Larry Henry, Mob Museum Blogger on Nicholas Pileggi
Interview with Mob Museum The Mob in Popular Culture blogger Larry Henry. Gary and Larry Henry discuss the film Casino and the work of Nichols Pileggi.
Apr 11, 2020
Gangland Wire
Gangland Wire Crime Stories is a unique true crime podcast. The host, Gary Jenkins, is a former Kansas City Police Intelligence Unit Detective. Gary uses his experience to give insigtful twists on famous organized characters across the United States. He tells crime stories from his own career and invites former FBI agents, police officers and criminals to educate and entertain listeners.
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Episodes
Too Politically Sensitive
In this podcast, our guest Lieutenant (Ret) Michale Callahan tells how the Illinois State Police assigned him to review a murder investigation after they learned that the television show Dateline was doing a show that will allege the defendants were wrongfully prosecuted. Lt. Calahan’s assignment will lead to the court overturning two murder convictions and free one of these men from Death Row. He tells how an embarrassed Illinois State Police hierarchy will impede and hound him into retirement....
Apr 08, 2020
Pizza Connection Episode 4 – the Investigation
The Bonanno Family and drug smuggling In 1972, the Bonanno War is over, Joe and Bill Bonanno are out in Arizona. The Commission appoints Phil “Rusty”Rastelli the new boss of the Bonano crime family. Carmine Galante, the old Bonanno Consigliore completes a long prison sentence and returns to New York. Carmine Galante was at the original 1957 meeting in Sicily with Joe Bonanno, Lucky Luciano and members of the Sicilian mafia, among who were Gaetano Badalamenti and Tomasso Buscetta. During the 1960...
Apr 06, 2020
Pizza Connection Episode 3 – FBI Retired Agent Leon Flosi
Agent Leon Flosi and Giovanni Falcone In this third episode of the Pizza Connection story, I interviewed retired FBI agent Leon Flosi about Judge Giovanni Falcone and the Sicilian mafia. Agent Flosi was originally assigned to the Kansas City office where I became acquainted with him. He played an important part in the Strawman case in which he and Agent Bill Ouseley started the case that exposed how the mob’s infiltration of the Teamster’s Union led to their scheme to skim millions from Las Vega...
Apr 03, 2020
Pizza Connection Episode 2 – Tommaso Bruscetta
Tommaso Buscetta documentary Welcome Wiretappers to episode 2 of this Pizza Connection series. In this episode, Cam and I take a look at the famous Sicilian mafia boss Tommaso Buscetta. He is the subject of a documentary available on Amazon Prime called Our Godfather and I inserted the trailer for this film below. He is also the subject of a recently released narrative film titled the Traitor and the preview is inserted below. Buscetta and smuggling Tommaso Buscetta was a flamboyant mafia kingpi...
Mar 30, 2020
Pizza Connection Episode 1 – The Beginning
Pizza Connection: the biggest case against the mafia Welcome Wiretappers, Cam and I welcome you to the first of a 4-part series on the famous Pizza Connection investigation. Because this case was so intertwined with the Sicilian Mafia and the American Mafia, we start with a little history of the Mafia in Sicily. We know this is by no means comprehensive but it is an overview of that legacy. The Pizza Connection case will be a major blow against the Mafia in Sicily. The Sicilian Mafia before WW I...
Mar 27, 2020
Special Bonus episodes coming soon
Your host, Gary Jenkins and Camulius Robinson want you to know that we are well and still making podcasts like crazy. Cam and I are going to release several in the next week to help entertain all the wiretappers during this time of crisis. After a lifetime of running into the breach where the public was in danger, I feel like doing a few extra podcasts and releasing them is the least I can do. Please disregard all the requests for donations inserted into these because we are good here and during...
Mar 25, 2020
Michael O’Keefe on creating crime fiction
Michael O’Keefe is a retired 1st Grade Detective from the NYPD. For twenty-four years, he worked in the toughest neighborhoods in New York, specializing in investigating Homicides and other violent crimes. He was born and raised on the mean streets described in his fiction. His characters and settings are drawn from the people he encountered there—on both sides of the law. oOf interest to the podcast is the fact he was raised around the men who would become involved in the Pizza Connection case ...
Mar 23, 2020
The Utica New York Crime Family
Cam and I discuss a little-known mafia family in upstate New York. From 1970 to 1992, Salvatore and Joseph Falcone led organized crime in Utica, NY. This family went back to the late 1930s. They were a powerful crew of the Buffalo, NY Maggadino Family, also known as The Arm. The New York State troopers arrested both men at the Apalachin Meeting in 1957. This crew was made up of approximately 15-20 “made” members. the famous witness, Joseph Valachi, claimed they were a separate family but it is m...
Mar 16, 2020
Wearing a Wire on Steve St. John Bonus episode
Our Venmo subscribers are responsible for this special bonus episode that I call “Wearing a Wire on Steve St. John.” If you don’t who Steve is, I once helped a new FBI agent on a drug case by doing surveillance on Steve in 1991. The FBI was working on Steve because they had an informant tell them that Steve had a connection to get Dilaudid and was supplying several street dealers. We worked Steve because he was known to be connected to several mob members in Kansas City. Mainly, we wanted to tur...
Mar 11, 2020
Undercover State Trooper and the KC Mob
In this episode, the host, Gary Jenkins, interviews retired Missouri State Trooper Tom Gray about his months-long undercover investigation of Kansas City Mafia figures who were buying stolen property. The main target was a man named James H. Bradley Jr. or “Junior” as he was known. Because he operated a popular restaurant across the street from City Hall and Police Headquarters, a Kansas City cop would not be able to operate undercover. A police major had obtained the cooperation of the courts, ...
Mar 09, 2020
John “Sonny” Franzese died at 103
Sonny Franzese came up the usual path to the life of a career criminal and Cosa Nostra boss. He started as a Brooklyn member of a juvenile gang and slowly graduated through Prohibition to become a member of the Profaci family. He was court-martialed during WW 2 and it was reported he exhibited “homicidal tendencies” In 1965 the FBI labeled him the most prominent loan shark in the Greater New York area. He became a modern-day celebrity mobster who was often seen at the famous Copacabana club in t...
Feb 27, 2020
Montreal Mafia Part 2
In this second episode Gary and Cam go into the reason why Vito Rizzuto was charged in the famous murder of the three Capos in New York City. This story is a great example of how no good deed goes unpunished. During upheaval in the Bonanno family, a Bonanno Capo named Joe Messino gets approval from the Commission to remove three opposing Capos in his family to clear the way for him to become the new boss. Messino calls on Vito Rizzuto to help with this hit. Unbeknownst to Rizzuto, this same Joe ...
Feb 24, 2020
Montreal Mafia Part 1
After watching the Netflix series Bad Blood, Gary and Camulius Robinson take on the Rizzuto crime family and the Montreal Mafia. We believe because of the lack of prohibition, the Canadian mafia was not as fast-growing and organized as the American crime families. Nevertheless, they are a very interesting crime family that grew and prospered because of the personal drive and charisma of Vito Rizzuto. To go to the store or make a donation click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the document...
Feb 17, 2020
Frank Costello with Casey McBride
Host Gary Jenkins interviews fellow mob historian and expert on the life of Frank Costello, the Prime Minister of the Underworld. Casey is also a musician and he had created several original music compositions to be used in the podcast and the recently released mob documentary film, Brothers against Brothers” The Civella Spero War. In this episode, Casey and Gary discuss the use of Frank Costello in the recent Starz series, The Godfather of Harlem with Forrest Whitaker. Casey will get back to tr...
Feb 10, 2020
Lucky Luciano and the Dannemora Priest
In this first of 2 episodes about Lucky Luciano, Gary tells a story about Lucky Luciano and the Dannemora priest. In 1936, the politically ambitious mob busting special prosecutor Thomas Dewey obtained a guilty verdict against Charles, “Lucky” Luciano for compulsory prostitution or for being a pimp. The state sent him to the Dannemora prison or Little Siberia which is as far away from New York City as possible. He arrived at Dannemora prison as just one more downstate inmate, a long fall from be...
Jan 27, 2020
The Leavenworth 7
After a few shows about John Gotti, this week, Gangland Wire will go to a 1930s story about a Leavenworth prison break that went wrong for both the prisoners and the town of Leavenworth. I interviewed former Leavenworth prison guard and prison historian Kenneth LeMaster. Kenneth tells the story of how prisoners behind the walls were aided by notorious bank robbers Frank “Jelly” Nash and George “Machine Gun” Kelly to facilitate a mass escape of seven desperate inmates. On December 11, 1931, chaos...
Jan 20, 2020
Kill the Irishman
Gary and his social media marketer, Basel Tarabishi, discuss the mob film Kill the Irishman. We both loved this modestly budgeted film because the screenwriter constructed a tight script with colorful characters without making them into cartoon characters. This film tells the real story of a 1970s mob war involving an old line but little known mob family in Cleveland Ohio. Gary compared this mob dispute in Cleveland with the 1970s mob dispute in Kansas City which is the topic of his latest film,...
Jan 17, 2020
The Future of the Gambino/Gotti Family
Happy New Year Wiretappers! In anticipation of a special Newsmax television special on John Gotti, Gangland Wire researched the most recent information on who might be the new leadership group of the former Gambino/Gotti crime family. Well known former Fox and Friends anchor, Greg Kelly. will interview your Gangland Wire host Gary Jenkins about organized crime on this live show that Newsmax will broadcast on January 16, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM CST. To go to the store or make a donation click here T...
Jan 13, 2020
John Gotti and the Informant part 2
Merry Christmas Wiretappers! In part 2, I interview Steve St. John, a former prison inmate who served time with retired New York Police Detective William Priest who was an informant for John Gotti. I recently reacquainted myself with Steve St. John after a mutual acquaintance told me he had gone straight and was asking questions about some of the officers and agents who worked on his case. I was the sergeant in charge of a surveillance team who helped the FBI build a case against Steve for tradi...
Dec 30, 2019
John Gotti and the Informant Part 1
This case starts with the FBI taping members of Gambino Capo John Gottis’s Bergen Hunt and Fish Club crew. This included his brother Gene Gotti and his good friend Angelo Ruggerio along with John Carneglia. Ruggerio was the main target and the Bureau uncovered their multi-million dollar a year heroin distribution ring. Additionally, Ruggerio was a big mouth who talked incessantly about everything. He even bad-mouthed his friend and boss, John Gotti. Even though when Ruggerio was with John Gotti,...
Dec 25, 2019
Merry Christmas Wiretappers
Myself, Cam Robinson, Larry Henry, Bill Ouseley, Casey McBride, Synova Cantrell, and all the staff here at Gangland Wire Crime Stories wish all our friends a very happy Holiday season. I am off for Texas where I hope it is a bit warmer. It makes me wonder, is there any organized crime in Texas? Well, we will have to explore that someday in the future. As my Chrismas gift to the Wiretappers, I have recorded 2 episodes with a previously unknown little story about the Gotti crime family. This is th...
Dec 24, 2019
Mob Town with Larry Henry
Retired police Intelligence Unit detective Gary Jenkins interviews Mob Museum blogger Larry Henry about his special pre-screening of the newest mob film, Mob Town. Larry reports this film has many comedic moments. The film’s director and writers tell the story of how a New York State Trooper, Edgar Croswell, discovered a meeting of mob chieftains from every major American city on Nov. 14, 1957. This film has some star power with David Arquette starring as Sergeant Edgar Croswell, Danny A. Abecka...
Dec 23, 2019
Gangland Wire Reviews The Irishman
In this episode, Cam Robinson and I give our thoughts on the recent Scorsese movie about the murder of James Riddle Hoffa, The Irishman. Neither of us believes Frank Sheerhan. We would like to think that he was the Forrest Gump of the 1960s and 1970s mob hits, but Lee Harvey Oswald, Bay of Pigs, Allen Dorfman and Joey Gallo? Too much for us. But listen and decide for yourself. To go to the store or make a donation click here To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To subscribe on iTun...
Dec 16, 2019
Brothers against Brothers: The Civella-Spero War
Hey all you Wiretappers, As you may know, I recently finished my second documentary film Brothers against Brothers on the Kansas City crime family. In this film, Brothers against Brothers, I examine a mob war that pitted KC Mob boss, Nick Civella and his brother Carl “Cork” Civella against four “young turks” Nick, Mike, Joe, and Carl Spero. I have it for sale on my Website shop page and I offer it as a reward for any donation of $25.00 or more to the show. But for the small amount of $1.99 you c...
Dec 04, 2019
Unfound Missing Mobsters
Don’t forget to hit me up on Venmo. Recently, I was a guest on the podcast Unfound. The host of this show researches stories about people who went missing and have never been found. He contacted me to ask about mob guys who went missing and were never found. In this episode which is actually the Unfound show produced on my stream, I tell about a couple of Kansas City mobsters who went missing and were never found. Jimmy Towles was a career criminal who worked in a gang of jewel thieves who were ...
Dec 02, 2019
The LaStella Restaurant Incident
Welcome Wiretappers, don’t forget to hit me up on the venmo app and buy me a cup of coffee. First, I must warn you I had some sound problems, and Cam’s voice sounds like he is on the phone. In the last of this 4 episode series on Mob meetings, Cam Robinson and I look into the “Little Apalachin” meeting in 1966. In 1966, MYC police arrested thirteen members of organized crime a Queens NY Italian restaurant called the LaStella. The arrested Carlo Gambino, head of the crime family that bears his na...
Nov 27, 2019
Apalachin Meeting: Rounding up the Mobsters Part 2
In Part 2, I discuss what happened during and after this famous raid. Don’t forget to buy me a shot and a beer on your Venmo app at ganglandwire. Edgar Croswell was a detective sergeant in the New York State Police. He had some problems with a resident named Joseph Barbara Sr. Sgt. Croswell had done an extensive background check on Barbara and paid close attention to the Barbara estate. Croswell was in a good place to do this because he worked as an investigator for the State Criminal Investigat...
Nov 14, 2019
Apalachin Meeting Part 1
Don’t forget to buy me a cup of coffee on your venmo app at ganglandwire. This is the first of a two-part series on the now-famous Apalachin meeting, and I got my good friend retired K-9 Sergeant Cate Kozalto sit in on the show. If you want to learn more about Cate, check out my YouTube channel and see our motorcycle tour of Bonnie and Clyde sites from Iowa to Louisana. There are lots of questions out there about the famous Apalachin meeting. I have heard every rumor and speculation possible. Ka...
Nov 11, 2019
Mob Meeting in Philadelphia – November is Mob Meeting month
Wiretappers, this is the first of a 4 part series on mob meetings. Since November 14 is the 62nd anniversary of the famous Apalachin meeting in upstate New York, I decided to focus on mob meetings in November. Next week, I will release 2 episodes on the Apalachin meeting. The Chicago Tribune reported that sometime in 1979, representatives of the Outfit traveled top Philadelphia to discuss the new gambling mecca in Atlantic City and Las Vegas casinos. At the meeting, they reported that the Outfit...
Nov 07, 2019
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