle you, cut your throat from ear to ear”
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/watch-chicago-mobster-frank-calabrese-jr-s-dad-would-strangle-you
2020-08-17T10:30:00.000Z
2020-08-17T10:30:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/watch-chicago-mobster-frank-calabrese-jr-s-dad-would-strangle-you" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237151253,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237151253?profile=original" /></a>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>The decision to testify against his father was a life-changing one, former <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Chicago Outfit</a> mobster Frank Calabrese Jr. (photo above) tells The Mob Museum. “It was not about doing the right thing. It was about survival. I have two young kids and mouths to feed. This man is either gonna kill me or I’m gonna kill him.”</p>
<p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Calabrese" target="_blank">Calabrese</a>’s father, Frank Senior, was indeed the kind of man who could kill on a whim. As a capo in the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Chicago Outfit</a>, he also held a lot of power over a crew of experienced and very capable Mafia hitmen. If he wanted you dead, you were dead. No exceptions. Even if you were his own blood, his own son. But it wasn’t always like that, Calabrese Jr. explains to <a href="https://themobmuseum.org/" target="_blank">The Mob Museum</a>. <em>(Scroll down and watch the video below.)</em></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Keeping your kids out of the Mafia</strong></span></p>
<p>In Chicago you had the attitude that you didn't bring your kids into this life, Calabrese says. “You make a better life for your kids. I grew up in an Italian neighborhood. In my neighborhood a lot of my friend’s fathers were in the life just like my father, like my uncle. Because they didn't need to bring us in, we didn't know a lot about the life. We weren't hanging on corners or in front of social clubs. <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a> was more underground.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-hook-life-and-bloody-crimes-of-feared-chicago-mafia-enforcer" target="_blank">The Hook</a>: Life and bloody crimes of feared Chicago Mafia enforcer Harry Aleman</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>“As a kid growing up my dad never brought to life into the home. He kept it out of it. I knew my father was different from other fathers, but I didn't care. I played sports, my friends were going to college and I was gonna become a lawyer. So growing up I idolized my father, loved my father.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Multiple personalities: Loving father, thief, stone-cold killer</strong></span></p>
<p>But after a while he saw how his father’s job in the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mafia" target="_blank">Mafia</a> impacted his personality. “I see this life starting to change my father, it changed him for the worse. He started to develop multiple personalities.”</p>
<p>One side was liked by all who knew it, a side that loved Christmas more than any other day, and was loving and kind. “And then there was the street side,” Calabrese explains. “I call him a master criminal. He was very good at what he did. A master manipulator too. A great thief, tough.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-beginnings-of-tony-spilotro-s-infamous-hole-in-the-wall-gang" target="_blank"><strong>The beginnings of Tony Spilotro's infamous Hole in the Wall gang</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>The third side was the darkest. One that Calabrese got to know much later in life. “His preferred method of killing you was with a rope and a knife. He would strangle you and once you were dead, he would cut your throat from ear to ear. My dad like to be hands on. He said: ‘Anyone can pull a trigger. I like it up close.’ Like he enjoyed what he did.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Father to his son: “I’d rather have you dead”</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237150899,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237150899?profile=original" /></a>In the years to come, these different personalities started to blend together and, Calabrese says, his father would become more violent with family members as well. At this point Calabrese decided he’s had enough of the life. His father started to realize his son wants out, which resulted in his mock execution. Calabrese Senior (right) then told his son: “If I can’t control you, I’d rather have you dead. Don’t worry I’ll come visit your grave to pay may respect.”</p>
<p>“From that day on, I didn’t trust my father ever again,” Calabrese tells <a href="https://themobmuseum.org/" target="_blank">The Mob Museum</a>.</p>
<p>Calabrese Junior went on to steal $600,000 from his father but was found out. His dad seemed almost happy about that, telling his son that now that he caught him red-handed, he owns him. When the entire Calabrese crew was indicted in 1997, Calabrese Senior, his two sons, and his brother Nick were all sentenced to prison.</p>
<p>There, inside the grey walls, Calabrese decided to get out. He contacted the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=FBI" target="_blank">FBI</a> and began to wear a wire behind bars. A very dangerous move. How did he get his father to talk on the wire? Watch the entire interview Frank Calabrese Junior had with <a href="https://themobmuseum.org/" target="_blank">The Mob Museum</a> below in which he talks about testifying against his father in court and the relationship with his uncle Nick after they both decided to flip and become a government witness.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/biEtvzZ2eaQ?wmode=opaque" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview">Chicago Outfit 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>
<p> </p></div>
Philly underboss “Crazy Phil” Leonetti talks about hanging out with Meyer Lansky, calls Merlino a “lowlife”
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/philly-underboss-crazy-phil-leonetti-talks-about-hanging-out-with
2020-04-30T13:00:00.000Z
2020-04-30T13:00:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/philly-underboss-crazy-phil-leonetti-talks-about-hanging-out-with" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237138253,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237138253?profile=original" /></a>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>Former <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-bruno-crime-family" target="_blank">Philadelphia Mafia family</a> underboss Phil Leonetti doesn't like the limelight. But he made an exception when he sat down with YouTube big Patrick Bet-David for an exclusive interview to discuss his past life, mob movies, his uncle Nicky Scarfo, gangland legend Meyer Lansky and Philly boss Joey Merlino, who he calls a “lowlife”.</p>
<p>Where many former mobsters try to turn their old lives into entertainment gold by participating in shows like Mob Wives or giving tours through their old neighborhood, Phil Leonetti has remained in the shadows. He disappeared into the witness protection program and never came back. He cowrote his autobiography <em>Mafia Prince</em> with author Scott Burnstein, which was released in 2012, but never yearned for additional publicity.</p>
<p>But then Patrick Bet-David made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Last week, the former mob underboss sat down – in the shadows - for an interview with Bet-David on his popular <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/patrickbetdavid/featured" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a> and discussed a wide variety of topics ranging from what “the life” is all about, his views on certain mobsters and incidents to his thoughts on <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Trump" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a> and a list of mob movies.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237138094,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237138094?profile=original" /></a><em><strong>Photo: Philadelphia Mafia boss Nicky Scarfo and his underboss Phil Leonetti</strong></em></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Doing shots with Meyer Lansky</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237138674,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237138674?profile=original" /></a>One of the more interesting tidbits Leonetti shared was about legendary mob boss <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Lansky" target="_blank">Meyer Lansky</a> (right). “We used to meet him in the 1970s at the Eagle Rock Hotel,” Leonetti says. “We met him a few times there. My uncle [<a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/nicodemo-little-nicky-scarfo-boss-of-the-philadelphia-crime-famil" target="_blank">Nicky Scarfo</a>] and I would meet him every time we went to <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Florida" target="_blank">Florida</a>. My uncle, “Chuckie” Merlino, “Nig” Rosen was there. We were drinking shots together. It was exciting. He was a great guy. He was a little old man walking a little white dog, and he would talk about the old days.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/how-meyer-lansky-laundered-the-american-mafia-s-dirty-cash-and-ma" target="_blank">How Meyer Lansky laundered the American Mafia’s dirty cash</a> - and made them bigger than US Steel</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Despite appearances, it became pretty clear Lansky was still living the good life during those years. Leonetti: “I don’t know if he was as rich as everyone says. He didn’t look rich to me. But who knows? He must’ve been very smart that’s all I can say. He’s a character, man.”</p>
<p>At one-point Lansky mentioned his involvement in the casino in Monte Carlo. Leonetti: “He wanted to send my uncle [Nicky Scarfo] there with his wife. My uncle said: ‘I want to go with my girlfriend’. Meyer says: ‘No, you gotta go with your wife if we send you there.’ It wasn’t right to go with your girlfriend, I guess.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The murder of Bugsy</strong></span></p>
<p>Lansky and Scarfo had a special friendship, Leonetti remembers. “Meyer loved my uncle. Every time we were [in Florida] they’d see each other. My uncle looked up to him. I looked up to him like a God. I mean, Meyer Lansky! You read about him. I heard all over the world about this guy. It was amazing just sitting there, listening to him, and shaking his hand.”</p>
<p>As the group of gangsters talked their way through the days and evenings, they also discussed the infamous gangland killing of Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel. “He talked about Ben and how much he liked him,” Leonetti says. “It broke his heart when he got killed, but you know, you can’t do what he did. You can’t rob the casino. You can’t rob the mob.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/my-loving-dad-was-a-gangster-and-bugsy-siegel-s-close-friend" target="_blank"><strong>My loving dad was a gangster and Bugsy Siegel’s close friend</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Bet-David then proceeds to show Leonetti some photos and wants to know Leonetti’s thoughts. When the photo of Philadelphia Mafia family boss <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/watch-philadelphia-mafia-boss-joe-ligambi-celebrates-his-80th-bir" target="_blank">Joseph Ligambi</a> pops up, Leonetti is very clear: “He’s the only good guy in Philly. The only guy I like.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“Joey Merlino is a horrible human being”</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237138868,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237138868?profile=original" /></a>Later, the photo of Philadelphia crime boss <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Merlino" target="_blank">Joseph Merlino</a> (right) comes on the screen and, again, Leonetti doesn’t beat around the bush. “He is the worst human being alive. A horrible human being. He actually robbed Joe Pungitore’s mother’s jewelry. She was sleeping on her couch in her house in the summer time. You know, doors are open. Everybody is in and out. He went in and saw her sleeping and took all her jewelry.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/nicodemo-little-nicky-scarfo-boss-of-the-philadelphia-crime-famil" target="_blank">Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo</a>, infamous boss of the Philadelphia crime family, dies in prison at age 87</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>A big accusation, but Leonetti wasn’t finished. “Also, he beats everybody: borrows money, never pays anybody back. When my uncle was in jail. I would collect my uncle’s end from Chuckie. And it was always short, and it wasn’t Chuckie taking it. I know he [Joey Merlino] was taking it. A few hundred here, a few hundred there. Every time I got money it was a few hundred short. And I didn’t want to say nothing to Chuckie about it. But that’s Joey Merlino. Lowlife.”</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9WRUfkh7-SA?wmode=opaque" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The special bond between Leonetti and Sal Testa</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237138895,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237138895?profile=original" /></a>Leonetti has no qualms about much of his violent past. He talks freely and isn’t afraid of making bold statements. But there is one exception. It happens when the photo of Salvatore Testa (right) comes on. Testa was the son of Phil “Chicken man” Testa and a beloved and feared mob hitman and capo. He was eventually murdered on orders of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Scarfo" target="_blank">Nicky Scarfo</a>.</p>
<p>“Sal… I named my son after him,” Leonetti says as his voice cracks. “You get emotional?” Bet-David asks. “Yeah, cause it’s my fault,” Leonetti answers as he quickly swipes Testa’s photo away. We then see the dead body of Vincent Falcone, a Philadelphia Mafia hitman murdered by Leonetti. “He was no good,” Leonetti says with a chuckle.</p>
<p>From emotional and sad to grinning at the sight of the dead corpse of one of your murder victims in just a few seconds. They didn’t call Leonetti “Crazy Phil” for nothing.</p>
<p><strong>Watch the whole interview below:</strong></p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i_K0FIVZP_w?wmode=opaque" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-bruno-crime-family">Philadelphia crime family 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>
<p> </p></div>
The demise of Chicago mobster Tony Spilotro’s Hole in the Wall gang
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-demise-of-chicago-mobster-tony-spilotro-s-hole-in-the-wall-ga
2020-03-08T17:33:03.000Z
2020-03-08T17:33:03.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-demise-of-chicago-mobster-tony-spilotro-s-hole-in-the-wall-ga" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237156864,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237156864?profile=original" /></a>By Gary Jenkins for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Chicago mobster</a> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Spilotro" target="_blank">Anthony Spilotro</a> had it made. He was sent to <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Vegas" target="_blank">Las Vegas</a> to oversee the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mafia" target="_blank">Mafia</a>’s operations there and was treated as a king. He also had a very lucrative side hustle going as the leader of his Hole in the Wall gang. But things were quickly taking a turn for the worse, in this third and final installment on Tony Spilotro and his crew the reader will learn how Spilotro’s den of thieves met its demise.</p>
<p><em>“Bertha’s? This was the greatest night of my FBI career.”</em> - <strong>FBI Agent Emmett Michaels</strong></p>
<p>By 1981, Spilotro knew he was in for a series of legal challenges. He was facing a RICO indictment for conspiracy to skim money from Las Vegas casinos. He knew the government had dedicated many resources toward him. He knew his <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Chicago Outfit</a> bosses, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-joseph-joey-doves" target="_blank">Joey Aiuppa</a>, Jackie Cerone and Angelo LaPietra were all facing these same charges. He needed money and a lot of it. <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Goodman" target="_blank">Oscar Goodman</a>, his Las Vegas lawyer, did not work cheap, plus if he went away to prison for a long stretch, he must provide for his family.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Las Vegas Metro partners with the FBI</strong></span></p>
<p>Las Vegas Metro Intelligence Commander Kent Clifford and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=FBI" target="_blank">FBI</a> agent Emmett Michaels focused on the Spilotro burglary crew for several reasons. First because of the bad publicity from the Frankie Bluestein killing, second because of the threats against Metro Intelligence officers, Sgt. Gene Smith and Det. David Groover of Metro and thirdly because of Commander Clifford’s trip to <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a>. They needed a win. The FBI and Las Vegas Metro formed a working relationship with the specific intent to bring down Spilotro and his crew.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: The Hook: Life and bloody crimes of feared</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-hook-life-and-bloody-crimes-of-feared-chicago-mafia-enforcer" target="_blank"><strong>Chicago Mafia enforcer Harry Aleman</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Because of the former Sheriff, Ralph Lamb, and his corrupt Intelligence Unit detectives, the FBI had been hiding what they are doing from local law enforcement. In 1981, David Helfry, the USA Attorney in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Kansas" target="_blank">Kansas City</a>, and his staff were working with FBI Agent Bill Ouseley and agents in Chicago, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Cleveland" target="_blank">Cleveland</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Milwaukee" target="_blank">Milwaukee</a>, and Las Vegas to put together the skimming cases. They called many parties into a grand jury trying to get somebody to turn and explain how the skimming worked. Even though Metro Intelligence cleaned up its act, the FBI is still distrustful and vice versa. Since much of the FBI information is coming from a Federal Grand Jury, they cannot share that intelligence with the local cops. The FBI had a Top Echelon Informant (Lefty Rosenthal, pictured below next to Spilotro) in Las Vegas, and they cannot share this information. During this time a couple of Chicago agents turn a guy who will make all the difference. Resultingly, the FBI required a lot of local cooperation to pull off what they believe will be the blow that brings down Spilotro and his Hole in the Wall Gang.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://st1.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/993715516?profile=RESIZE_710x" alt="993715516?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a>When the government decides to take down a crew and forms a partnership with the local cops, the target does not have a chance. By this time, the Spilotro task force was very familiar with all the usual Hole in the Wall Gang hangouts. Unless there is a specific operation going, the Intelligence guys merely drove around watching the known spots like clubs, casinos, apartments or homes to see who their targets meet, they may follow the unknown parties to identify them and any other businesses they go into or to see what other connections they make. Many people think this is a waste of time and the officers themselves may not realize or understand exactly what they observe during this kind of surveillance. In his case, they were finding Tony Spilotro meeting with <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Cullotta" target="_blank">Frank Cullotta</a>, Ernie Davino, Larry Newman, Wayne Mateki, Leo Guardino and Joe Blasko quite a lot. They knew these were all career criminals and had done high-end burglaries or <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Robbery" target="_blank">robberies</a> in the past. From their observations, they knew these men all socialized together. The cops suspected they might be the famous Hole in the Wall Gang, but they were unable to catch them in the act. </p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The Big Score</strong></span></p>
<p>In the Spring of 1981, Frank and his crew started planning their most ambitious job to date, Bertha’s Gifts and Furnishings located just west of Sarah on Maryland Parkway, 896 E Sahara Ave. The surveillance officers started seeing a new guy they identified as Sal Romano hanging out with the gang. The surveillance officers did not have to research this new player because they knew something about Romano. Chicago cops had popped Sal at Chicago’s O’Hare airfield with some stolen furs. They turned him over to the F.B.I, and they turned him into an operative. They even set him up in an apartment in Las Vegas with a fake girlfriend (undercover FBI agent) who was supposed to be an airline attendant to explain why Cullotta and the others rarely saw her. The Bureau wired up this apartment for sound and video. Sal worked to get crew members over to his new place and talk about their jobs. Sal later testified he was recruited into the gang because he had electronic skills to deal with sophisticated burglar alarms. </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: “Nothing gets my juices flowing like putting a gun to someone's head” –</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/nothing-gets-my-juices-flowing-like-putting-a-gun-to-someone-s-he" target="_blank"><strong>Profile: Chicago mobster Charles Russell</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="https://st5.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3441920467?profile=RESIZE_710x" alt="3441920467?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a>Frank Cullotta (right) claims that two Chicago cops came to see him at the Upper Crust. He believes the corrupt Chicago police commander William Hanhardt sent these officers. Frank said these guys told him that they grabbed Sal Romano with a load of stolen furs at O’Hare airport. They turned the case over to the Feds because it involved interstate transportation. Later, they checked on the progress of this case and found no record of the arrest. Frank said he thanked them, offered to get them casino show or meal “comps” and they refused. Frank said the cops didn’t want anything; they just thought they should tell him about Romano. Frank said he went to Spilotro with this information and Tony brushed it off, telling Frank to put the guy with Larry Newman during the burglary and if Romano “did anything funny” have Newman kill Romano. Frank remembered that in retrospect, he did notice that when he went to Romano’s new apartment, it looked like a set or that the occupants had placed the toiletries, furniture, clothes and kitchen items, so it just appeared that Romano lived there with his new girlfriend. He noticed that whenever he engaged her in conversation, she was nervous and refused to look him in the eye.</p>
<p>Despite Frank’s information, Tony insisted Romano stay with the score. Frank said that Tony probably had a plan to kill Romano after the score was over. He never thought that Sal was actively helping law enforcement and figured the worst-case scenario would be that he would become a cooperating witness after the score was taken down. Tony and Frank did not know that the Feds and Metro Intelligence were all over Romano and he was briefing them about the gang’s plans and activities. Tony and Frank chose the 4th of July weekend to give them more time because Bertha Ragland closed the store an extra day, and the fireworks would cover any noise. As a bonus, the cops would be busy on the strip and in the residential areas that weekend.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/sometimes-the-most-obvious-is-the-best-way-the-kansas-city-mob-an" target="_blank"><strong>The Kansas City Mob and the skimming of Las Vegas casinos</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>The fateful night arrives. It is July 4, 1981. Like the profitable 1957 burglary Frank and Tony did back in Chicago, a long weekend. Frank was crazy with suspicion over Sal Romano. The tension ran high in the burglary crew. The burglars’ eyes flash around checking review mirrors for tails. </p>
<p>The cops and agents drove by Bertha’s on their last moving surveillance close to the target and established assignments to fixed positions surrounding Bertha’s. They alerted the FBI surveillance plane so the pilot would circle overhead. FBI Agents and Metro officers formed into 2-man teams for the moving surveillance in a loose perimeter around Bertha’s. Agent Michaels and Commander Clifford set up a command post in a nearby building. They issued instructions that all moving surveillance crews will maintain a respectable distance and to not alert any of the suspects. They assign each two-person team to a gang member to monitor and report when they see any movement toward the target. Once they report gang members to driving in the direction of Bertha’s, the commanders notified surveillance to back off and wait. The moving surveillance teams know the Hole in the Wall Gang members will meet at Bertha’s. The command post assigns a ground crew to hide behind air conditioners on other buildings, inside a couple of empty storefronts and to watch from a nearby bank roof. Once the FBI rooftop surveillance observes Ernie Davino, Leo Guardino and Wayne Mateki walking in the vicinity, the moving surveillance officers moved in closer and parked. The airplane circled and reported the ground movements. Joe Blasko had provided each of the burglars with 2-way radios. He is sitting outside in a van with police monitors. Soon, one of the rooftop crews reported that they see men on Bertha’s roof. The surveillance officers tensed, their heart rate and breathing became more rapid.</p>
<p>Sal Romano tried to lay back and radioed Frank that his car is in a nearby parking lot and the battery is dead. Frank responded and pushed Sal’s car a short distance away and ordered him to ride with Larry Newman. Sal slipped away during this time. </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: Untouchable "Little Jimmy" -</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/untouchable-little-jimmy-profile-of-chicago-mafia-boss-james-marc" target="_blank"><strong>Profile of Chicago Mafia boss James Marcello</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Once the rooftop lookout saw the men on the roof drop inside, they notified the command post. Agent Dennis Arnoldy remembered he saw some dark figures drop out of sight on the roof. In the command post, Agent Michaels and Commander Clifford waited a short time to let them start moving stuff around and setting up to open the safe. The officers must find evidence that the burglars move property inside the target business to upgrade a trespass charge to burglary. Burglary to most people is the forcible entry into a building; the officer must show an intention to steal to complete the elements of a commercial burglary. Several agents are assigned to follow the burglars inside Bertha’s. The mobile crews know the car descriptions of Larry Newman and Frank Cullotta.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“Cops were all over the place”</strong></span></p>
<p>Upon orders from the Command Post, the Surveillance crews move in. They secured the outside of the store with officers stationed at each store exit and window to prevent escape. Agents entered with some uniformed officers. Davino and Guardino quickly gave up. Ernie Davino said, “Me and Leo got inside the place, and we never saw anybody and the next thing we know cops were all over the place.” Mobile crews stopped and arrested Blasko, Newman, and Mateki with no drama. Frank Cullotta made his arrest into a short car chase, and he later claimed he wanted to get into a well-lit populated area because he was afraid the cops would kill him out of revenge over the Spilotro response to the killing of Frankie Blue. As they transported the crew to jail, the agents and officers casually mentioned that somebody got away. These men were seasoned criminals, and they immediately suspicioned that Sal had set them up for the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=FBI" target="_blank">FBI</a>.</p>
<p>Most mob fans have seen the famous photo (below) taken of the entire crew, except <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Spilotro" target="_blank">Tony Spilotro</a>. They are all standing in front of a jail door and what I noticed was that Frank was standing off to the side with a disgusted look. He tried to tell Spilotro. I can only imagine what he was thinking.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237156696,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237156696?profile=original" /></a><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The Purge</strong></span></p>
<p>Over the next few days, Tony Spilotro pays bail to get his team out of jail. Then the purge started. Tony ordered Frank to kill Sal Romano. Frank applied a little reasoning to this plan when he asked, “How we gonna do this Tony, the guy is in witness protection, he’ll be surrounded by agents?” Tony replied, “I know a guy that can poison his food.” Frank said, “Yeah but, where is he?”</p>
<p>Spilotro’s irrational behavior scared Frank Cullotta because he talked about killing every member of the crew at one time or another. FBI agents approached Frank with a tape from a <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a> wiretap. They played this tape, and he heard a voice telling Tony Spilotro that he must clean his dirty laundry. From that tape, Frank believed that he would be on the hit list. Agent Dennis Arnoldy convinced Frank to become a government witness. Frank once said, “I had 37 friends killed by <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">the Outfit</a> and did not want to be number 38.” Over the next few years, Frank Cullotta testified at numerous Chicago Outfit trials. He proved to be invaluable in many ongoing Outfit investigations.</p>
<p>With Cullotta’s testimony and the physical evidence, Larry Newman and Wayne Mateki were convicted un the machete murder of the Chicago jeweler Bob Brown. McHenry County authorities never charged Newman for killing bar owner Ron Scharff. Newman died in prison. I guess that Wayne Mateki is dead. Leo Guardino will be convicted, and I believe he is deceased. Ernie Davino was a standup guy to the end. He was convicted and sentenced to many years. He testified for Tony Spilotro trying to refute the testimony of Sal Romano. He testified that nobody planned these burglaries and Spilotro was not part of the Hole in the Wall Gang. The jury returned a not guilty for Spilotro in that trial. During his time in prison, Davino will find redemption in a rosary. He said, “I noticed this rosary on my bunk when I first arrived, and I asked this kid if it was his and he said no it must be yours. “Ernie said he could not quit thinking about this rosary and one day he started praying the rosary prayer. At that, Ernie Davino, career criminal developed faith in a higher power and worked in a prison ministry after release. He is living back in New Jersey.</p>
<p>Sal Romano testified in many Outfit trials, and the last one was the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicagos-family-secrets" target="_blank">Family Secrets</a> trial in 2007. I believe he is deceased. In the 2007 Family Secrets trial, Nick Calabrese testifies that <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Chicago Outfit</a> boss Joey Aiuppa ordered him and a team out to Las Vegas to kill Tony Spilotro. They had a plan that involved using explosives and automatic weapons. The hit team abandoned that plan, and a scheme was hatched to lure Tony Spilotro and his brother Michael to a meeting in a Bensenville Illinois house with the promise of a mob promotion for Tony and that Michael would become a "made" member of the Outfit.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: Longtime <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/longtime-chicago-mob-boss-john-no-nose-difronzo-dead-at-89" target="_blank">Chicago mob boss John “No Nose” DiFronzo</a> dead at 89</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Calabrese testified he and around ten other outfit killers, including James LaPietra, John Fecarotta, John DiFronzo, Sam Carlisi, Louie "The Mooch" Eboli, James Marcello, Louis Marino, Joseph Ferriola, and Ernest "Rocky" Infelice were waiting as the two brothers entered the basement. Calabrese said he tackled Michael Spilotro and held his legs while another mobster strangled him with a rope. He said he heard Tony Spilotro ask his executioners, "Can I say a prayer?" There was no reply.</p>
<p>An Indiana farmer will find the decomposed beaten and bloodied bodies of the Spilotro brothers a few weeks later in a shallow grave in his cornfield.</p>
<p>For a decade, the men of Spilotro’s Vegas-based Hole in the Wall Gang ruled in Las Vegas and cut a swath of high-end burglaries and thefts throughout the Southwest. They had money, women, drugs and all the action they could handle. By 1982, their string of luck ran out, and the only gang members who grew old are Ernie Davino who found God and Frank Cullotta who found Hollywood.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>Also read:</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li><strong><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-beginnings-of-tony-spilotro-s-infamous-hole-in-the-wall-gang" target="_blank">The beginnings of Tony Spilotro's infamous Hole in the Wall gang</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>The lucrative and violent years of Las Vegas mobster</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-lucrative-and-violent-years-of-las-vegas-mobster-tony-spilotr" target="_blank"><strong>Tony Spilotro’s infamous Hole in the Wall gang</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p><em>Frank Cullotta provided much of the material for this series on the Hole in the Wall Gang. You can find Frank and take his mob tour of Las Vegas.</em></p>
<p><em>For further reading I suggest the below books:</em></p>
<p><em>Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, and Government Witness by Dennis Griffin and Frank Cullotta</em></p>
<p><em>The Hole in the Wall Gang by Frank Cullotta and Dennis Griffin</em></p>
<p><em>The Rise And Fall Of A 'Casino' Mobster: The Tony Spilotro Story Through A Hitman's Eyes by Frank Cullotta and Dennis Griffin</em>.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>About the author:</strong></span></p>
<p>Gary Jenkins retired from the Kansas City Police Department in 1996 after a 25-year career. Gary attended the UMKC School of Law and graduated in 2000. He was admitted to the Missouri Bar, and he continues to practice law today. He is a Board member of the Kansas City Police Pension System and The Jackson County Historical Society. During the past ten years, Gary produced three documentary films. The first two were <a href="http://undergroundrailroadkansas.com/">Negroes To Hire: Slave Life in Antebellum Missouri</a> and <a href="http://undergroundrailroadkansas.com/">Freedom Seekers: Stories From the Western Underground Railroad</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://ganglandwire.com/about-2/">Gangland Wire</a> is Gary's third documentary film. During Gary's KCPD career, he was assigned to the KCPD Intelligence Unit, investigating organized crime. In the 1970s, a grassroots development in the City Market area became known as the River Quay. A Mafia dispute over parking rights and strip clubs would destroy the area. The resulting investigation will allow FBI Agents to convict La Cosa Nostra leaders in Kansas City, Chicago, Cleveland and Milwaukee. Filmmaker Gary Jenkins takes the viewer on an insider’s journey into the heart of the Kansas City crime family, using excerpts from wiretaps and interviews with participants. </p>
<p>Additionally, Gary created a Smartphone app titled <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kansas-city-mob-tour/id958652599?mt=8">Kansas City Mob Tour.</a> This app utilizing maps, text, photos, and video conducts the user on a tour of famous Kansas City mob sites.</p>
<p>Gary produces and co-hosts a podcast titled <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/">Gangland Wire Crime Stories.</a> Using the audio podcast format, Gary tells true crime stories from his experience and obtains guests who have either committed crimes, investigated crimes or reported on criminals. </p>
<p>Gary's most recent project is his book documenting the investigation into Las Vegas skimming activities. Gary uses actual wiretap transcripts to tell the story of this investigation. The book is titled <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/">Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How the F.B.I. Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.</a></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview">Chicago Outfit 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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</ul>
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The Clown: Profile of Chicago Mafia boss Joseph Lombardo
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-joseph-lombardo
2019-10-21T14:42:18.000Z
2019-10-21T14:42:18.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236980256,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<p><br /> By David Amoruso<br /> <br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Lombardo" target="_blank">Joseph Lombardo</a> was considered one of the longest leading members of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Chicago Outfit</a>. He was nicknamed The Clown, and proved that he could play that role. When he was arrested in 1964 for beating a man who owned him money, he made it impossible for the police to take a good mug shot of him by opening his mouth in a wide yawn. It was typical Joey the Clown: acting goofy to outsmart the law. His fellow mobsters and his opponents in the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=FBI" target="_blank">FBI</a> considered him a smart criminal and stone killer first, his clown act was just that, an act.<br /> <br /> Lombardo grew up as one of eleven children in a poor depression-era <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a> family. Growing up he had lots of jobs ranging from shining shoes, being a paperboy, and handling room service at the Blackstone Hotel. He graduated from Wells High School. But eventually decided the criminal life was to be his kind of life.<br /> <br /> He committed burglaries and worked as muscle for neighborhood loan sharks. Becoming a trusted associate and later a member of the Chicago Outfit by the 1960s. He allegedly "made his bones" by killing mob associate and hotel owner Manny Skar in 1965. Lombardo shadowed Skar for two days until he killed him as he exited his car to enter his apartment on Lake Shore Drive. Lombardo proved a capable killer for <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">The Outfit</a>. And the feds noticed it too, according to retired FBI agent Jack O'Rourke: "He was vicious and a killer. He was their prime enforcer."<br /> <br /> By the 1970s Lombardo was a capo of the Grand Avenue street crew. He controlled numerous business, both legal and illegal. He also controlled <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Spilotro" target="_blank">Anthony Spilotro</a>. Spilotro was the man Chicago had sent to Las Vegas to protect its operations there. He answered to Lombardo and executed his orders. Lombardo also was the man who handled Allen Dorfman, who controlled the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund for The Outfit as a front. Dorfman approved countless "loans" to mobsters who invested the money in casinos and other ventures via front men. Some of the loans were repaid but others were not. You couldn't muscle the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mafia" target="_blank">Mafia</a>.<br /> <br /> Seeing how Lombardo was given these important tasks by his Outfit superiors one can only come to the conclusion that he was considered an intelligent and capable mobster. But no matter how capable, witnesses still caused the Outfit major head aches. In 1974 Lombardo and five others (including Dorfman and Spilotro) were indicted and charged with defrauding the Central States Teamsters Pension Fund of $1.4 million dollars. It would be a complicated case to prove involving several companies and thousands of bookkeeping records. But a cooperating witness would make things a lot easier for prosecutors.<br /> <br /> One of the involved companies' owners had decided to become a witness. Daniel Seifert was a 29 year old Chicago businessman with a wife and child. At one point he had got involved with Lombardo and other mobsters. But not as a victim. He and Lombardo were close friends. Seifert's son was named Joseph after Lombardo, who was also godfather of the boy. But upon hearing about Seifert's betrayal Lombardo had no second thoughts about taking action.<br /> <br /> On an early Friday morning in September 1974 Seifert and his wife and 4 year old son stopped by his plastics factory when four men wearing ski-masks and armed with guns showed up. Emma Seifert and son Joseph were pushed into the bathroom by one of the gunman. She later testified: "He told me to be quiet and not to worry. Then I heard a gunshot, and the man left my side. Then I didn't hear anything for a few seconds." Daniel Seifert was running for his life, but several shots forced him to the ground. There one of the gunman delivered the final shot at point-blank range to his head. With Daniel Seifert removed from the case, the case collapsed. Lombardo and his five codefendants were acquitted.<br /> <br /> With Lombardo and Spilotro free to run their business the skimming of the Las Vegas <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Casino" target="_blank">casinos</a> continued. But law enforcement was on their trail. In 1978 two big investigations into organized crime in Las Vegas were launched. Phones were tapped, locations and mobsters were put under surveillance and thanks to the information uncovered through these observations the feds raided several spots uncovering even more damaging info.<br /> <br /> The first investigation was called Operation Pendorf and went after Allen Dorfman and his mob pals defrauding the Teamsters fund. In May 1981 Dorfman, Lombardo and Spilotro were indicted and charged with conspiracy to bribe Senator Howard Cannon and defraud the Central States Pension Fund of the Teamsters. Spilotro would stand trial at a later date to health problems. Lombardo and Dorfman were found guilty. Worried that Dorfman would flip and give up all he knew about the mob's business interests they had him killed before he talked or went to prison to serve his sentence. Lombardo was on his way to prison though, he received a sentence of fifteen years.<br /> <br /> <img style="float:right;" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236980482,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" />In the other operation, titled Strawman II on September 30, 1983 fifteen men were charged with conspiring to skim $2 million dollars from the Stardust, Fremont, Marina and Hacienda casinos. Here too Lombardo was found guilty. He was sentenced to sixteen years to run concurrently with his sentence in operation Pendorf.<br /> <br /> In November 1992 Lombardo was released from prison. He was still on parole and could not meet any of his fellow mobsters. Several Chicago newspapers ran big stories about his release and possible rise to the position of boss of the Outfit. As a result Lombardo placed a public notice in the ad section of several newspapers in which he stated the following: "I am Joe Lombardo. I have been released on parole from Federal prison. I never took a secret oath with guns and daggers, pricked my finger, drew blood or burned paper to join a criminal organization. If anyone hears my name in connection with any criminal activity please notify the FBI, local police and my parole officer, Ron Kumke."<br /> <br /> Things remained quiet. No one even knew who the boss in Chicago was. But by 2005 The Outfit was again the focus of the newspapers. In the spring of 2005 the FBI brought indictments against the leading members of The Outfit charging them with racketeering conspiracy that involved illegal gambling, loan sharking, extortion and murders that date back decades. Among those indicted was Joseph Lombardo. But he had vanished from the scene. Now in his late 70s he again seemed to outsmart the law. But in January 2006 he was arrested in a Chicago suburb. He had grown a long beard that resembled the one Saddam Hussein had when he was captured.<br /> <br /> After a trial booming with stories that could (and did) fill several Hollywood movies Lombardo and his mob buddies were found guilty. Lombardo was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy, obstruction and impeding an official proceeding and the Daniel Seifert murder. After several decades in which the Chicago Outfit ruled large parts of the US, made millions defrauding the Teamsters Pension Fund and Las Vegas casinos, committed scores of murders, the few men still alive to be held accountable were found guilty. Lombardo received a life sentence.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> On October 19, 2019, Lombardo died at age 90 while incarcerated.</p>
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The lucrative and violent years of Las Vegas mobster Tony Spilotro’s infamous Hole in the Wall gang
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-lucrative-and-violent-years-of-las-vegas-mobster-tony-spilotr
2019-08-22T17:23:28.000Z
2019-08-22T17:23:28.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-lucrative-and-violent-years-of-las-vegas-mobster-tony-spilotr" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237105065,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237105065?profile=original" /></a>By Gary Jenkins for <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p><em>“They were motion detectors, but we weren’t too concerned about that, I could have shut off the alarm, but there was too much traffic in front of the building, so I just figured we’d just go through the roof.”</em> - Frank Cullotta</p>
<p>In this second installment, I write about the Hole in the Wall gang’s early history as they stole, drank, gambled and ate pizza in Las Vegas. During this time the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Chicago Outfit</a> and three other Midwestern families manipulated the Teamsters Union pension fund to loan money to a man named Allen Glick. He purchased the Stardust, the Hacienda, the Fremont and the Marina. Frank Balistrieri, boss of the Milwaukee family, ordered Glick to promote a Stardust employee named <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Rosenthal" target="_blank">Frank Rosenthal</a> to a position of authority in his corporation.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-truth-behind-movie-classic-casino" target="_blank"><strong>The Facts Behind Movie Classic Casino</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>In 1971, Chicago Outfit boss <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-joseph-joey-doves" target="_blank">Joseph “Joey Doves” Aiuppa</a> ordered <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Spilotro" target="_blank">Tony Spilotro</a> to move to Las Vegas in support of their interests. Aiuppa’s actions replaced an aging Chicago Outfit member named Marshal Caifano who had been <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a>’s man in Vegas. Spilotro opened a gift shop in Circus Circus under his often-used alias, Anthony Stuart. The Circus Circus owner, Jay Sarno, had received a 43-million-dollar Teamster’s loan and would not question this new gift shop operator.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Black Book</strong></span></p>
<p>The Nevada Gaming Control Board will learn about Tony Spilotro’s <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Outfit</a> connections, and they placed him in the Black Book of banned persons. Despite this setback, Tony Spilotro lived a charmed life. For example, he invested $70,000.00 in the Circus Circus gift shop, and he sells it for $700,000.00. Spilotro’s charmed life in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Vegas" target="_blank">Las Vegas</a> attracted the attention of law enforcement. With all this attention Spilotro used other people to pass messages back and forth between himself and Stardust casino manager Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal. They avoided any overt contact because the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=FBI" target="_blank">FBI</a> was now working closely with Las Vegas Metro Police Intelligence and Nevada Gaming Control. They all watched for any evidence of Chicago Outfit connections to <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Casino" target="_blank">casinos</a> by the later 1970s. Frank Cullotta was not known to Vegas authorities when Spilotro brought him out to Las Vegas to be the underboss of Spilotro’s Outfit crew in Las Vegas.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://st1.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/993715516?profile=RESIZE_710x" alt="993715516?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a>Frank Cullotta said, “Them <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-truth-behind-movie-classic-casino" target="_blank">casinos</a>, you know we could do anything we wanted in them, you know shows, getting people jobs in them casinos, we didn’t just put anybody to work in them, you know people that were related to people, everything was favors.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Big Scores</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237131463,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237131463?profile=original" /></a>During this time, Spilotro needed to make money so he will recruit men to commit big-time scores, like jewelry stores, banks or fur boutiques. He opened a jewelry store called The Gold Rush Limited just off the strip at 228 West Sahara, and the Gold Rush became his headquarters and a focus of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=FBI" target="_blank">FBI</a> attention. By this time in his life, Tony Spilotro considered himself the Outfit boss of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Vegas" target="_blank">Las Vegas</a> and law enforcement did not disagree. Spilotro was not a boss in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a> because we know <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Chicago Outfit</a> boss <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-joseph-joey-doves" target="_blank">Joey Aiuppa</a> assigned him to work under and report to “Lumpy” or <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-joseph-lombardo" target="_blank">Joseph Lombardo</a>. Spilotro recruited Frank Cullotta (right) who will recruit other Chicago burglars to join his crew. Between Spilotro and Cullotta, they put together the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Burglary" target="_blank">burglary</a> team that the press and law enforcement name <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Gangs" target="_blank">The Hole in the Wall Gang</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-beginnings-of-tony-spilotro-s-infamous-hole-in-the-wall-gang" target="_blank"><strong>The beginnings of Tony Spilotro's infamous Hole in the Wall gang</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>One of the men Frank Cullotta recruited was a career criminal named Ernie Davino. Unlike the others, Ernie Davino was not from <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a>. He was a New Jersey mobster who migrated to <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Vegas" target="_blank">Las Vegas</a> on his own. Ernie was the son of Ernest “Tubby” Davino, a leg breaker and enforcer for New York mobster Albert Anastasia in the 1950s. Ernie Davino later claimed that he and a man named Leo Guardino started the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Gangs" target="_blank">Hole in the Wall Gang</a> and eventually fell in with Frank Cullotta and Tony Spilotro. I think Ernie Davino and Frank Cullotta both wanted to be the alpha male of the gang, but Frank’s connection to Tony Spilotro gave him the upper hand. No matter who started this <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Gangs" target="_blank">gang</a>, it is undisputed that by the end, this was Tony Spilotro’s gang and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Cullotta" target="_blank">Frank Cullotta</a> was the gang’s leader.</p>
<p>Frank recruited a Chicago thief named Wayne Matecki. He was a good candidate because he had no criminal record and never moved to Las Vegas, so he was unknown to local cops. Anytime Frank lined up a score, Mateki would fly into town and leave immediately from an airport in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=California" target="_blank">California</a> or <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Arizona" target="_blank">Arizona</a>. Frank tested Mateki early on by having him hide inside a Las Vegas store after closing. Mateki gathered up fur coats and other expensive items and piled them close to the front door. Frank drove up to the front door, and Mateki broke out with his arms full of fur coats and stoles. They filled the car and drove off minutes after the alarm sounded. Once Frank saw that Mateki had the heart to do a job, he became an integral part of the team. </p>
<p>Ernie Davino’s friend, Leo Guardino was a <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a> burglar. After a lifetime in and out of jail, he struggled to earn a legitimate living. Frank Cullotta described Leo Guardino as a Chicago career criminal who was trying to go legit when he joined the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Gangs" target="_blank">Hole in the Wall Gang</a>. I speculate that Guardino thought Cullotta and Spilotro’s scores would be lucrative and might become his last big scores so that he could retire from the life. Ernie Davino, who was very close to Leo Guardino, once said, “I think Leo wanted out, but Frank and Tony kept him in and took advantage of him.”</p>
<p>Spilotro recruited the disgraced former Las Vegas Metro cop named Joe Blasko into the gang. He was valuable in counter-surveillance and monitoring police scanners during jobs. Frank did not like the idea of working with this former cop, but Tony Spilotro told Cullotta he must use Blasko on scores so that he could make some money. Davino said, “Joe Blasko was a great big guy, and I never minded that he used to be a cop.” The crew had divided opinions on working with this ex-cop. Davino remembered, “He was very helpful on jobs with his ability to spot cops.” </p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Stone Killer</strong></span></p>
<p>One of the most unusual members of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Gangs" target="_blank">Hole in the Wall Gang</a> was a guy named Larry Newman. He was 6’- 4“ and 250 lbs. When Frank first met him, he was serving time for a triple <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Murder" target="_blank">murder</a>. In 1956 Larry Newman became angry at a <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a> bartender. He left and returned with a shotgun killing the bartender, a waitress and a newsboy who stumbled into the tavern. He served 11 years of a life sentence. </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: From violent to loving in a heartbeat:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/from-violent-to-loving-in-a-heartbeat-the-two-sides-of-infamous-c" target="_blank"><strong>The two sides of infamous Chicago Outfit mobster Tony Spilotro</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Frank Cullotta remembered, “I first met Larry Newman in Statesville penitentiary, we both worked in the same department, in the ward for the criminally insane, he was a strange guy, a Jewish lad, his IQ was 169, he was a very bright man, but he was a very dangerous man too.”</p>
<p>Frank recognized Larry Newman as the kind of guy he could use because the guy was capable of doing anything Frank asked, up to and including <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Murder" target="_blank">murder</a>. Larry Newman was not the usual Outfit associate. He did not grow up with other gang members nor did he have any relatives that were known to the other gang members. Newman had Frank’s trust because of their time in prison together. Larry Newman was a child of a wealthy Chicago family and had enough monthly income from a trust fund that allowed him freedom from work, but he chose to become a criminal. </p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Hole in the Wall gang successes</strong></span></p>
<p>During these years when the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Gangs" target="_blank">Hole in the Wall Gang</a> was doing high-end commercial burglaries, Larry Newman continued his murderous ways. In an eerily similar crime to his first known <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Murder" target="_blank">murder</a>, Newman became angry with another bartender. A Henry County Illinois man named Ron Scharff ran a joint in suburban <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a>, and he ejected Newman’s former girlfriend. She called Larry and mentioned this incident. He became enraged and talked about going back and killing this guy. Frank Cullotta learned of this threat and told Newman to forget about it. But Newman being “Larry Newman” flew back to Chicago and murdered Ron Scharff and his waitress anyway. Exactly like the previous killing without the newsboy walking in on the murder. Ron Scharff’s son, Paul Scharff wrote a book, Murder in McHenry on this incident.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: Untouchable "Little Jimmy" -</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/untouchable-little-jimmy-profile-of-chicago-mafia-boss-james-marc" target="_blank"><strong>Profile of Chicago Mafia boss James Marcello</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Paul Scharff learned that Larry Newman killed his father from Frank Cullotta and Denny Griffin’s first book, <em>Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal Las Vegas Mobster and Government Witness.</em> Paul said, “Remember, Larry Newman had a huge trust fund and did not have to kill and hurt people, he loved doing this stuff.”</p>
<p>To demonstrate just how dangerous Newman was, Frank set up a score on <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a> jewelry store owner named Bob Brown. He put Wayne Mateki and Larry Newman together and gave them the description and address of Bob Brown’s store. Frank thought there would be as much as $100,000 in jewelry in the store. Frank warned them, “This guy is connected, so keep your mouths shut.” What they did not know was that Bob Brown was close to the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Outfit</a>’s man on the inside of the Teamsters Union. <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Dorfman" target="_blank">Allen Dorfman</a>. He warned them that above all else, do not tell Spilotro because Dorfman was very close to Spilotro’s Chicago boss, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-joseph-lombardo" target="_blank">Joe Lombardo</a>. When Newman and Mateki returned, Newman told Frank that he killed the jeweler. Mateki related to Cullotta that they ambushed the man inside his store after closing. Before they left, Newman grabbed a machete off the wall and hacked him to death. Newman claimed he wanted to avoid any chance the guy could ever identify them because it might be a death sentence. He told Frank he hacked him up to make it look like a crazy man committed this <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Murder" target="_blank">murder</a>. I guess Newman learned something working in the Statesville penitentiary ward of the criminally insane. </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-hook-life-and-bloody-crimes-of-feared-chicago-mafia-enforcer" target="_blank">The Hook</a>: Life and bloody crimes of feared</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-hook-life-and-bloody-crimes-of-feared-chicago-mafia-enforcer" target="_blank"><strong>Chicago Mafia enforcer Harry Aleman</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Frank’s main crew were three men he knew from <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a>, Larry Newman, Wayne Mateki and Leo Guardino, the ex-cop Joe Blasko, and Ernie Davino from New Jersey. To be a trusted member of this gang, everybody had to have somebody who wanted them in and vouched for them. Tony Spilotro had a long history with Frank Cullotta. Tony had known Joe Blasko since he was a dirty cop who fed him information. The old <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Chicago Outfit</a> burglar Leo Guardino vouched for Ernie Davino. Frank had served time with Larry Newman and committed other crimes with Wayne Mateki. This little gang had all the bases covered, Leo Guardino and Ernie Davino specialized in the physical act of breaking into buildings. Larry Neumann and Wayne Matecki were capable of anything, including armed robbery and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Murder" target="_blank">murder</a>. Joe Blasko was an expert in counter-surveillance and could use his cop connections to get information like license plate registrations and addresses. The gang will take on one more man to add some electronic expertise to their kit of tools. A long time and well-known Chicago burglar and electronics expert named Sal Romano completed the Hole in the Wall crew just before they were to hit Bertha’s Gifts and Furnishings. Frank Cullotta will later claim that Ernie Davino invited Sal Romano to burglarize Bertha’s. </p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>A Gentleman Burglar</strong></span></p>
<p>Sal will eventually reveal that a part-time gang member and Chicago thief named Peter Basile vouched for him. Since Sal was a long time <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Chicago Outfit</a> burglar, it is more likely that a Chicago member vouched for Romano. Frank would later claim, “I had a terrible gut feeling about this guy, Sal Romano not being a good guy.” </p>
<p>Sal Romano was a gentleman burglar. Years later in court, Sal told a story about Outfit member Paul Shiro sending him and a crew to do a <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Burglary" target="_blank">burglary</a>. This job was down in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Phoenix" target="_blank">Phoenix</a>, and after he made entry, a small dog started barking and raising a ruckus. Romano backed out and took his crew with him. When he returned to face Shiro who asked him why he didn’t just kill the dog to which Romano quietly replied, “I don’t do dogs.” </p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237130700,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237130700?profile=original" /></a>During these years Frank opened a pizza place and claimed he was the first person to introduce Chicago deep dish style pizza in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Vegas" target="_blank">Las Vegas</a>. Law enforcement will locate Upper Crust Pizza, and the adjoining My Place lounge at 4110 S. Maryland Parkway and focus a lot of attention. This is now the Pioneer Plaza, a small strip mall. Cullotta tells a funny story about finding an F.B.I. camera and microphone hidden in the ceiling of this place. He gave it to Spilotro’s attorney <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Goodman" target="_blank">Oscar Goodman</a> who made the feds produce a letter certifying they had court authorization to install this device. Most <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mafia" target="_blank">mob</a> fans have seen the famous picture of Cullotta, Spilotro and most of this gang sitting at a sidewalk table in front of the Upper Crust. They look like Tony Soprano and his crew out in front of Satriale's Pork Store. Cullotta once said, “I asked Tony about buying this place (Upper Crust), and he said, “yeah I’m game, so we put together $65,000 doing burglaries in three nights.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The Night Cops Killed Frankie Blue</strong></span></p>
<p>A tragic story started at the sidewalk table at the Upper Crust, and it became known as, “the night the cops killed Frankie Blue.” Frank Bluestein or Frankie Blue was a young guy whose father, Charles Bluestein was an Outfit associate involved in the Culinary Workers Union in Vegas. Frankie Blue moved to Las Vegas worked as a maître d’ at the Hacienda Hotel & Casino. Remember, this was an Outfit controlled <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Casino" target="_blank">casino</a> that was part of the four casinos that <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Rosenthal" target="_blank">Lefty Rosenthal</a> managed for Allen Glick. </p>
<p>Ernie Davino told about their life in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Vegas" target="_blank">Las Vegas</a> and this time, “We were comped for everything we wanted at the Stardust. Frank Cullotta, he got married at the Stardust. The Upper Crust is where we hung out. This is where the schemers met us with tips on jobs where the money, jewelry or drugs was and then come back and got their cut out of the job. The bar next door was My Place, Tony Spilotro’s favorite bar. We all felt safe there, this was our joint.”</p>
<p>Las Vegas Metro Intelligence detective were conducting stationary and moving surveillance on the Spilotro crew. On the evening of June 9, 1980, two of Kent Clifford’s Intelligence Unit members, Detective David Groover and Sergeant Gene Smith were conducting another routine surveillance of the Tony Spilotro <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Gangs" target="_blank">gang</a>. On that night as they were camped outside the Upper Crust pizza parlor and the adjoining My Place bar, located at Flamingo Road and Maryland Parkway. One of the officers, Detective David Groover, would later remember, “We put in a lot of long, tedious hours watching those guys. But in that kind of work things could change very quickly, and that night they did.”</p>
<p>Frank remembers that former <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a> resident Frankie Bluestein came into the Upper Crust driving a late model Lincoln with Illinois tags. He knew Frankie Blue and that he was about ½ a wise guy but not a real criminal. Frank, Tony, and some others were sitting in front, when Frankie Blue parked in front, went inside and ordered a pizza. He came back out to chat with them while he waited.</p>
<p>Frank Cullotta remembers, “The guy comes up to the joint and we say hello to him, I say, Frankie, what the fuck you still got Illinois plates on that car, he said I haven’t had time to get rid of them. I said well if I was you, I’d get rid of them, you’re driving a big Lincoln and these cops, anybody that drives a car like yours from Illinois, in their eyes you are a gangster. Frankie Blue laughed and said that might be good because somebody was following him, and he thought they were trying to set him up for a robbery. The guy also volunteered that he wasn’t afraid because he had a gun. Then the guy got his pizza and left.”</p>
<p>Las Vegas Metro Intelligence Sergeant Gene Smith remembers he and his partner Detective David Groover saw an unknown guy talking with Tony Spilotro and Frank Cullotta and other members of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Gangs" target="_blank">gang</a>. They watched as he drove away in a 1979 Lincoln Town Car with Illinois tags. They wanted to identify him, so they followed a short distance until the guy started driving at a high rate of speed and swerving in and out of traffic. The officers threw a Kojak light on the roof of their car and pulled up behind the Lincoln. Suddenly, the Lincoln pulled over, and the driver jumped out. Both officers exited their undercover vehicle drew their weapons. Sergeant Smith saw a gun in the driver’s hand, fired immediately and killed Frankie Blue instantly.</p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size:14pt;">Kill Some Cops</span></strong></p>
<p>The reaction of Spilotro was tremendous. Tony Spliotro asked Frank Cullotta to hire a couple of black guys to come to town and kill some cops. He wanted this to look like a race problem as revenge against Las Vegas Metro Intelligence but not bring heat down on the Outfit. Intelligence Unit Commander Kent Clifford learned that Spilotro had put a hit out on his cops. During this time, somebody fired a shotgun into the side of one of the cop’s homes and another person fired a shotgun into Spilotro’s home. Commander Kent Clifford took drastic action to stop the escalation of hostilities.</p>
<p>Commander Kent Clifford remembers, “After two of my men had shot the Bluestein kid, tensions were high, so that’s when I went to <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a> and talked to them. I went to 5 of the mob bosses’ homes early in the morning. After the first one, none of the rest was home. After that, I went to Dorfman’s office and told him to tell them that if they kill my men, I will return to Chicago with 40 men and kill everyone I find around those five houses.” Commander Clifford claims he received a phone call later that afternoon advising him that his men were safe in the future.</p>
<p>I would imagine that Aiuppa and the rest of the bosses were wondering what the hell Tony Spilotro was doing out in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Vegas" target="_blank">Las Vegas</a>. Drawing attention like that can endanger the skim. While many speculate Spilotro fell into disfavor because of a supposed affair with <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Rosenthal" target="_blank">Lefty Rosenthal</a>’s wife, Jeri, this is not the kind of activity that ordinarily gets an Outfit man killed. The Chicago Outfit bosses will more likely criticize any member for bringing heat that threatens any income, for earning illegal income and not sharing with the bosses, for informing or for stealing money from the bosses, not necessarily in that order. Spilotro brought unnecessary heat which threatened the skimming operation and supposedly was not sharing his burglary income. </p>
<p>In the third and final installment, I describe the night of the burglary of Bertha’s Gifts and Furnishings. The Hole in the Wall Gang was doing good scores and making money. Ernie Davino said, “Once I got connected to Spilotro, people started throwing money at me.” The gang felt safe at their joint, the Upper Crust Pizza and My Place lounge. They are treated like rock stars and get comped at the Stardust. They have connections all over <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Vegas" target="_blank">Vegas</a>. They are the only mob in Vegas. What can go wrong?</p>
<p><em>Frank Cullotta provided much of the material for this series on the Hole in the Wall Gang. You can find Frank and take his mob tour of Las Vegas by <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g45963-d6991664-Reviews-Frank_Cullotta_s_Casino_Tour-Las_Vegas_Nevada.html">clicking here to go to Trip Advisor</a> or call Frank directly at</em> <br /> <em>+1 702-622-0850. He also can be reached at <a href="mailto:fcullotta@yahoo.com">fcullotta@yahoo.com</a></em></p>
<p><strong>About the author:</strong></p>
<p>Gary Jenkins retired from the Kansas City Police Department in 1996 after a 25-year career. Gary attended the UMKC School of Law and graduated in 2000. He was admitted to the Missouri Bar, and he continues to practice law today. He is a Board member of the Kansas City Police Pension System and The Jackson County Historical Society. During the past ten years, Gary produced three documentary films. The first two were <a href="http://undergroundrailroadkansas.com/">Negroes To Hire: Slave Life in Antebellum Missouri</a> and <a href="http://undergroundrailroadkansas.com/">Freedom Seekers: Stories From the Western Underground Railroad</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://ganglandwire.com/about-2/">Gangland Wire</a> is Gary's third documentary film. During Gary's KCPD career, he was assigned to the KCPD Intelligence Unit, investigating organized crime. In the 1970s, a grassroots development in the City Market area became known as the River Quay. A Mafia dispute over parking rights and strip clubs would destroy the area. The resulting investigation will allow F.B.I. Agents to convict La Cosa Nostra leaders in Kansas City, Chicago, Cleveland and Milwaukee. Filmmaker Gary Jenkins takes the viewer on an insider’s journey into the heart of the Kansas City crime family, using excerpts from wiretaps and interviews with participants. </p>
<p>Additionally, Gary created a Smartphone app titled <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kansas-city-mob-tour/id958652599?mt=8">Kansas City Mob Tour.</a> This app utilizing maps, text, photos, and video conducts the user on a tour of famous Kansas City mob sites.</p>
<p>Gary produces and co-hosts a podcast titled <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/">Gangland Wire Crime Stories.</a> Using the audio podcast format, Gary tells true crime stories from his experience and obtains guests who have either committed crimes, investigated crimes or reported on criminals. </p>
<p>Gary's most recent project is his book documenting the investigation into Las Vegas skimming activities. Gary uses actual wiretap transcripts to tell the story of this investigation. The book is titled <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/">Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How the F.B.I. Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.</a></p>
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The beginnings of Tony Spilotro's infamous Hole in the Wall gang
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-beginnings-of-tony-spilotro-s-infamous-hole-in-the-wall-gang
2019-02-08T09:51:40.000Z
2019-02-08T09:51:40.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-beginnings-of-tony-spilotro-s-infamous-hole-in-the-wall-gang" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237118859,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237118859?profile=original" /></a>By Gary Jenkins</p>
<p>“I’ve known Tony since I was about 12 years old, we grew up together. At the end of 78, he called and asked me to come out to Vegas and, you know, watch his back, be his underboss, more or less, that’s the term they use. So that’s what I was noted for, the Underboss and the leader of the Hole in the Wall Gang” - Frank Cullotta</p>
<p>I love a story about criminal gangs, how they develop, how they work and how they end. I think the story of the Hole in the Wall Gang is as good as it gets. In the first of a three-part series, the reader learns about the beginnings of the men who will eventually start the Hole in the Wall Gang.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The Big Score</strong></span></p>
<p>Every good thief wants that one big score. How many movies have there been made about the big score or the last score before a master thief retires? The first one I remember was the Thomas Crown Affair, but there have been plenty like Heat, Heist, Oceans 11, 12 and Oceans 8 with an all-female cast. What is your favorite caper film? Personally, mine is Heat with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/from-violent-to-loving-in-a-heartbeat-the-two-sides-of-infamous-c" target="_blank"><strong>The two sides of infamous Chicago Outfit mobster Tony Spilotro</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Spilotro" target="_blank">Tony Spilotro</a> and his Hole in the Wall gang started stealing from Sears stores and drug dealers, graduated to successful jewelry stores and fur boutiques and end with the last big score at Bertha’s Gifts and Furnishings where they calculated they might find over a million dollars in cash and jewelry.</p>
<p>Bertha Ragland came to Vegas right after WW II and opened Bertha's Gifts and Furnishings where she sold fine china and home furnishings store. She eventually added a high-end jewelry store inside the home furnishing store. Bertha Ragland was a colorful and well-known successful Las Vegas businesswoman. Remember this was over 30 years ago and while credit cards were being used, in Las Vegas most still dealt in a lot of cash. The cash transaction report, or CTR, was in use but widely ignored by many financial institutions until the later 1980s when the DEA got very tough on money laundering. It was a well-known fact to her employees that she did not trust banks and kept large amounts of cash and jewelry inside a store safe. Bertha’s will become that last big score of the Hole in the Wall Gang.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Casino business</strong></span></p>
<p>To take you back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, remember Jane Byrne, she was mayor of Chicago, and in 1981 she moved her family into the Cabrini Green high-rise housing project for three weeks. In 1981 The ground-breaking cop show, Hill Street Blues based on the Chicago PD was released. I was watching the Kansas City mob boys as they tried to regain some organization after the FBI served 1979 search warrants looking for evidence of hidden ownership and skimming from Las Vegas casinos. A Las Vegas mob associate named Joe Agosto turned government witness, and he will sink the Midwest mafia families.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-truth-behind-movie-classic-casino" target="_blank"><strong>The Facts Behind Movie Classic Casino</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Chicago Outfit</a> member <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Spilotro" target="_blank">Tony Spilotro</a> relocated to Las Vegas and started his Hole in the Wall Gang. For that reason, I start with a look at the 1970s Outfit. During this time, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Accardo" target="_blank">Anthony Accardo</a> was the real power behind the throne of the Chicago outfit while <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-joseph-joey-doves" target="_blank">Joseph “Joey Doves” Aiuppa</a> was the boss to all outside observers. From his modest retirement condo in Palm Springs, Accardo flew into Chicago to attend major sit-downs and mediate disputes. After the Kansas City F.B.I. exposed the Midwest Mob’s penetration of Vegas Casinos, the Chicago FBI continued with a multi-prong attack on the Outfit and their connections to the Teamsters union and Las Vegas casinos. Kansas City agents code-named their skimming case “Strawman,” and they gathered the first real solid evidence of the how Organized Crime families controlled an important Teamster Pension fund official named Allen Dorfman. In the next operation called “Operation Pendorf” (penetrate Dorfman) the FBI taped Teamster’s official Allen Dorfman exerting control over the pension find and other Teamster activities, conspiring with Outfit Capo <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-joseph-lombardo" target="_blank">Joseph “Joey the Clown” Lombardo</a> and others to bribe a U.S. Senator from Nevada and stealing Teamster money. In separate investigations, the Chicago U.S. Attorney and F.B.I. Agents launched Operation Greylord and then Operation Gambet to uncover and identify players in the Outfit’s penetration of the Cook County Circuit court and other Chicago government entities. Chicago Agents developed an informant who alerted authorities to a commercial burglary in Las Vegas. The subsequent investigation will provide one of the most valuable government witnesses to come forward in the Outfit’s history.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/sometimes-the-most-obvious-is-the-best-way-the-kansas-city-mob-an" target="_blank"><strong>The Kansas City Mob and the skimming of Las Vegas casinos</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237118897,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237118897?profile=original" /></a>Thieves and friends</strong></span></p>
<p>During the early 1960s in Chicago, a young thief named Frank Cullotta (right) became friends with another young thief named Tony Spilotro. They started as rival shoeshine boys, and as young adults, a 23-year-old Frank Cullotta used his friendship with a former crime partner, a thief named Billy McCarthy. As a favor for the Outfit, Frank lured McCarthy into a spot where he was kidnapped and handed over for Spilotro to torture and murder. During this time Tony and Frank partnered on several successful burglary scores. For example, a 1957 bank job where they broke through the wall of a basement into the basement of a bank. In their first big score, Tony and Frank used sledgehammers, acetylene torches, and other heavy equipment tools and started on a weekend, so they had plenty of time to complete the job and get away before the bank reopened for business. Frank netted $50,000.00 for his end of that score. A lot of money in 1957. Frank Cullotta and Tony Spilotro used these same techniques until their last burglary together in 1981.</p>
<p>So how did these Chicago Outfit members end up burglarizing Las Vegas jewelry stores? First, we must understand why Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, and Cleveland mobsters were in Las Vegas. During the 1970s, the Outfit moved into the Las Vegas casino business after an agreement with the East Coast Families to take over all rackets in Atlantic City. Chicago, being the leader of this Midwest cabal of crime families led the way into Vegas. In preparation, in 1971, an Outfit associate and well-known gambler named <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Rosenthal" target="_blank">Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal</a> moved from Florida to Vegas and got a job at the Stardust. Later in 1971, 33-year-old Chicago Outfit member Anthony “Tony” Spilotro moved to Las Vegas. Aiuppa wanted an Outfit member to watch Rosenthal’s back and to take care of any problems that might threaten the skim.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: Untouchable "Little Jimmy" -</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/untouchable-little-jimmy-profile-of-chicago-mafia-boss-james-marc" target="_blank"><strong>Profile of Chicago Mafia boss James Marcello</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>In 1974, the Chicago Outfit, the Kansas City Crime Family, the Milwaukee family, and the Cleveland mob organizations pooled their Teamsters Union contacts and paved the way for a 32-year-old mild-mannered, bald, former Vietnam helicopter pilot turned real estate developer named Allen Glick to obtain a 62-million-dollar loan. Glick created the Argent Corporation and purchased the Stardust, Fremont, Hacienda and Marina casino/hotels. In return, he was advised to promote a current Stardust employee named Frank “Lefty Rosenthal” to a high-level job in his organization. In the following transcript from a federal trial, Allen Glick confirms to the media Rosenthal’s place at the Stardust.</p>
<p><em> Reporter – “Mr. Rosenthal what is your position in the Argent Corporation?”</em></p>
<p><em> Rosenthal – “I serve at Mr. Glick’s pleasure.”</em></p>
<p><em> Reporter – “And can you describe Mr. Glick’s pleasure?”</em></p>
<p><em> Glick – “We don’t have enough time.”</em></p>
<p><em> Rosenthal – “That’s a good answer, we don’t have enough time.”</em></p>
<p><em> Reporter - “Do you see yourself growing with Argent corporation, taking a higher position possibly?”</em></p>
<p><em> Rosenthal – “You will have to ask Mr. Glick about that.”</em></p>
<p><em> Glick – “Mr. Rosenthal is in as high as a position as you can have now.”</em></p>
<p>We all remember the Robert DeNiro character Ace Rothstein in the Scorsese film Casino. Screenwriter Nicholas Pillegi modeled Ace Rothstein on the real Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal. Pillegi described his fictional Ace Rothstein as an arrogant, egotistical, ostentatious, flamboyant, and conspicuous gambler just like the real-life Lefty. By 1974, Lefty Rosenthal was at his peak, and his Outfit bosses demanded he produces them a return. Lefty hired several corrupt employees and started a regular flow of money skimmed from the four Argent casinos, Stardust, Hacienda, Fremont, and Marina. Lefty set up an operation to remove casino cash before his staff recorded the counted and sent it to Chicago who in turn shared a percentage with the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Milwaukee" target="_blank">Milwaukee</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Cleveland" target="_blank">Cleveland</a>, and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Kansas" target="_blank">Kansas City</a> crime families.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>A license to steal</strong></span></p>
<p>The Chicago Outfit did not pay Spilotro a salary for watching Lefty’s back or for helping Lefty with any strong-arm tactics he needed to run the casinos. In return for his work, the Outfit granted Spilotro a license to steal in Las Vegas. Working with the Outfit is not like a regular job, it is more like the Outfit grants a member like Spilotro a franchise to display a sign that they are a well-connected guy, and in return, Spilotro or the franchisee agrees to pay a street tax of a percentage of each score they earn from any illicit activity they conduct.</p>
<p>By 1979 Spilotro friend and professional burglar Frank Cullotta was fed up with Chicago. He later related he left because crooked Chicago law enforcement wanted to take a chunk of his money and the good cops wanted to put him in jail. He accepted Spilotro’s invitation to join him in Las Vegas. When Frank arrived, Spilotro told him he wanted Frank to put together a crew of Chicago guys and start doing jobs. He also asked Cullotta be an inside man at the Casinos because the Nevada Gaming Control Board had banned Spilotro put his name in the Black Book of Banned Persons.</p>
<p>During the early 1970s, Las Vegas law enforcement including Gaming Control enforcement was not the most professional in the world. The Clark County Sheriff, Ralph Lamb, directed all background investigations into casino licensees. Lamb was an old school western style lawman who ran a large family ranch as well as serving as the sheriff. He was known to meet the lower level mobsters at the airport, rough them up a bit and tell them to go back home. He claimed he once grabbed <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Chicago Outfit</a> mobster Johnny Roselli and “slapped the cologne” off him. Lamb's department once stopped a large group of Hell’s Angels and destroyed several motorcycles and gave the bikers haircuts before turning them loose.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Ralph Lamb wrote a character reference letter attesting to the excellent character of Lefty Rosenthal in support of Lefty getting a license to be involved in the Florida racetrack industry. Being responsible for background investigations for gaming licenses was a huge responsibility and opened the sheriff’s office to potential corruption. The FBI started looking into <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Outfit</a> corruption in the gaming industry, but they got little cooperation from local law enforcement. All local and state Nevada officials resented any intrusion on their jurisdiction. It was not that this was institutional corruption but more like a libertarian attitude against anything to do with the central government.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237106077,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237106077?profile=original" /></a><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Changing of the guard</strong></span></p>
<p>In the middle 1970s, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Nevada" target="_blank">Nevada</a> was changing, and they realized that <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Chicago" target="_blank">Chicago</a> and other eastern organized crime families had infiltrated the casino business. Informants told about the loss of thousands of dollars in tax revenue because of skimming. When casino employees remove money before the official count, the state cannot tax the entire amount of casino revenue. Ralph Lamb was charged with personal income tax evasion but would eventually be found not guilty. The bad publicity cost him the election in 1979. The Las Vegas City Police Department and the Clark County Sheriff’s office had merged by this time and were known as the Las Vegas Metro PD. A former Las Vegas PD sergeant named John McCarthy beat Ralph Lamb and became sheriff.</p>
<p>During this time the Las Vegas Metro police will combine with the Clark County Sheriff’s office to form one department. A young Lieutenant named John McCarthy will be elected to run the combined departments. The ranking officers under Sheriff Lamb had neglected the Intelligence Unit, and Sheriff McCarthy found it infested with corruption. McCarthy promoted a former vice officer who was known to be incorruptible in a sea of corruption. When Kent Clifford was promoted to command the Metro Intelligence Unit, this Eliot Ness found that most of his officers were a little bit corrupt taking favors from strip casinos. He learned about who informed Tony Spilotro about any law enforcement activities that might affect Spilotro or his friends. Clifford made an impression when on one of his first days in the Unit's office he found 30-40 cases of expensive whiskey, scotch, and vodka. He asked, “What this?” Unit detectives replied, “The Strip casinos donate that to us as Christmas presents every year.” Commander Clifford replied, “Remove that stuff, and I never want to see anything like this again.” Commander Clifford will soon transfer all the existing officers out and replace them with men he could trust. The National Law Enforcement Intelligence Units organization refused to share any information with the Las Vegas police. The FBI declined to work with them in any manner. The FBI had indicted a unit member named Joe Blasko for working with Spilotro. The police department fired Blasko he will eventually work directly for Spilotro and become a member of the Hole in the Wall Gang.</p>
<p>At this time, the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=FBI" target="_blank">FBI</a> transferred in agents who had experience working organized crime cases back East. Agent Emmett Michaels was a blunt, straightforward hard-charging FBI agent. He was assigned to head up the surveillance squad, and they focused their efforts on Spilotro. He soon noticed the changes in the Las Vegas Metro Intelligence and forged a friendship with Commander Kent Clifford.</p>
<p>By 1979, Frank Cullotta put together several of his old Outfit comrades into a <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Burglary" target="_blank">burglary</a> gang. The press named this crew the Hole in the Wall gang because they often knocked a hole in a wall of a business to avoid alarms on doors and windows. They hit the homes of wealthy people and jewelry stores and fur boutiques all over the southwest. They set up scores and completed scores set up by Tony Spilotro. Frank Cullotta ran the day to day operations of this gang, and he gave Spilotro a piece of every job. According to the usual Outfit protocol, Frank gave Tony an equal share to anybody who participated in the crime. During this time Tony Spilotro ordered Frank Culotta to murder a Las Vegas resident named Jerry Lisner because he thought Lisner was an informant. Cullotta toke another member of the Hole in the Wall Gang, Wayne Matecki as a backup on this hit. Frank and Mateki went to Lisner's house, and Frank shot him, but Lisner ran away and refused fall. Frank chased Lisner through the house while shooting until he ran out of rounds. Mateki brought in more bullets, so Frank reloaded, and he finally got Jerry Lisner killed. Martin Scorsese depicted this murder in his film, Casino. During the filming of this scene, Scorsese complained that it did not feel right. Frank Cullotta was on the set as a technical consultant, and when he overheard Scorsese complaining, Frank said, “No wonder you are not doing it right.” Scorsese replied, "Who are you" and Frank replied, "I’m the guy who done it." Scorsese replied, “Somebody take this guy to Wardrobe.” In the irony of all ironies, Frank Cullotta played himself committing a murder that he did in real life.</p>
<p>During this time, the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/tony-spilotro-and-his-hole-in" target="_blank">Hole in the Wall Gang</a> is hanging out at the Upper Crust Pizza restaurant and bar owned by Cullotta. Kent Clifford, the new commander of Las Vegas Metro Intelligence Unit, transferred in young, aggressive police officers and created a partnership with FBI agent Emmett Michaels and his surveillance squad. They focus on the Spilotro crew. Soon the officers notice Cullotta, Spilotro and other known hoodlums hanging out at a pizza joint called The Upper Crust. They focus their activities on the Upper Crust will this led to disastrous consequences for one Chicago Outfit hanger-on and a confrontation between Kent Clifford and the entire hierarchy of the Chicago Outfit.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Hitting the front pages</strong></span></p>
<p>By this time, the national newspapers notice the presence of Tony Spiloto. The Wall Street Journal named Aiuppa and Spilotro as the men behind a strong move West by the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Chicago Outfit</a>. The Gaming Control Board discovered Spilotro’s ties to the Chicago Outfit and forced him to sell his gift shop in Circus Circus. Spilotro opened a jewelry store called the Gold Rush, a block off the strip. He used this front to fence stolen goods obtained by the Hole in the Wall Gang. The FBI and police intelligence units in Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland, and Kansas City serve search warrants on mob leaders to uncover evidence of Vegas skimming activities. The FBI and Las Vegas Metro Intelligence start to tighten the noose on Tony Spilotro and his Hole in the Wall Gang with massive surveillance of the Gold Rush and Cullotta’s Upper Crust restaurant. The gang is making money and attracting law enforcement heat. The next year will not be without incident. We will hear about successes, failures and WTF situations. All the time Spilotro and his Hole in the Wall Gang are doing burglaries and loansharking while the upper echelon in Chicago and Kansas City are quietly taking millions out of the casinos.</p>
<p><em>Frank Cullotta provided much of the material for this series on the Hole in the Wall Gang. You can find Frank and take his mob tour of Las Vegas.</em></p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>About the author:</strong></span></p>
<p><em>Gary Jenkins retired from the Kansas City Police Department in 1996 after a 25-year career. Gary attended the UMKC School of Law and the Missouri Bar admitted him in 2000. He continues to practice law today. He is a Board member of the Jackson County Historical Society. During the past ten years, Gary produced three documentary films. The first two were <a href="http://undergroundrailroadkansas.com/">Negroes To Hire: Slave Life in Antebellum Missouri</a> and <a href="http://undergroundrailroadkansas.com/">Freedom Seekers: Stories From the Western Underground Railroad</a>.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://ganglandwire.com/about-2/">Gangland Wire</a> is Gary's third documentary film. During Gary's KCPD career, he was assigned to the KCPD Intelligence Unit, investigating organized crime. In the 1970s, a grassroots development in the City Market neighborhood became known as the River Quay. A Mafia dispute over parking rights and strip clubs would destroy the area. The resulting investigation will allow F.B.I. Agents to convict La Cosa Nostra leaders in Kansas City, Chicago, Cleveland and Milwaukee. Filmmaker Gary Jenkins takes the viewer on an insider’s journey deep inside the Kansas City Crime Family, using excerpts from wiretaps and interviews with participants. </em></p>
<p><em>Additionally, Gary created a Smartphone app titled <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kansas-city-mob-tour/id958652599?mt=8">Kansas City Mob Tour.</a> Gary’s app, utilizing maps, text, photos, and video, conducts the user on a tour of famous Kansas City mob sites.</em></p>
<p><em>Gary produces and co-hosts a podcast titled <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/">Gangland Wire Crime Stories.</a> Using the audio podcast format, Gary tells true crime stories from his experience and obtains guests who have either committed crimes, investigated crimes or reported on criminals. </em></p>
<p><em>Gary's most recent project is his book documenting the investigation into Las Vegas skimming activities. Gary uses actual wiretap transcripts to tell the story of this investigation. The book is titled <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/store/">Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How the F.B.I. Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.</a></em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Vegas-Gary-Jenkins-ebook/dp/B01ND1TUYF"><em>To get an Amazon Kindle version which has links to the actual audio recorded by the F.B.I. Click on this sentence.</em></a></p>
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<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview">Chicago Outfit section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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A friend of Vito’s - Profile of Genovese crime family mobster Salvatore “Sally Burns” Granello
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/a-friend-of-vito-s-profile-of-genovese-crime-family-mobster-salva
2018-11-08T14:58:06.000Z
2018-11-08T14:58:06.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/a-friend-of-vito-s-profile-of-genovese-crime-family-mobster-salva" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237105276,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237105276?profile=original" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>It helps to have friends in high places. It enables one to have more opportunities, but also to get away with mistakes or grave crimes even. If one’s friend is powerful enough, one could get away with anything. Until that friend is gone, of course. Like in the case of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-genovese-crime-family" target="_blank">Genovese family</a> mobster Salvatore Granello (photo above).</p>
<p>Granello made his bones working for <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/get-the-right-man-how-the-fbn" target="_blank">Vito Genovese</a>, a man who was feared as the embodiment of evil by men who feared little to nothing. Genovese and Granello built reputations as stone-cold killers in decades that were filled with such men. Their deadly capabilities enabled them to rise in the world of organized crime and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=LCN" target="_blank">La Cosa Nostra</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: A Man Alone:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/a-man-alone-the-story-of-genovese-family-mobster-david-petillo" target="_blank"><strong>The Story of Genovese Family Hitman David Petillo</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Known as “Sally Burns” or “Solly”, Granello had his finger in many pies. Union racketeering, hijackings, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Extortion" target="_blank">extortion</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Gambling" target="_blank">gambling</a>, you name it. He even had the Oriente Park Race Track and the casino and restaurant and bar in Hotel Sevilla Biltmore in Havana, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Cuba" target="_blank">Cuba</a> before Fidel Castro seized power and kicked the American gangsters out of the country.</p>
<p>In the United States, Granello ran a huge loansharking operation and owned tons of nightclubs, inheriting most of them from <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-genovese-crime-family" target="_blank">Genovese family</a> capo <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Strollo" target="_blank">Anthony “Tony Bender” Strollo</a>, who disappeared without a trace in 1962. It is presumed he was whacked on orders of the family’s boss and namesake Vito Genovese.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/when-the-american-government-asked-the-mafia-for-a-favor-the-assa" target="_blank">When the American government asked the Mafia for a favor</a>:The assassination of Fidel Castro</strong></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237105875,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237105875?profile=original" /></a><em>Photo: Vito Genovese mugshot</em></p>
<p>Throughout Granello’s mob career, he and Genovese remained close. The Cosa Nostra chief’s office was nearby Granello’s apartment and he would frequently come by for a visit. Genovese wasn’t Granello’s only (in)famous friend. Boxing legend Rocky Graziano was godfather to his youngest daughter.</p>
<p>But with friends in high places comes a high profile. By the 1960s, Attorney General <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Kennedy" target="_blank">Robert Kennedy</a> had Granello in his crosshairs and got him sent to prison on tax evasion charges. It was the beginning of his downfall.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-life-and-death-of-mafia-capo-anthony-carfano" target="_blank"><strong>The Life and Death of Mafia Capo Anthony Carfano</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>While in prison in 1968, Granello got news no parent ever wants to hear: his son Michael had been murdered. It couldn’t have been a surprise. 19-year-old Michael was a drug addict who earned his money by playing Russian roulette: He robbed members of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mafia" target="_blank">Mafia</a>. Taking after his father’s violent streak, Michael once beat a mobster half to death with a baseball bat during a robbery.</p>
<p>The mob wasn’t having it and shot-gunned young Michael to death while he was sitting in his car.</p>
<p>Granello vowed to avenge his son’s murder. A vow that no doubt made several men feel extremely uncomfortable.</p>
<p>By then rumors were circulating that Granello’s own time was up as well. Upon his release from prison in 1970, the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=FBI" target="_blank">FBI</a> knocked on the mobster’s door to inform him that he was marked for death. Granello closed the door on them and went on with his life.</p>
<p>A life that was increasingly more difficult. He faced serious charges stemming from a federal sting operation set up by lawyer Herbert Itkin, who convinced Granello he could get him access to the Teamsters pension fund. An enthused Granello brought several high-ranking mob friends of his into the scheme only to see everyone end up in handcuffs when it turned out Itkin was cooperating with the FBI.</p>
<p>According to former <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-lucchese-crime-family" target="_blank">Lucchese crime family</a> acting boss <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/lucchese-acting-boss-alphonse" target="_blank">Alphonse D’Arco</a>, several mob leaders were very angry with Granello for introducing Itkin to them and bringing them in on this caper.</p>
<p>Normally, with this much heat on him, Granello would talk to his dear old friend. His blood brother. Vito Genovese. The big boss man. The Mafioso with all the right connections and the power of a god. But Vito had passed away in 1969 while doing time on federal narcotics charges and Sally Burns was without his protector.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: </strong><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-humble-origins-of-joe-masseria-and-lucky-luciano" target="_blank"><strong>The Humble Origins of Joe Masseria and Lucky Luciano</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>He probably didn’t think it mattered. He was a killing machine and would continue to do what he did best. If he could just beat the charges, it would be business as usual and he’d get his revenge. On September 24, 1970, 47-year-old Granello met with associates of his in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Manhattan" target="_blank">Manhattan</a>’s Little Italy. He told them he had another meeting set up and left.</p>
<p>It was the last time he was seen alive.</p>
<p>On October 6, Granello was found in the trunk of an automobile on New York’s Lower East Side. He was shot to death and had four .22-caliber bullet wounds in his head.</p>
<p>After police found his dead body there were several theories as to why he was killed. It was because he threatened to avenge his son, went one theory. It was because he brought in an informant and caused the arrest of several other mobsters, said Al D’Arco. It was because they feared he would become a snitch himself, went another.</p>
<p>They whacked him because he was vying for the top spot in the Genovese family, several reports claimed. Then there were some anonymous sources who claimed Granello had taken advantage of several young girls, even raping some of them, and that the Mafia was fed up with his despicable behavior.</p>
<p>Whatever the motive, one thing is clear. Without his pal Vito’s powerful hand above Granello’s head, the Mafia wasted little time in shooting it off.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-genovese-crime-family">Genovese crime family section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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Frank Cullotta, the Las Vegas hitman made famous by Scorsese’s Casino, comes to Mob Museum for book signing
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/frank-cullotta-the-las-vegas-hitman-made-famous-by-scorsese-s-cas
2017-10-20T13:01:00.000Z
2017-10-20T13:01:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/frank-cullotta-the-las-vegas-hitman-made-famous-by-scorsese-s-cas" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237100093,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237100093?profile=original" width="520" /></a>By Gangsters Inc. Editors</p>
<p>Former Mafia hitman Frank Cullotta has written a new book and will be out and about doing some heavy promoting. Known as a member of infamous <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-soldier-anthony-the" target="_blank">Chicago mobster Anthony Spilotro</a>’s <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Vegas" target="_blank">Las Vegas</a> crew, Cullotta eventually became a turncoat and said farewell to his life of crime. His latest book is titled <em>The Rise and Fall of a “Casino” Mobster: The Tony Spilotro Story Through a Hitman’s Eyes</em> and promises plenty of gore.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Listen: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/video/talented-bitches-radio-interview-with-frank-cullotta" target="_blank">Frank Cullotta lengthy podcast interview</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p>The book details the life story of Spilotro from the eyes of Cullotta, who was his childhood friend. Spilotro was sent to Las Vegas in 1971 by the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview" target="_blank">Chicago Outfit</a> to assemble a crew of thieves. He turned to Cullotta to lead the ring, which came to be known as the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/tony-spilotro-and-his-hole-in" target="_blank">Hole in the Wall Gang</a>.</p>
<p>Spilotro’s life has been told before, most notably in the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-truth-behind-movie-classic-casino" target="_blank">1995 movie Casino</a>, but no one can tell it like his long-time ally Cullotta, who writes about Spilotro’s rise up the ladder to become an Outfit boss, the many murders linked to the mobster and his subsequent fall from power and murder at the hands of the Outfit.</p>
<p>Cullotta will sign copies of his latest book at <a href="https://themobmuseum.org/" target="_blank">The Mob Museum</a> in Las Vegas on Saturday, November 18, from 13:00 till 16:00 p.m.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview">Chicago Outfit section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
Russian Mafia boss Razhden Shulaya ran nationwide criminal enterprise from Brighton Beach to Las Vegas
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-boss-razhden-shulaya-ran-nationwide-criminal-enterp
2017-06-08T13:07:29.000Z
2017-06-08T13:07:29.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-boss-razhden-shulaya-ran-nationwide-criminal-enterp" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237079655,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237079655?profile=original" width="550" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Razhden Shulaya’s influence reached far. As a bona fide “Vor” – the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-overview" target="_blank">Russian Mafia</a>’s equivalent of a made guy – he was feared and revered by his underlings and had powerful connections in the Eastern European underworld. But Shulaya cast his sights on the United States, where he allegedly set up a nationwide criminal enterprise involved in gambling, extortion, fraud, murder-for-hire, and drug trafficking.</p>
<p>He is nicknamed “Brother,” authorities say. An affectionate moniker for a man whose job encompassed taking care of his men like a big brother. As a high-ranking member of the “vory v zakone,” or thieves-in-law,” brotherhood, Shulaya offered his underlings “assistance and protection” as they went about their criminal activities. When needed he would handle disputes and offer solutions. In return, they paid him a percentage of their earnings.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Read: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-mob-boss-orders-the-internet-to-fuggedabout-him" target="_blank">Russian Mafia boss orders internet to "fuggedabout" him</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p>40-year-old Shulaya was assisted by his 37-year-old lieutenant Zurab Dzhanashvili, who coordinated illegal <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Gambling" target="_blank">gambling</a>, extortion, and the trafficking in contraband cigarettes and stolen merchandise. </p>
<p>Which such a largescale criminal enterprise he could use the help. The Shulaya organization was involved in a large variety of illicit activities, which included: running illegal poker businesses in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-mob-crew-in-brighton-beach-busted-by-dea-irs" target="_blank">Brighton Beach</a>; extortion; drug trafficking; theft of cargo shipments, including a shipment containing approximately 10,000 pounds of chocolate confections; transportation and sale of numerous cases of untaxed cigarettes; the creation and use of forged identification documents, checks, and invoices; and the use of a female to seduce men, incapacitate them with gas, and then rob them.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Read: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/miami-and-the-russian-mob-by" target="_blank">Russian Mob in Miami</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Their brains never stopped thinking up new rackets. As money was pouring in from one shady venture, someone was already dreaming up making even more money on another illegal scheme. The group planned to defraud casinos in Atlantic City and Philadelphia by using electronic devices and computer servers to predict and exploit the behavior of electronic slot machines.</p>
<p>Violence, of course, was a preferred tool to advance and protect the organization and its interests. Even if it resulted in death. In May and June of this year, 26-year-old Nikoloz Jikia and 25-year-old Bakai Marat-Uulu agreed and planned to murder a person in possession of over $1,5 million dollars’ worth of stolen merchandise, in exchange for a piece of the loot.</p>
<p>The Shulaya organization was comprised of several crews, often with overlapping members or associates, dedicated to specific criminal tasks. While many of these crews were based in New York City, the Shulaya organization had operations in various locations throughout the United States, including in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Florida" target="_blank">Florida</a>, and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Nevada" target="_blank">Nevada</a>, and abroad. </p>
<p>Most of the group’s members and associates were born in the former Soviet Union and many maintained substantial ties to Georgia, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation, regularly traveling to those countries and frequently communicating with associates there. They also transferred their ill-gotten monies to individuals in those countries.</p>
<p>As they went about their business they used encrypted communications equipment, they talked in code and preferred to meet in person. Typical tradecraft to avoid the prying eyes of law enforcement.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for them, it did not work. On June 7, 2017, Razhden Shulaya and 32 of his underlings were hit with three indictments and one complaint charging them with a variety of racketeering charges that, if the defendants are found guilty, could result in lengthy prison sentences.</p>
<p>“The suspects in this case cast a wide net of criminal activity, aiming to make as much money as possible, all allegedly organized and run by a man who promised to protect them,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said. “But that protection didn't include escaping justice and being arrested by the agents and detectives on the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=FBI" target="_blank">FBI</a> New York Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force. Our partnerships with other FBI field offices, the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=NYPD" target="_blank">NYPD</a> and CBP allows us to do everything we can to go after criminals who don't believe the law applies to them.”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-overview">Russian Mafia section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
The Secret Police in the United States: How local law enforcement took on organized crime and La Cosa Nostra
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-secret-police-in-the-united-states-how-local-law-enforcement
2017-02-07T14:04:31.000Z
2017-02-07T14:04:31.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-secret-police-in-the-united-states-how-local-law-enforcement"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237083490,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237083490?profile=original" width="520" /></a>By Gary Jenkins</p>
<p>The Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit is a private entity whose dues-paying members are hundreds of North American law enforcement agencies. Its founding purpose was, “to promote the gathering, recording, and exchange of confidential information not available through normal police channels, concerning organized crime."</p>
<p>During the post war 1950s, criminals became more mobile operating across state lines, and local police departments found it difficult to learn about travelling criminals. In particular, La Cosa Nostra families were communicating and committing criminal conspiracies across many jurisdictions. The F.B.I. and most notably, J. Edgar Hoover, did not trust local police departments, sometimes for good reason. Not all local police departments were riddled with corruption, in 1956, representatives from 26 local and state law enforcement agencies met in California and formed the LEIU to share information. One of the first rules was that they allowed no new members unchecked. If any existing member accused the new applicant of allowing any kind of corruption inside the department, they were not welcomed to the organization. The founders of LEIU knew that to be effective, they must foster an atmosphere where confidential information could be freely shared, in other words, the organization must be squeaky clean and appear more virtuous than Caesar’s wife. A paranoid J. Edgar Hoover ordered agents to investigate this new organization. Hoover soon learned the new organization was above corruption and could be an asset. LEIU could be called the Interpol of the United States. At one time, they were so secret that most officers of the member agencies were unaware of the national LEIU organization. Today they have a <a href="http://leiu.org/about" target="_blank">public website</a> and a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LEIU2020" target="_blank">LEIU Facebook Page</a> you can like.</p>
<p>In 1962, ex-FBI agent and then Kansas City Chief of Police Clarence Kelley created a squad of 8 specially chosen detectives to form a Top Hoodlum Squad. He based this on the F.B.I. Top Hoodlum Program established by J. Edgar Hoover as a response to the publicity from the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/mob-meeting-at-apalachin-the">famous 1957 Apalachin convention</a> raid. In post war America, the remnants of Prohibition era corruption still infected many big city police departments. In the late 1950s to the 1960s, local law enforcement started to distance themselves from politicians owned by the National Crime Syndicate. During this time, the F.B.I. and local police did not trust each other or work well together. As a result, like Kansas City, many large cites and state agencies formed their own version of a top hoodlum program with a directive to focus on local organized crime families. In Kansas City, politicians could not deny that two local men, Joe Filardo and Nick Civella, known to be part of Prohibition era bootlegging gangs, were caught at the Apalachin meeting. Serious law enforcement leaders in Kansas City and across the United States realized a National Crime Syndicate created the need to share intelligence from city to city and state to state. Chief Kelley's squad soon joined L.E.I.U. and even renamed themselves the Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit or LEIU. The Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit (LEIU) was the most elite unit on the KCPD.</p>
<p>After "extreme vetting," I was selected to join the KCPD Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit in 1976. At that time, like most other Intelligence units, the KCPD LEIU was located in a secret off-site office building. We were commanded by a Captain and he reported directly to the Chief of Police. I was just in time to take part in a major investigation of the mob in Kansas City which uncovered the Midwest mob families skimming money from <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/las-vegas-sin-city">Las Vegas</a> casinos. During my 13 years as a detective I investigated members of the Civella crime family, groups advocating civil disorder, the KKK and many other professional criminals operating across jurisdictional boundaries.</p>
<p>The most important asset of any intelligence unit is credibility and freedom from corruption. As an example of how LEIU works to keep itself clean, I must tell the story of Las Vegas Intelligence Unit Detective Joe Blasko and his Sergeant Phil Leone. In the 1970s, these officers reported directly to Clark County Sheriff Ralph Lamb. By 1978, the Las Vegas F.B.I. Office was working very hard to investigate and charge the transplanted <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview">Chicago Outfit</a> mobster, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-soldier-anthony-the">Anthony "Ant" Spilotro</a>. For a while, Spilotro seemed to be leading a blessed life. He and his crew seemed to magically avoid every law enforcement informant, surveillance or wiretap. A tough former marine named Emment Michaels was a new F.B.I. agent who took a personal interest in Tony Spilotro and his band of thieves. The F.B.I. office had grown suspicious of the Las Vegas cops. Soon, Agent Michaels learned from a secret wiretap why Spilotro seemed be leading a charmed life. He and other agents overheard the voices of Sergeant Phil Leone and Detective Joe Blasko informing Spilotro of police surveillances, identity of informants, descriptions of undercover automobiles and backgrounds on loan shark customers. Michaels even caught Blasko watching Spilotro's business, Gold Rush Jewelry, and telephoning in short messages about surveillances. As these facts came to light it was not long before the Las Vegas Metro PD was removed from L.E.I.U.</p>
<p>In 1973 the Clark County Sheriff's office and the Las Vegas Metro Police Department had merged. The sitting sheriff, Ralph Lamb, was named the head of this new department. Sheriff Lamb was an old-school law enforcement officer and was a more concerned with politics than law enforcement. He would be indicted by the I.R.S. over unreported income he claimed were loans from casino owner, Benny Binion. He mailed a letter to the Florida Horse Racing Commission supporting Chicago mobster, Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal who was trying to get licensed. Remember, the two Intelligence detectives, Leone and Blasko, reported directly to Sheriff Ralph Lamb. In 1978, a police Commander named John D. McCarthy challenged Ralph Lamb and won the election.</p>
<p>One of the first units to receive the new Sheriff's attention was his Intelligence Unit. Joe Blasko and Phil Leone quickly took their leave of police work. Sheriff McCarthy appointed a new Intelligence Unit commander named Kent Clifford. This was December, 1978 and on one Commander Clifford's fist days in his new assignment, he arrived a work to find many cases of expensive bourbon, scotch and other hard liquor. The new Commander asked, "What's this?' One of his detectives replied, "Commander, that's our Christmas from the Strip." Clifford replied, "Take that stuff back and you are to never take anything from any casino again!" After a few quick transfers, Commander Clifford pronounced his overhauled squad to be clean. It was not long after that L.EI.U. readmitted the Las Vegas Metro Police Department back into the organization.</p>
<p>Commander Clifford's unit started working closely with Agent Michaels and his surveillance squad. On July 4th, 1981, they caught <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-soldier-anthony-the">Tony Spilotro</a>'s <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/tony-spilotro-and-his-hole-in">Hole in the Wall Gang</a> (photo above) in the process of committing a burglary. To add sweetness to the moment, former unit member Joe Blasko was arrested with the gang. Agent Michaels would say, "This was the greatest day of my law enforcement career!" Out of that arrest, the F.B.I. turned gang member Frank Culotta as a witness and the only reason Spilotro escaped prosecution was his assassination. </p>
<p>In more recent times, the traditional La Cosa Nostra organizations have diminished in scope and threat. After September 11, 2001, local law enforcement has increased attention to domestic terror, because of L.E.I.U., the individual state and city intelligence units have been better equipped to respond to the new traveling criminal. </p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><strong>ABOUT THE AUTHOR:</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="https://ganglandwire.com/" target="_blank">Gary Jenkins</a> retired from the Kansas City Police Department in 1996 after a 25-year career. Gary attended the UMKC School of Law and graduated in 2000. He was admitted to the Missouri Bar and he continues to practice law today. He is a Board member of the Kansas City Police Pension System and The Jackson County Historical Society. During the past 10 years, Gary produced three documentary films. The first two were <em>Negroes To Hire: Slave Life in Antebellum Missouri</em> and <em>Freedom Seekers: Stories From the Western Underground Railroad</em>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Prime-Instant-Video/b?node=2676882011&ref=sr_aiv_strp_lg_np" target="_blank">Gangland Wire</a> is Gary's third documentary film. During Gary's KCPD career, he was assigned to the KCPD Intelligence Unit, investigating organized crime. In the 1970s, a grass roots development in the City Market area, became known as the River Quay. A Mafia dispute over parking rights and strip clubs would destroy the area. The resulting investigation will allow F.B.I. agents to convict La Cosa Nostra leaders in Kansas City, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview">Chicago</a>, Cleveland and Milwaukee. Former KCPD Detective and filmmaker Gary Jenkins tells this story as only an insider could, using excerpts from wiretaps and interviews with participants. </p>
<p>Additionally, Gary created a Smartphone app titled Kansas City Mob Tour. This app utilizing maps, text, photos and video conducts the user on a tour of famous Kansas City mob sites.</p>
<p>Gary produces and co-hosts a podcast titled <a href="https://ganglandwire.com/" target="_blank">Gangland Wire Crime Stories</a>. Using the audio podcast format, Gary tells true crime stories from his experience and obtains guests who have either committed crimes or investigated crimes. </p>
<p>Gary's most recent project is his book documenting the investigation into Las Vegas skimming activities. Gary uses actual wiretap transcripts to tell the story of this investigation. The book is titled <em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Vegas-Wiretaps-Domination-Casinos/dp/1540779254" target="_blank">Leaving Vegas</a>: The True Story of How the F.B.I. Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos</em>. </p>
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Profile of Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo, infamous boss of the Philadelphia crime family, who died in prison at age 87
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/nicodemo-little-nicky-scarfo-boss-of-the-philadelphia-crime-famil
2017-01-15T13:30:00.000Z
2017-01-15T13:30:00.000Z
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/nicodemo-little-nicky-scarfo-boss-of-the-philadelphia-crime-famil"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237086297,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237086297?profile=original" width="520" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Infamous <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-bruno-crime-family">Philadelphia mob</a> boss Nicodemo Scarfo passed away in prison on Friday, underworld sources told mob reporter George Anastasia, who <a href="http://www.bigtrial.net/2017/01/report-nicodemo-scarfo-has-died-in.html" target="_blank">broke the news yesterday</a>. Scarfo was 87. He was serving a 55-year sentence for racketeering and murder and had been housed at a federal prison medical facility in Butner, North Carolina, for over a year now. Scarfo will go down as one of the most erratic and violent Mafia bosses in recent American crime history.</p>
<p>Originally from <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Brooklyn">Brooklyn</a>, New York, Scarfo’s family moved to New Jersey in the early 1940s. By the 1950s, Scarfo was working for his uncle Nicholas “Nicky Buck” Piccolo, a member of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-bruno-crime-family">Philadelphia crime family</a>. Nicknamed “Little Nicky” for his diminutive size, Scarfo made up for his small stature with a hair-trigger temper and a lust for deadly violence.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4uUUNVjL298?wmode=opaque" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<p>This temper established his fearsome reputation within the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Mafia">Mafia</a> but also got him in trouble with the law. In 1963, for instance, he stabbed a man to death at a restaurant over an argument that got out of hand. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was released from prison after less than a year.</p>
<p>He then went to Atlantic City to run the Philadelphia crime family’s interests there. Back then, the city was a cow town. Gambling had not yet arrived and Scarfo was scraping by with a small-time gambling and loansharking operation. Though he hated every day spent there, he endured, biding his time. By then, legalized gambling in Atlantic City was on the horizon, promising endless possibilities for an enterprising gangster such as Scarfo.</p>
<p>The 1970s was the decade that Scarfo’s fortunes changed. It started off with him spending quality time in Yardville Correctional Center with several powerful mobsters, including <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/philadelphia-boss-angelo-bruno">Angelo Bruno</a>, leader of the Philadelphia mob. It was always good to be able to get close to those in power. Then, in 1976, New Jersey legalized casinos in Atlantic City and Scarfo’s good years had arrived.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Read: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/high-profile-philadelphia-mafia-boss-joseph-merlino-latest-gangst">Philadelphia Mafia boss Joey Merlino banned from casinos</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p>All of a sudden, money was pouring into the city. Scarfo made sure all his businesses profited royally. He remained involved in gambling and loansharking, of course, but also held interests in bars and construction. His stature in the Philly mob was also on the rise, he was now their official man in a booming Atlantic City.</p>
<p>In 1980, after <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/philadelphia-boss-angelo-bruno">Angelo Bruno</a>, Philadelphia’s “docile” and respected Mafia leader, was shot to death in front of his home, Scarfo rose even more. Bruno’s underboss, Philip Testa, succeeded him as boss and appointed Scarfo as his consigliere. But Bruno’s murder was just the starting shot in a bloody power struggle and Testa himself was murdered in March of 1981 when an explosive device went off at his house and blew the newly crowned mob kingpin to bits.</p>
<p>Shortly thereafter, an extremely angry Scarfo ascended to the throne, hungry for revenge. What followed next can only be described as bloody carnage. Scarfo went after anyone he felt had been involved in Testa’s murder. When he ran out of targets, he invented new ones and carried on with his reign of terror.</p>
<p>Under his leadership, the Philadelphia crime family began to fester and burn from within. Scarfo demanded loyalty, but would turn on his men in a second if they’d failed to show up to a meet or said something that he felt was out of line. He would become especially deadly if he deemed you a threat to his power.</p>
<p>He shocked his own loyal henchmen when he ordered the murder of Salvatore “Salvie” Testa, the son of Philip Testa and one of Scarfo’s most capable hitmen. The young Testa was considered a rising mob star with a bright future in the rackets. Scarfo feared Testa’s popularity and wanted him gone. His men did as they were told. In 1984, Testa’s best friend lured him to a <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Philadelphia">Philadelphia</a> candy store where he was shot to death.</p>
<p>The hit left a bad taste among Scarfo’s men. Paranoia increased as each feared for his life. While Scarfo felt he was running a tight ship, more and more of his once loyal soldiers began thinking about the unthinkable: They were opting to become a rat and join the Witness Protection Program where they would be safe from Scarfo’s violent orders.</p>
<p>As one after the other flipped and became a turncoat, prosecutors began collecting evidence and building cases. By the late 1980s, Scarfo was locked in a cell. With each court proceeding he was greeted by yet another former underling who had turned against him. The ultimate betrayal came when Philip “Crazy Phil” Leonetti, his own nephew and underboss, testified against him, providing prosecutors with the nail in Scarfo’s coffin as he was sentenced to 55 years behind bars for racketeering and several gangland murders.</p>
<p>From prison, Scarfo tried to maintain control over the Philadelphia underworld through his son Nicky Jr. However, unknown assassins put a stop to that in 1989 when they riddled Nick Jr.’s body with six bullets at a <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Philadelphia">Philadelphia</a> restaurant.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Read: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/nicky-scarfo-junior-following-in-daddy-s-footsteps">Nicky Scarfo Junior follows in daddy's footsteps</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p>The mob son survived the hit attempt and – thanks to his father’s close friendship with <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/profile-lucchese-crime-family-boss-vittorio-vic-amuso">Lucchese mob boss Vic Amuso</a> - was later placed under protection of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-lucchese-crime-family">New York’s Lucchese crime family</a>, where he became an official “made” member. He is currently serving a 30-year sentence for racketeering conspiracy.</p>
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Russia arrests top officials, charges them with taking bribes from mob boss
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/russia-arrests-top-officials-charges-them-with-taki
2016-07-20T09:18:24.000Z
2016-07-20T09:18:24.000Z
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russia-arrests-top-officials-charges-them-with-taki"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237076076,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237076076?profile=original" width="520" /></a>By Gangsters Inc. Editors</p>
<p>Agents of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested the deputy chief as well as the head of internal security of its Moscow branch yesterday during raids on the offices and homes of several Investigations Committee officials suspected of taking bribes from members of an <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-overview">organized crime group</a>.</p>
<p>Though <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-19/russia-raids-top-investigators-over-mob-ties-bribe-taking" target="_blank">details</a> remain a bit sketchy, several Russian newspapers report that the charges stem from an incident involving <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-overview">Moscow mob</a> bosses Zakharii "Junior" Kalashov and his right-hand man Andrei “The Italian” Kochuikov.</p>
<p>Kochuikov was involved in a deadly shooting in December of 2015 at a café in Moscow’s central Rochdelskaya Street that left two people dead and eight wounded - security cam footage below.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237076668,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237076668?profile=original" width="454" /></a>“Due to a strange turn of events, the investigator, who was looking into this case, simply forgot to request an arrest extension with the court,” The Moskovsky Komsomolets daily reported. “Security officers however had learned about it beforehand and detained ‘The Italian’ again, right at the entrance to the Matrosskaya Tishina detention center where he had been held. It was rumored back then that Kochuikov’s release was allegedly linked to corrupt officials. It was even said that a sum of $1 million U.S. dollars had been supposedly earmarked to bribe officers of the Investigations Committee Moscow department.”</p>
<p>Kalashov was arrested this month and charged with extorting 8 million rubles ($126,000 dollars) from the same café.</p>
<p>Russian President <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-dark-knight-of-mother">Vladimir Putin</a> was notified of the ongoing investigation, an FSB spokesperson told the media. One would think that goes without saying, but not in Putin’s Russia. Corruption has engulfed the country and bribery is considered a part of everyday life.</p>
<p>Even Putin himself has been <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-money-laundering-ring-in-spain-busted">linked</a> to Mafia groups and crime bosses, particularly the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-russian-mafia-in-spain">Tambovskaya</a> and Taganskaya Mafia groups. Leaders and members of both groups were <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-money-laundering-ring-in-spain-busted">recently busted in Spain</a> in a million-dollar money laundering case. Investigators there discovered that they maintained good contacts with Russian politicians, particularly with leaders of the United Russia party of Putin.</p>
<p>Interestingly, Kalashov, who was born in Georgia and is seen as one of Russia's most influential criminal bosses involved in the casino business, also spent quite some time in Spain. But due to a major police bust in 2005, he had to leave in a hurry to avoid arrest.</p>
<p>In a country so corrupt it doesn’t matter if a few mob bosses go down and a couple of corrupt investigators are caught. The system itself continues. With <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-dark-knight-of-mother">Vladimir Putin</a> at the helm it will be business as usual.</p>
<p>That is, if you know the right people, of course.</p>
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Boston mobster goes to trial for hidden interest in multi-million-dollar casino deal
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/boston-mobster-goes-to-trial-for-hidden-interest-in-million-dolla
2016-03-29T18:30:00.000Z
2016-03-29T18:30:00.000Z
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/boston-mobster-goes-to-trial-for-hidden-interest-in-million-dolla"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237068878,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237068878?profile=original" width="500" /></a>By Gangsters Inc. Editors</p>
<p>If only he’d kept his mouth shut. If he had done that then alleged <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-new-england-crime-family">New England Mafia</a> associate Charles Lightbody (photo above) would’ve had a nice chunk of money and no legal problems. If only…</p>
<p>On Monday, Lightbody heard that a federal judge ruled that his financial interest in land scouted by Wynn Resorts Casino could serve as basis for fraud charges against him, the <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/28/gangster-interest-everett-casino-land-can-used-fraud-case-judge-rules/ykHFwH5CxpT3d04w9kk7GL/story.html" target="_blank">Boston Globe reports</a>.</p>
<p>Charles Lightbody goes on trial next month on wire fraud charges together with codefendants Anthony Gattineri and Dustin J. DeNunzio. The three men are accused of hiding Lightbody’s financial interest in the property that was being scouted by Wynn Resorts Casino.</p>
<p>Wynn Resorts Casino was awarded the casino license by the state Gaming Commission after it was confirmed that Lightbody had sold his interest in the property. As a convicted felon, Lightbody was prohibited from benefitting from casino-related business. The sale price was also reduced from over $70 million to $45 million.</p>
<p>But then Lightbody began blabbing about the deal to a <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-new-england-crime-family">fellow mobster</a> who visited him in prison. In that conversation, prosecutors allege, it became known Lightbody held a hidden interest in the land.</p>
<p>The two parties are expected to begin jury selection on April 11.</p>
<p>If this case makes one thing clear it’s that try as they might, the legitimate corporations and government will never keep their hands clean when they get involved in the casino business. It’s a dirty business. But the reward is worth getting your hands dirty for. The mob knew it and legitimate businessmen and politicians know it as well.</p>
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<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-new-england-crime-family">New England Patriarca crime family section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
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Hollywood tells story of Chicago bosses Accardo & Giancana
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/hollywood-to-tell-story-of-chicago-bosses-accardo-giancana
2016-03-19T13:15:32.000Z
2016-03-19T13:15:32.000Z
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/hollywood-to-tell-story-of-chicago-bosses-accardo-giancana"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237062099,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237062099?profile=original" width="464" /></a>By Gangsters Inc. Editors</p>
<p>Film director Michael Mann is teaming up with bestselling author Don Winslow to co-create an original novel about <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-chicago-outfit-overview">Chicago Outfit</a> mob bosses <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-antonino-accardo">Anthony Accardo</a> and Sam Giancana. The novel will in turn be developed into a feature movie by Mann.</p>
<p>This news will delight fans of gangster movies as Mann has produced some of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/how-the-chicago-outfit-made">best films</a> and series in the genre. His resume includes Heat, Public Enemies, Thief, and Miami Vice. Winslow, meanwhile, is riding high off the success of his book The Cartel.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://deadline.com/2016/03/don-winslow-michael-mann-tony-accardo-sam-giancana-the-cartel-michael-mann-books-1201722508/" target="_blank">Deadline</a>, “Winslow will begin work late spring on this, after delivering his next book. Discussions with publishers will begin shortly and the book will be released in 2017.”</p>
<p>Anthony Accardo and Sam Giancana were among America’s most infamous and powerful Mafia bosses. Their connections ran all the way to the White House and governmental agencies such as the CIA.</p>
<p>Though Giancana’s issues with the Kennedys and his role in the CIA’s plans to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro are well documented, less is known about <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-message-dont-fuck-with">Accardo</a>, who kept a low profile throughout his long and illustrious career. Starting out as <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-message-dont-fuck-with">muscle</a> for none other than <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/photo/albums/al-capone">Al Capone</a>, Accardo eventually became one of America’s smartest and longest reigning Mafia bosses.</p>
<p>Their lives should present fans of crime stories with a mind-blowing novel. Mann might even uncover some untold stories. Interestingly, he has acquired rights and previously undisclosed material from the Accardo family.</p>
<p>We at Gangsters Inc. can’t wait to see what Mann and Winslow dig up.</p>
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Triads continue to dominate VIP rooms in Macau casinos
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/triads-continue-to-dominate-vip-rooms-in-macau-casinos
2016-03-02T16:12:55.000Z
2016-03-02T16:12:55.000Z
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triads-continue-to-dominate-vip-rooms-in-macau-casinos"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237059254,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237059254?profile=original" width="500" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Just when you thought they were out… It turns out the Triads – the Chinese Mafia – continue to control gambling and loansharking in casinos in Macau, Asia’s gambling mecca. According to a report published in the British Journal of Criminology, Triad gangs have simply altered their way of doing business, becoming more low-key and more businesslike.</p>
<p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triads-overview">Chinese Triads</a> have long been an intimidating presence in casinos in Hong Kong and Macau. Its members dominated the lucrative VIP rooms at various casinos and frequently went to war with each other over the territories.</p>
<p>After violence reached a peak during the late 1990s, authorities have cracked down on the Triads and busted infamous bosses like <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triad-boss-wan-kuokkoi-aka">“Broken Tooth”</a> on racketeering charges. Things quieted down and it seemed law enforcement had finally reestablished law and order on the casino floors.</p>
<p>However, according to the new report entitled “Triad Organized Crime in Macau Casinos: Extra-legal governance and entrepreneurship,” the Triads never really left. Rather, they changed up their game and modus operandi.</p>
<p>The report is written by T. Wing Lo, and Sharon Ingrid Kwok, two academics from City University of Hong Kong from the Department of Applied Social Sciences. They studied the Macau gaming scene for 30 months starting in 2012 all the way through to 2015, interviewing VIP room managers, operators and visitors, police, and Triad members.</p>
<p>Their study finds that the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triads-overview">Triads</a> have simply begun running a more businesslike operation, using front men inside the VIP rooms to oversee their interests. To continue running gambling junkets between Hong Kong, China, and Macau, Triads set up ghost companies, hiding the involvement of Triad leaders.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236984275,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9236984275?profile=original" /></a>One “Chinese manager,” the report states, who was interviewed in February 2015, even claimed that the “blood brother of [14K Triad leader] <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triad-boss-wan-kuokkoi-aka">‘Broken Tooth’</a> operates a VIP room” and that <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triad-boss-wan-kuokkoi-aka">“Broken Tooth”</a> (photo right) himself works at the establishment following his release from prison in December 2013.</p>
<p>“New forms of betting and crime have emerged to meet the needs of high-end gamblers, thus resulting in the formation of a triad-enterprise hybrid that comprises territoriality and reputation of violence commonly found in extra-legal governance and the dynamic entrepreneurship of small firms,” the publication reads.</p>
<p>“[Triads] continue to treat the VIP rooms as their economic territories and provide extra-legal governance,” it concludes. “They monopolize the VIP rooms, treat them as their territories and ensure that rivals would not steal their whales [high-rollers]. They punish cheats and frauds that occur in their territories, where occasional use of violence is seen.”</p>
<p>That sounds like business as usual indeed.</p>
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Profile: Macau Triad boss Tong Sang Lai
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/profile-macau-triad-boss-tong-sang-lai
2015-02-12T13:54:32.000Z
2015-02-12T13:54:32.000Z
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/profile-macau-triad-boss-tong-sang-lai"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237038478,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237038478?profile=original" width="246" /></a></p>
<p>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>No matter how hard Tong Sang Lai (photo above) ran, his past eventually caught up with him. As a leader of the Shui Fong Triad in Macau he fled to North America after a violent war over the island’s gambling riches drew too much heat. Yesterday, the Federal Court of Appeal in Canada upheld a ruling that he was a Triad boss and therefore inadmissible to Canada.</p>
<p>The ruling yesterday marked the end of a legal battle between Tong Sang Lai and Canadian courts that started in 2011. Though his criminal ties prevent him from staying in the country, his wife and three children are allowed to remain in Vancouver.</p>
<p>In relative safety, one might add. For Tong Sang Lai will return to an island that, though it has changed drastically since his departure in 1996, still harbors plenty of people who have an axe to grind with the runaway crime boss.</p>
<p>When Tong Sang Lai first applied for permanent residence in February 1994 a Triad war was lighting up Macau. The conflict was his main reason for wanting to take his family and flee. It was also the reason things did not move as smooth as he had wished. All the fighting created newspaper headlines and authorities referred his application for enhanced criminal checks, after which he withdrew his application.</p>
<p>Despite his plans to move away from Macau, he apparently held enough sway among the troops. According to a Macau police document Tong Sang Lai was elected as “top leader” of the Shui Fong Triad in 1995. The Shui Fong Triad falls under the larger umbrella of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triads-overview">Wo On Lok Triad group</a> and is involved in gambling, extortion, and prostitution. Tong Sang Lai has always denied being a Triad leader.</p>
<p>The war that was being fought under his reign was primarily about control of the VIP rooms at various Macau casinos. “Police believe on one side of the bloodshed was the Shui Fung, or Water Room gang, headed by Lai. On the other end the Macau branch of 14K, purportedly the second-largest triad in the world, headed by a notorious gangster known as <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triad-boss-wan-kuokkoi-aka">Broken Tooth Koi</a>,” The Canadian Press reported.</p>
<p>In 1996 Tong Sang Lai applied for residency in Canada at the nation’s consulate in Los Angeles, where, amazingly enough, his application was approved without a background check. He arrived in Vancouver on October 20 and moved into a 750,000 dollar luxury home in east Vancouver.</p>
<p>However, if he thought he would be safe in his posh new home, he was wrong. His archenemy <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triad-boss-wan-kuokkoi-aka">Wan Kuok-koi</a>, also known as Broken Tooth, leader of the 14K Triad which had been warring with Tong Sang Lai’s Shui Fong Triad, immediately contacted his associates in Canada and ordered them to hit his longtime foe.</p>
<p>In July 1997, Tong Sang Lai’s Vancouver home was the target of a drive-by shooting.</p>
<p>Interestingly, police caught the whole thing on wiretap. Broken Tooth’s phone was bugged when he asked a Vancouver 14K gangster whether his boss, Simon Kwok Chow, would take a HK$1 million contract to track down and murder Tong Sang Lai.</p>
<p>This in turn gave investigators enough cause to tap Tong Sang Lai’s phone as well. He was heard receiving briefings from Triad underlings on the war in Macau, which was proof of his ongoing role as Triad boss.</p>
<p>Tong Sang Lai survived the drive-by shooting and would remain in Vancouver for seventeen more years. Now he faces deportation. Whether he will survive as long in Macau as he did in Canada is anyone’s guess, but it is certain he will not be relaxing at the local casinos anytime soon.</p>
<p>Especially considering the fact that his arch nemesis Broken Tooth was <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triad-boss-wan-kuokkoi-aka">released</a> from prison in December 2012 and is free to roam Macau just as he was back during their wartime days. </p>
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Insulting mobsters with Don Rickles
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/insulting-mobsters-with-don-rickles
2014-12-10T18:30:00.000Z
2014-12-10T18:30:00.000Z
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<p>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Would you tell a vicious mobster to his face that his wife looks like a moose? Seriously. Would you have the balls to do that? Forget about balls for a second, would you be crazy enough to do that? You, probably not. But comedian Don Rickles built his entire act around it. Nicknamed the King of Zing, Rickles pokes fun at everyone. Blacks, whites, Jews, Italians, politicians, and, most surprisingly, the powerful, vicious gangsters attending his shows.</p>
<p>Rickles’ routine as an insult comic began when he was doing stand-up comedy in the 1950s. Audiences didn’t think his material was all that funny and began heckling the young comedian, hurling insults at him. Rickles’ natural quick-witted responses blew all of them out of the water and made them laugh harder than at any point during his regular bit. He found his calling.</p>
<p>Working the nightclubs in New York, Florida, and California, Rickles developed a timing that caused his insults to hit targets with pitch perfect accuracy for maximum comedic effect. That is, if you were in on the joke. But not everyone was.</p>
<p>Like that one time when Rickles played a gig in New Jersey.</p>
<p>“So there I am, going along, singing a song, the audience loving me, when I notice this beautiful girl whose boyfriend resembles a small gorilla,” Rickles writes in his memoir. “Just looking at him, I know he’s connected [to the Mafia]. ’Is that your wife?’ I ask. He nods yes. ‘Geez,’ I say, ‘She looks like a moose.’ The audience sees my take and laughs. The gorilla stares at me like I stole his banana.”</p>
<p>After the show that angry gorilla shows up backstage and starts coming straight at Rickles. Now what?</p>
<p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/jon-stewart-s-the-daily-mafia-show">Jon Stewart</a>, comedian and host of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/jon-stewart-s-the-daily-mafia-show">The Daily Show</a>, was baffled about that as well. “You’re a young kid, nobody knows who you are,” Stewart tells Rickles. “You’re opening up for strippers, you’re playing gin joints in Jersey, and you’re doing the same thing in front of mobsters! How did you not die?!”</p>
<p>“Well,” Rickles answers with a smile, “I had guys in Brooklyn who went ‘Don’t hurt the kid he’s with us!’ No, those guys were tough, but when they got to know you they were pussycats.”</p>
<p>When they got to know you? Or when they got to know who protected you?</p>
<p>For an insult comic it’s probably best to have more than one protector. Luckily for Rickles he had protectors everywhere, chief among them his doting mother. “<a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/mafia-rebel-crazy-joey-gallo">Joey Gallo</a>, who’s <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/give-a-man-a-gun-the-story-of-carmine-dibiase">gone</a> now,” Rickles reminisces. “I’m at the Copacabana and I’m working the room and the place is packed. Everyone went up into the lounge in those days before the second show was on. I would be out there and my mother would be with me. She’s very strict, she’s like a Jew Patton, very strict. So we’re in the Copa and the [Gallos] are there and my mother walks over and says ‘The only way you get to talk to my Don is if you put your guns on the table. Guns must be on the table.’ I said, ‘Mom, will you stop it!’ ‘Will YOU stop it! I know what I’m saying,’ she said. Joey Gallo, all [his guys], put their guns on the table. And there I was sitting with five guys with guns on the table.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237040486,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237040486?profile=original" width="350" /></a>In the end, Rickles doesn’t need any protection. His comedy routine quickly made him one of the most beloved comedians in America. He became close friends with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin (right) and was considered an unofficial member of the Rat Pack. He starred in his own television show and dozens of movies, most notably in Toy Story 1 and 2 as Mr. Potato Head and in Martin Scorsese’s mob epic <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-truth-behind-movie-classic-casino">Casino</a>, where he played Robert De Niro’s right-hand man.</p>
<p>Rickles can insult anyone and instead of making them angry he makes them laugh harder than they ever did in their life. At the ripe old age of 88 he still performs for sold-out crowds.</p>
<p>So what happened to that mobbed up gorilla looking to stomp Don into the floor after insulting his girl at a show in New Jersey? Rickles: “I’m backstage relaxing. In walks Ape Man on the arm of his lovely lady. ‘Tell me again,’ he asks belligerently. ‘Does she look like a moose?’</p>
<p>“’It’s a joke,’ I say. ‘I swear to God, it’s a joke.’ ‘If you really think that’s funny,’ he snaps back. ‘I’m gonna have to straighten you out.’ His look convinces me that he’s not lying. I immediately run to the phone and call a friend who’s connected to some good people in New York.”</p>
<p>“Following night, Mr. Charm returns, a different man. Apparently, he got a call. Without missing a beat, he puts his arm around me and says, ‘You’re right. She’s a moose. You crazy bum, I love ya!’”</p>
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Triad gangster accused of running gambling empire
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/triad-gangster-accused-of-running-gambling-empire
2014-08-07T12:30:00.000Z
2014-08-07T12:30:00.000Z
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triad-gangster-accused-of-running-gambling-empire"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237033691,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237033691?profile=original" width="520" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/paul-phua-denies-being-14k-triad-boss-other-allegations">Paul Phua denies being 14K Triad boss, also denies other allegations</a></strong></p>
<p>50-year-old Wei Seng Phua was known as a high roller around the world. The Malaysian played poker at the highest stakes and was known for his huge bankroll which was labeled as “a bottomless pile.” According to his own testimony he is worth between $300 and $400 million dollars. According to authorities he is worth much more. And, worse, they say he is a high ranking member of the 14K Triad who ran a billion-dollar illegal gambling operation from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Yet, despite their best efforst, in the end, they dropped all charges against him.</p>
<p>If he was, in fact, operating a large scale gambling business from three luxurious villas in Caesars Palace - after all he has not been convicted yet – then he did not worry too much about hiding that from casino personnel.</p>
<p>Upon arriving at villa 8881 – 8 is a lucky number in Asia – he requested an unusually large amount of electronic equipment and technical support. While casino personnel were setting up everything for their client, they noticed that it looked very similar to the screens at the casino’s sports book. Computers were displaying betting odds for games of the World Cup 2014 and gambling websites that were illegal in the United States.</p>
<p>The casino contacted the Nevada Gaming Control Board which subsequently determined that the set-up was similar to a “wire room” where illegal wagers are made and monitored, and that Phua and his crew were monitoring the World Cup and betting odds associated with World Cup soccer games in furtherance of operating a gambling business.</p>
<p>Apparently the number 8 wasn’t so lucky after all.</p>
<p>Because over the next month, law enforcement agents worked undercover and began monitoring the activity. On July 9, agents raided the villas where they recovered gambling records, computer equipment, and other items. As agents swarmed the place, Phua was inside villa 8882 watching the semifinal between Argentina and The Netherlands with his son. From the start of the World Cup on June 12 until July 5, the bets allegedly reached a total of HK$2.7 billion.</p>
<p>A week later, Phua, his son, and six others were arrested and charged with one count of unlawful transmission of wagering information and one count of operating an illegal gambling business. If convicted, they face up to two years in prison on the unlawful transmission count and up to five years in prison on the illegal gambling business count, as well as fines on each count of up to $250,000. Both Phua and his son have pleaded not guilty.</p>
<p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triads-overview"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237034063,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237034063?profile=original" width="212" /></a>This isn’t Phua’s first run in with the law.</p>
<p>According to the FBI, Phua (right) is known to be a high ranking member of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triads-overview">14K Triad</a>, an Asian organized crime group originating from Hong Kong. Whether this allegation is true is difficult to confirm, however, one does wonder how Phua was then able to lead such a high profile life of riches in the United States while attending poker tournaments and organizing gambling junkets to Macau for VIPs, something he was so good at that in the first year he raked in turnover of about HK$36.5 billion. Wouldn’t such a member of one of the world’s most notorious Triad gangs be of interest to the FBI? And if so, why did it take an employee from Caesars Palace to sound the alarm?</p>
<p>Especially considering the fact that before this bust, Phua was arrested in Macau, along with more than 20 other individuals, for operating an illegal sport book gambling business transacting illegal bets. Phua posted bail in Macau, was released and arrived in Las Vegas shortly thereafter.</p>
<p>After his arrest, Phua’s influence quickly became apparent as he had famous poker players Phil Ivey, a 10-time World Series of Poker champion who lives in Las Vegas, put up $1 million and Andrew Robl post the other $1.5 million of father and son Phua’s bail.</p>
<p>While his poker buddies were by his side, other friends and business associates had a sudden change of heart about their relationship with Phua. Those junkets he organized to Macau? “Mr Phua has never been an employee nor a junket operator at Wynn,” Wynn Resorts spokesman Michael Weaver wrote to the <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1560119/las-vegas-arrest-snared-worlds-online-gambling-guru-malaysian-paul-phua" target="_blank">South China Morning Post</a>.</p>
<p>And what about his role as San Marino's ambassador to Montenegro which he fulfilled for more than three years? Well, San Marino revoked his diplomatic status faster than you can say “San Marino” after the news of his Las Vegas arrest reached political figures there. Both the Montenegro and San Marino foreign ministries told the <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1561762/us-releases-gambling-kingpin-paul-phua-bail" target="_blank">South China Morning Post</a> that Phua was never even formally recognized as envoy.</p>
<p>When the chips are down you come to realize who truly has your back.</p>
<p>Of course, it’s not that unusual that Phua was able to mingle and do business with the legitimate and political elite. He’s a gambler. He likes to play poker. He likes to bet on a sporting event. Who doesn’t?! Nothing criminal about that, no?</p>
<p>While in Vegas Phua was placing bets using <a href="https://www.sbobet.com/" target="_blank">SBOBet</a>, an online betting platform registered on the Isle of Man, and <a href="http://www.ibcbet.com/Default.aspx" target="_blank">IBCBet</a>, which is based in the Philippines and Phua allegedly “owns” or at the very least is heavily invested in. Neither website is licensed to operate in Nevada.</p>
<p>Illegal gambling in Nevada. It reads like an oxymoron. Yet, it’s very real to Phua right now. While U.S. prosecutors <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2011/04/15/founders-of-worlds-biggest-online-poker-companies-indicted/" target="_blank">shut down</a> online poker in the United States in 2011, European poker players were still able to go all in and cash out. The line between legal and illegal is extremely thin when it comes to gambling. When crime boss <a href="http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/schultz/rackets_3.html" target="_blank">Dutch Schultz</a> ran the lottery it was illegal. When the government busted it and started up its own version it became legal and was promoted on national television to entice people to buy a ticket.</p>
<p>Though illegal gambling finances organized crime and criminal activity, legal gambling can finance banks and various other corrupt and harmful institutions deemed legitimate. The public loses its money either way. The business of gambling is rigged so that the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-truth-behind-movie-classic-casino">casino always wins</a>. And despite Phua’s status elsewhere in the world, in the United States he is not the casino.</p>
<p>UPDATE: Or is he? A judge ruled the FBI's search of Phua's villa unconstitutional after which prosecutors withdrew all charges against him.</p>
<p>The damage was already done. Media around the world, including us at Gangsters Inc., have branded Phua as a Triad member. Something he <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/paul-phua-denies-being-14k-triad-boss-other-allegations">vehemently denies</a>, going so far as offering proof how the FBI came to that conclusion. You can read his explanation at <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/paul-phua-denies-being-14k-triad-boss-other-allegations">PokerNews</a>.</p>
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Profile of Chicago Mafia boss Joseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-joseph-joey-doves
2010-11-19T19:21:09.000Z
2010-11-19T19:21:09.000Z
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<p><br /> By David Amoruso<br /> Posted on July 22, 2007<br /><br /> <img style="float:left;" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236979060,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" />Joseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa was born on December 1, 1907 in Melrose Park. Aiuppa's parents both came from the same village in Italy and had come to the US to find a better life. Joseph Aiuppa was their first child. In 1918 an eleven year old Aiuppa dropped out of school and started working as a gardener. After that he worked several years as a laborer and in 1925 he became a truck driver for Midwest Cartage Company. By now Aiuppa had made some connections to the criminal world. He was linked with John Dillinger and the Alvin Karpis gang. He also hooked up with Al Capone's gang. And was taught the do's and don'ts from Outfit mobster John Moore who was also known as Claude Maddox. In 1930 he bought the Turf Lounge, which would become his headquarters for several decades. Through the years he would buy several more clubs including the Frolics, and the Magic Lounge. He also owned the Towne Hotel in Cicero. Furthermore in 1930 Aiuppa became a partner in the Taylor Company which manufactured gambling equipment.<br /> <br /> By 1935 Aiuppa worked for the Capone mob as an enforcer. He would rise through the ranks and be given the territory of Cicero to run. Mob boss Sam Giancana was overheard on a wiretap expressing his true feelings about his underling, talking to Frank Ferraro: "If Joey Aiuppa comes whining to you tell him to go to hell. He says he's broke. We gave him Cicero. Cicero is a great territory. If he can't make it there he can't make it anywhere."<br /> <br /> Aiuppa got his nickname from an incident in 1962 when he was arrested on the way back from a hunting trip in Kansas with 500 dead doves in his possession. Evidently not an animal lover he was equally vicious when it came to human beings. He was arrested in 1935 on suspicion of assault with intent to kill. Climbing the ranks of the organization once headed by Capone didn't go without leaving a trail of dead bodies. By the time Aiuppa became boss the FBI alleged he amassed a fortune worth millions.<br /> <br /> Aiuppa's chance for the top position in the Chicago Outfit came when Felix Alderisio was convicted of bank fraud and sent to prison in 1971. His underboss was John Cerone. The real power would remain with Antonino Accardo. In the 1970s the Chicago Outfit participated, together with the Kansas City, Milwaukee, and Cleveland La Cosa Nostra Families, in the skimming of five Las Vegas casinos. Four casinos were bought by the Argent Corporation which was headed by Allen Glick. Glick held no real power, he was just a front. Thanks to the connections the mob had inside the Teamster Central States Pension Fund the Argent Corporation was loaned millions of dollars to buy the Stardust, Fremont, Hacienda, and Marina. After the casinos were bought Glick was ordered to install Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal in a management position at Argent. From this position Rosenthal ran the casinos, while Chicago mobster Anthony Spilotro protected the mob's investments from other criminals. The skimming started and things went smoothly. But law enforcement was on their trail and eventually things fell apart. In 1983 Joseph Aiuppa and a host of other gangsters were indicted on charges that they skimmed millions from the four Argent controlled casinos. Three years later Aiuppa was found guilty and sentenced to 28 and a half years in prison and fined $80,000. He was released from prison in January 1996 after serving almost 10 years of a 28 1/2-year sentence on racketeering charges. In February 1997 he died at age 89.</p>
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Profile of Chicago Mafia soldier Anthony "The Ant" Spilotro
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/chicago-soldier-anthony-the
2010-11-19T19:14:24.000Z
2010-11-19T19:14:24.000Z
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<p><br /> By David Amoruso<br /> Posted in 2001<br /><br /> Anthony Spilotro was born on May 19, 1938 in Chicago. Spilotro grew up in a loving family, and seemed to be on track for a decent and honest life. But he decided he wanted something else, and in his sophmore year at Steinmetz Highschool he dropped out and turned to a life of crime. Once out of school he joined forces with other Steinmetz dropouts and engaged in petty crimes, like shoplifting and purse snatching. On January 11, 1955 Spilotro is arrested for the first time, for stealing a shirt. He is fined ten dollars and is put on probation. But after several more arrests Spilotro receives some special attention from the police. By 1960 Spilotro has been arrested thirteen times and he feels he is ready for the next step in his criminal career.<br /> <br /> To get anywhere as a criminal in Chicago you had to be connected to the Outfit, the Chicago Family of La Cosa Nostra. And that's exactly what Spilotro did, he hooked up with Outfit enforcer "Mad" Sam DeStefano. Spilotro starts out as a debt collector for DeStefano but quickly gets involved in bigger crimes. Stay involved with the Mafia long enough and you'll be asked to commit that century old crime: murder. In 1962 Spilotro "makes his bones" in the M&M killings. "Making your bones" means committing a mob ordered murder for the first time. Together with mob hitters DeStefano, Felix Alderisio, and Chuckie Nicoletti, Spilotro tortured criminals Bill McCartney and Jimmy Miraglia. McCartney's head was put in a vice untill his eye popped out. After this gruesome murder Spilotro was considered golden material for the Chicago Outfit. After the M&M murders in 1963 Spilotro became a made guy in the Chicago Outfit and left Mad Sam DeStefano's crew to join Felix Alderisio's crew instead.<br /> <br /> <img style="float:right;" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236976491,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" />Now a member of the Chicago Outfit Spilotro got assigned to a bookmaking territory on the North West Side of Chicago. There he controlled a few dozen bookmakers. In 1964 Spilotro was sent to Miami to work with Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, who was big in sportsbetting. Rosenthal was sent to Miami to control Chicago Outfit interests there, and Spilotro was there to see to it that things ran smoothly and nobody tried to muscle in on their operations. By 1967 Spilotro was back in Chicago fulltime. In 1971 Spilotro is assigned to Las Vegas where he replaces Marshall Caifano. Spilotro sets himself up in the Circus Circus Casino and conducts his business from the gift shop there. Spilotro operated under the name Anthony Stuart, Stuart was his wife's maiden name. The moment Spilotro arrived in Las Vegas he started taking care of lose ends. There were five murders where the victims were tortured before they were killed, and several casino employees were found buried in the desert.<br /> <br /> In September 1972 Spilotro had to come back to Chicago, when he was indicted in the Foreman case. He was indicted along with Mad Sam DeStefano, and his brother Mario DeStefano. Another criminal, named Crimaldi, who was present at the Foreman killing, had flipped and was the star witness. Things looked bad for Spilotro, especially considering Mad Sam's crazy court antics. Spilotro and Mario DeStefano figured that they had a chance of beating the case if they could somehow seperate their case from Mad Sam, and so they decided to take Mad Sam out themselves. In May of 1973 Mario DeStefano and Spilotro set up Mad Sam at his home and murdered him with a shotgun. On May 22, 1973 Mario DeStefano was found guilty and Spilotro was acquitted and went back to Las Vegas. But problems weren't over yet, new indictments were coming. This time Spilotro was indicted together with Joseph Lombardo. Again there was a witness, but that was no problem for Tony and Joey. In September of 1974 they found the witness and blew his head off. Without the witness there was no case and Spilotro and Lombardo were acquitted of all charges. Spilotro went back to Vegas for a final time.<br /> <br /> In Las Vegas he saw to it that the skim from the casinos went as planned and that no other mobsters moved in on their operations. Spilotro worked closely with his old partner Frank Rosenthal who was the boss of the Stardust Casino. But after a few years things started going bad for Spilotro. In 1979 he was added to the Las Vegas black book, an exclusion list which included people that could not set foot in any of the Las Vegas casinos. Spilotro was outraged but it didn't stop him from running his Las Vegas business. Besides the casinos Spilotro also started his own gang named "The Hole In The Wall Gang". This gang was made up out of Spilotro and his brother and their associates. They were called the hole in the wall gang, because when they committed a burglary they would gain entry by making a hole in the wall. This gang was against the Outfit's orders, the Outfit ordered Spilotro to keep quiet, and a gang of thieves wasn't exactly quiet. But the hole in the wall gang wasn't the worst thing Spilotro did. Rumors were floating around that Spilotro was selling drugs and sleeping with the wife of Frank Rosenthal. When word got back to the Outfit bosses, Spilotro's time was up. On June 14, 1986 Spilotro and his brother Michael were summoned to an Outfit meeting. They were beaten with baseball bats, and driven to an Indiana cornfield where they were buried in a shallow grave. And so was the end of one of Las Vegas most notorious mobsters.</p>
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Profile of Chicago Mafia soldier "Mad Sam" Destefano
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/chicago-soldier-mad-sam
2010-11-19T19:12:18.000Z
2010-11-19T19:12:18.000Z
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<p><br /> By David Amoruso<br /> Posted in 2001<br /> <br /> Mad Sam is not that well known to the general public, but his 'student' Tony "The Ant" Spilotro is. Mad Sam taught Tony everything he knew about murder and torture, and Mad Sam knew a lot about that kind of stuff.<br /> <br /> DeStefano grew up in Southern Illinois and moved to Chicago when he was a teenager. He officially began his criminal career in 1927 when at the age of 18 he raped a girl and was convicted of that crime. Later he got convictions for assault with a deadly weapon, bank robbery, extortion, and possession of counterfeit stamps.<br /> <br /> After a while DeStefano became involved with Sam "Momo" Giancana's West Side "42 Gang", a gang which was made up of an assortment of vicious thugs and bootleggers. By the 1960s DeStefano had moved up the ranks, going from petty hoodlum to a major force in Chicago's loan sharking and drug trafficking rackets. Alongh with his brother Mario Anthony, DeStefano succeeded in bringing to Chicago what has become known as "The juice loan": a loansharking operation in which violence is used to force payments from debtors.<br /> <br /> Eventhough most of the "42 Gang" became top mobsters in the Chicago mob DeStefano never climbed the ranks. He was too unstable for any top position in the Chicago Mafia, but they still had use for him though....especially notorious mob bosses Sam "Momo" Giancana and Paul "the Waiter" Ricca had much use for him. DeStefano became known as a stonecold executioner and a peerless loan collector. He was known to collect a variety of instruments of torture in his basement, but his favorite tool was the icepick. DeStefano used ice picks to stab his victims in the throat, testicles and torso, either to squeeze payments out of them or as foreplay to murder.<br /> <br /> Now I've told you about Sam and his tools, I told you he was notorious I think now it's time to tell you some of those stories that made Sam earn the nickname Mad Sam and made him the most deranged, sick, notorious and feared hitman in the history of the Chicago Mafia.<br /> <br /> Sam DeStefano lived in a nice far west side suburb of Chicago with his wife and three children, he looked everything like the normal family man. But that's because people couldn't look in his basement, if they had looked there they probably wouldn't live to tell the story. Sam DeStefano's basement was where Sam turned into Mad Sam and tortured and killed his victims. Sam's basement was soundproof and had all the torture tools a hitman needs. One of DeStefano's victims was Artie Adler, a local restaurant owner who had been late on juice payments. One week Adler couldn't pay and was brought to Sam's basement. Sam went to work with the ice pick and Adler had a heart attack. The body was dumped into a sewer near North Sayre and Harlem on the far west side and there it stayed, in the frozen winter waters of the sewer until the spring thaw. The Department of Sanitation got a call in the spring about a backed up sewer and that's when Adlers perfectly preserved corpse was discorved.<br /> <br /> Not all of Sam's victims went out of the basement dead, some like Peter Cappelletti, were just humiliated and tortured. One time, Cappelletti tried to run off with $25.000,00 he owed Sam. Cappelletti was caught and brought to Mario DeStefano's restaurant Cicero. The poor guy was stripped naked and handcuffed to a boiling radiator. Tied to the radiator Cappelletti was beaten and tortured by Sam for 3 full days. On the night of the 3rd day DeStefano phoned the guys family and invited them all to a luxurious dinner at the restaurant in the man's honor. That Saturday, the whole family (of Cappelletti) turned up at Mario's place and were given a multi course Italian dinner. The guest of honor was not there at the table but Sam assured the family that he would be joining them soon. Once the meal was finished, the naked and severely burned man was brought in front of his family and thrown at the feet of his mother. According which story you believe the outcome is the same, Cappelletti got urinated on, either by his family who were forced by Sam, or by Sam himself but like I said the outcome was the same. Sam let Cappelletti live, after Cappelletti promised to make things right, and made him an example to others who thought they could steal from him.<br /> <br /> When Sam Giancana ordered the hit of DeStefano's younger brother Michael, Sam carried out the hit with no second thoughts. When questioned about the 1955 murder, DeStefano refused to answer any questions, instead he was giggling uncontrollably. When investigators tried repeating their questions DeStefano only laughed harder. Perhaps more strangely, Michael DeStefano was a drug addict, a fact that seemed to pain the remorseless hit man to no end. After completing the murder with Mario Anthony DeStefano's assistance, Sam DeStefano took great pains to cleanse his brother's corpse in order to remove any traces of the drugs before abandoning the body in the trunk of a car.<br /> <br /> Tony SpilotroAnd then there was the hit of Leo Foreman. Leo Foreman led a dubble life being a legit real estate agent on the one hand and a mob juice loan collector on the other. Foreman collected juice for DeStefano, one day in November 1963, DeStefano paid a visit to Foreman's real estate offices and Sam started an argument. The quarrel ended with Foreman throwing Sam out. Foreman was later lured to the Cicero home of Sam's brother Mario by Tony Spilotro and Chuckie Crimaldi. Foreman went because he was told that Sam wanted to kiss and make up for the ealier argument. Once in the house Leo Foreman was coaxed into the basement where he was grabbed and tied up by Spilotro (picture on the left), Mario DeStefano and Crimaldi. The 3 then proceeded to beat up Foreman, soften him up a bit before Sam would get there. Foreman was beaten with a hammer on his knees and beaten about the head, ribs and crotch. Sam applied his normal technique with his icq pick stabbing Leo 20 times. They tortured him in a certain way so that it would hurt but not kill Foreman. When Foreman had been sufficiently wounded, a pajama-clad DeStefano glided from a nearby bedroom, laughing at the wounded man. According to Crimaldi, who later turned government witness, DeStefano screamed and giggled as he admonished Foreman, saying, "I told you I'd get you. Greed got you killed!". Foreman pleaded for his life as DeStefano shot him repeatedly in the buttocks. DeStefano and his crew watched Foreman bleed and whimper for awhile before torturing him to death with a butcher knife. Far from letting a death spoil their party, DeStefano and the boys then took turns excising chunks of flesh from Foreman's arms.<br /> <br /> Eventually the madness of Mad Sam that was of such good use for the Outfit became too mad and fell out of favor. When Sam DeStefano was called to testify in court, he would often demand to speak through a bullhorn. He often acted as his own attorney, and his courtroom antics included appearing in pajamas, arriving on a stretcher, and longwinded rants in which he would attempt to discredit investigators by accusing them of colluding with Joseph Stalin. In 1972, the FBI turned Chuckie Crimaldi. Tony Spilotro and the DeStefano brothers Mario and Sam were indicted for the murder of Leo Forman on the evidence given by Crimaldi. The three of them were incarcerated pending the trial which was set for May 1973. At the pre-trial, Sam DeStefano made a circus of the proceedings, acting as his own attorney. Sam began to alienate the judge and jury. Making the trial such a high profile media event was an obvious mistake. It would be very hard to influence the judge and jury with bribes or other forms of corruption if the trial was front page news. So, Mario and Spilotro devised a plan to keep Sam quiet - for good.<br /> <br /> Mario and Tony went to Sam telling him that they had located the safe house where Chuckie Crimaldi was being held by the authorities. Sam was ecstatic. What fun he would have exacting revenge on Crimaldi the stool pigeon. Mario and Tony told Sam that the guards covering Crimaldi had been bribed to turn their backs that Saturday and the three of them could whack Chuckie there and then. It was all set. Saturday came around and Sam was out in his garage at his home. Mario came up the driveway followed closely by Tony Spilotro. As the three got to within a few feet of each other, Mario stepped aside and Spilotro pulled out a double barreled shot gun he had been hiding. Spilotro fired both barrels in quick succession, the first shot removed Mad Sam's arm and the second hit him with full force in the chest. Sam was dead before he hit the ground. On April 14th, 1973 "Mad Sam" was no longer but his skills were past on to Tony "The Ant" Spilotro (who was acquitted in the Foreman murder trial) who would use it whenever he needed to.</p>
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The Message: Don’t Fuck With Antonino Accardo
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-message-dont-fuck-with
2010-11-10T18:00:00.000Z
2010-11-10T18:00:00.000Z
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<div><p>By David Amoruso<br /> Posted on March 13, 2010<br /> Originally written for Mob Candy Magazine<br /> <br /> <img style="float:right;" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236977882,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" />It was 1951. The Italian-American Mafia, known as La Cosa Nostra, was doing great. Throughout the United States the mob held sway. From the East coast all the way to the West coast, and everything in between was controlled by twenty-some mob families.<br /> <br /> But not all families were equal. The five New York families and the Chicago family, known as The Outfit, held the most power. But where the five New York families had to compete for criminal talent, and fight over territory, Chicago had no such problems.<br /> <br /> Well, there were some problems. During the days of Al Capone there was some competition, but they were dealt with in violent fashion. And by the 1940s, the "Capone mob" controlled Chicago.<br /> <br /> By the late 1940s the "Capone mob" was called The Outfit, and was run by Antonino "Joe Batters" Accardo (photo right). He had acquired his nickname during his days as an enforcer for Al Capone. Accardo had smashed the skulls of two men with a baseball bat, an act that impressed his superiors, Capone allegedly said: "This boy is a real Joe Batters."<br /> <br /> Accardo would turn out to be a much sharper boss than the man who made him a member at age twenty. One reporter wrote: "Accardo has more brains for breakfast than Al Capone ever had all day." He ran a tight ship. Under his leadership The Outfit forbode its members to deal drugs, and unlike in other cities, the rule was enforced. Several drug dealers turned up dead, sending a clear message to others looking to make a quick buck. Accardo didn't need the money the drugs provided, he had enough. Matter of fact, in 1951 he had just bought his dream house.<br /> <br /> The Accardo family had for years lived in a modest ranch house at 1431 Ashland Avenue in the Chicago suburb of River Forest. The house did not attract any attention, which was a good thing, but at some point Accardo must've asked himself why he didn't enjoy his hard earned millions. What's the use of risking your life, when you can't enjoy the wealth that comes with it?<br /> <br /> And so he bought a twenty-two room mansion at 915 Franklin Avenue for $125,000. The house was built by a millionaire manufacturer in 1930 for $500.000. Needless to say, Accardo bought the house for a very nice price.<br /> <br /> The house included high vaulted rooms, an indoor pool, a gun and trophy room, a pipe organ, a walk in safe, wood spiral staircases, carriage and guest houses on the backyard half acre. It was surrounded by a seven-foot-high wrought iron fence and two electrically controlled gates. After moving in, Accardo added a $10,000 black onyx bathtub and an indoor, two-lane bowling alley. He had the plumbing refitted with gold fixtures and added a massive barbecue pit to the backyard. For the Outfit leader the house was a way of showing Chicago he was top dog, and had the wealth to prove it.<br /> <br /> By the late 1970s he had stepped back, letting others do the work and take the heat. But he was still available for advice. By all accounts he still was the most powerful mobster in Chicago, and thus a good man to have as a friend.<br /> <br /> Harry Levinson was one of those men who could call Antonino Accardo a friend. Levinson had a successful jewelry store on North Clark Street. When he went to work one morning he found his store in a mess. He had been robbed of over $1 million in jewelry. He called 911 straight away. When the cops arrived they told Levinson that the thieves had done a superb job, leaving no traces. But they would do their best in finding them. Of course this didn't sound reassuring to Levinson. He knew he wouldn't get his jewelry back even if the burglars were caught. So he decided to call his friend Joe Batters.<br /> <br /> <img style="float:left;" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236977072,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" />Levinson explained his problem to Accardo, who told him not to worry. A call was made to Las Vegas where The Outfit's Anthony Spilotro (photo left) protected the mob's casino skimming operations. Spilotro had been a burglar and knew the Chicago scene. He was asked if he knew who could've pulled off such a heist. Spilotro knew just the man, and pointed them to John Mendell. Shortly thereafter the entire loot was returned to Levinson.<br /> <br /> In January of 1978 Accardo and his wife Clarice went to their condo in Indian Wells, to enjoy the sun, entrusting their house to long time friend Michael Volpe. But their holiday would be short lived. On January 9 they received a call from Volpe who told them someone had broken into their home. Nothing had been stolen but the house had been ransacked. This burglary was a personal insult to Accardo, no doubt about it. Someone was mocking him and it didn’t take long for Accardo to find out which burglars might have an issue with him. The thing is, Accardo wasn't the type of guy you made fun of, and the burglars would find out...very soon.<br /> <br /> Las Vegas enforcer Anthony Spilotro was called back to Chicago to oversee this piece of business. On January 20 police found the body of Bernie Ryan. His throat had been slashed from ear to ear and he had been shot four times. Ryan was a known burglar, and when police discovered his body he had a police scanner on him, which is used by a lot of burglars to monitor police activity. Then, a known associate of Ryan was found dead. Steven Garcia's throat had also been slashed from ear to ear, but instead of being shot, Garcia had multiple stab wounds.<br /> <br /> The next to turn up dead were Vincent Moretti and Donald Swanson. Moretti had been badly tortured, presumably because he was Italian and was expected to know better than break into the home of the boss. Moretti had been castrated and disemboweled. His face had been burned off with an acetylene torch. And he and Swanson also had their throats slashed. On February 20 police discovered the body of John Mendell, the man who could defeat most burglar alarms and who was believed to be the mastermind behind the burglary had also been tortured before his throat had been slashed.<br /> <br /> It seemed as if the group of burglars who were responsible for the grave insult had all been dealt with, but Accardo wasn't finished. John McDonald was found on April 14, his throat slashed and he was shot in the head and neck. On April 26 Bobby Hertogs was found with his throat cut and his body riddled with bullet holes. Hetogs was the final member of the crew of burglars who could have been or were involved in the burglary of Accardo's home. But the bodies kept dropping.<br /> <br /> <img style="float:right;" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236981060,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" />In September of 1978 a federal grand jury held hearings regarding this situation. Accardo was called to testify, but he took the fifth and revealed nothing. Then Michael Volpe, the man responsible for watching the house, was called to testify. He spent a lot of time before the grand jury. Too much time. On October 5 his family reported him missing, and he hasn't been seen since.<br /> <br /> The heat on Accardo intensified after that when the FBI searched his house and found $275,000, with some money bundles wrapped in bank wrappers from the Valley Bank in Las Vegas. Accardo must've been worried. He had to eliminate two more men, men who could tie him to the killings of the burglars. In 1979 two Chicago Outfit mobsters were murdered. John Borsellino and Gerry Carusiello had taken care of the burglars and had now themselves been taken care of. No more ties to Accardo. The $275,000 seized in the raid on Accardo's home was later returned to him. He never did any jail time in connection to these killings. Interestingly he never spent a night in jail in his entire life. He died of heart failure at Chicago’s St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital on May 27, 1992 at age 86. </p>
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Profile of Triad boss Wan Kuok-Koi a.k.a. "Broken Tooth"
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/triad-boss-wan-kuokkoi-aka
2010-11-03T17:30:00.000Z
2010-11-03T17:30:00.000Z
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<div><p style="text-align:left;"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236984275,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /><br /> By David Amoruso<br /> Posted February 5, 2007 <strong>(updated in December 2012)</strong><br /><br /> Until December 1999, Macau was under Portugese rule. During that time gambling was legalized, making it a casino state in Asia. It became known as the "Monte Carlo of the Orient". The gambling industry yields big profits and so there are loopholes for loan sharking, prostitution and other kinds of organized crime. <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triads-overview">The Triads</a> saw the possibilities, and got involved. Two years before the change from Portugese to Chinese rule several Triads were fighting for control of the Macau rackets.<br /> <br /> One of the most notorious, and famous, participants in that fight for Macau was Wan Kuok-koi, a.k.a. “Broken Tooth.” Wan Kuok-koi is a leader, or Shan Chu, of the 14K triad. In 1987 Ng Wai came to Macau. Wai was a senior 14K member and together with Kuok-koi, he ousted their leader Ping Mo-ding. As time passed Kuok-koi’s power and influence grew, and Wai considered him a threat. The two men fell out, and Wai ordered an attack on Kuok-koi’s men. Kuok-koi hit back, and an internal war errupted. Kuok-koi had ammassed enough influence and won, taking over Wai’s rackets, which earned him an estimated $6 million a month.<br /> <br /> In May 1998 Kuok-koi was arrested. When police came to arrest him, Kuok-koi was watching a movie he himself had produced, titled Casino. Kuok-koi was involved in every level of production of the gangster film. The lead role is played by Simon Yam Tat-wah whos brother is head of the Hong Kong Police Tactical Unit and one-time commander of the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau.<br /> <br /> Kuok-koi pleaded not guilty. He said he was just another businessman who had nothing to do with the 14K Triad. He declared himself a bona fide gaming chip trader, a high-stakes gambler and real estate investor. The prosecution lined up some 50 witnesses against Kuok-koi. It also cited a string of media interviews Wan gave in the mid-1990s, in which he allegedly declared himself a leader of the main 14K triad gang.<br /> <br /> In November 1999 Kuok-koi, his brother, and seven others were found guilty of criminal association, loan-sharking and illegal gambling. Kuok-koi was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Upon hearing the verdict all men shouted out curses, also accusing police of corruption.<br /> <br /> Wearing a white T-shirt, Wan Kuok-koi walked out of Coloane prison in Macau as he smiled at reporters. Now aged 57, he has served over fourteen years there under a maximum security regime and, according to his lawyer, received no special privileges. Kuok-Koi was picked up by two men, one reported to be his brother, in a white Lexus early on Saturday, December 1, 2012.<br /> <br /> There is much speculation about what the crime boss will do next. Macau has changed significantly since the days he ruled the island as leader of the 14K Triad. Pedro Leal, one of Kuok-koi's lawyers, told the <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1094692/gangster-broken-tooth-wan-kuok-koi-wants-quiet-post-prison-life" target="_blank">South China Morning Post</a>: "The only thing he wants is for people to forget him. In recent weeks he's been on the cover of many magazines and they've all talked about his past. All he wants is to be left in peace. He's going to lead a quiet life from now on."</p>
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