The Mob and Boxing with Jeffrey Sussman Jeffrey Sussman is the author of 15 non-fiction books including the subject of this podcast, Boxing and the Mob: The Notorious History of the Sweet Science. Recently, Gangland Wire interviewed him about Murder Inc. taken from his popular book, Big Apple Gangsters: The Rise and Decline of the Mob in New York. Mr. Sussman has a long interest in the sport of boxing and he has several books about this checkered history. In this podcast, Gary interviews him abo...
May 24, 2021
David Bowman and Las Vegas Metro Intelligence David Bowman is one of the unsung heroes in law enforcement’s battle for Las Vegas with the imported Chicago outfit mobsters, Tony Spilotro, Frank Cullotta, Larry Neuman, and many others. He tells about getting into the drug business at an early age. It is pretty obvious that David Bowman is not a hardened career criminal and went to the wrong side of the law because of the incredible opportunity that the illegal narcotics trade provided. During this...
May 17, 2021
Buford Pusser True Crime author and blogger Synova Cantrell tells the true story behind the murder of Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser. The well-known Walking Tall movies depict the story of this tough southern named Sheriff Buford Pusser and his fight with the State Line Mafia or more [popularly known as the Dixie Mafia. Actors like Joe Don Baker, Bo Svenson, and, in the most recent remake, “Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson have portrayed this modern-day Wyatt Earp as he took a stand against this south...
May 10, 2021
Ray Morrow – His Path to Undercover Work Retired F.B.I. agent Ray Morrow Ray Anthony Morrow grew up in Aliquippa, PA. He followed the proper path toward a career in law enforcement. He graduated from Penn State University with a B.S. Degree in Law Enforcement & Corrections/ Behavioral Science. His first job was with the Federal Bureau of Investigation where they hired him to be a File Clerk in the FBI’s Identification Division. As soon as he was old enough, he obtained an appointment from th...
May 03, 2021
Michael Mikey Scars DiLeonardo This is a re-release of an interview I did last year but it must be listened to again or maybe for the first time. I was able to make contact with Mikey Scars DiLeonardo via telephone. This is a the second of a two part re-release of my first interview. Michael is a relocated federal witness in WitSec or Witness Protection. Mikey Scars is a Mafia legacy because his Sicilian-born grandfather, Vincenzo DiLeonardo, was a captain in the Brooklyn faction run by Salvator...
Apr 26, 2021
Michael DiLeonardo This is a re-release of an interview I did last year but it must be listened to again or maybe for the first time. I was able to make contact with Michael “Mikey Scars” DiLeonardo via telephone. Michael is a relocated federal witness in WitSec or Witness Protection. Michael DiLeonardo was a real mafia legacy in that his Sicilian-born grandfather, Vincenzo DiLeonardo, was a captain in the Brooklyn faction run by Salvatore D’Aquila who was the boss of bosses at that time. Mikey ...
Apr 19, 2021
John Pennisi John Pennisi is the interview subject. A very unusual former mobster. john Pennisi writes a regular blog titled Sitdown News (click to find this). He has become an accomplished author as he creates a new life outside his former life as a soldier in the Lucchese crime family. John Pennisi and Staten Island The Lucchese crime family has held a strong presence on Staten Island for many years. John Pennisi tells Gary how he was actually a member of the Brooklyn facion of the Lucchese fa...
Apr 12, 2021
Paul Ricca – the beginnings In this episode, Gary examines the life of a young Italian immigrant named Paul Ricca who started his mob career with murder. He fled to Cuba in 1920. Once safely in Cuba, Ricca had the good fortune to meet a member of the Camorra mafia named Giuseppe Esposito who was known as “Diamond Joe” and a well-known leader in Chicago’s bootlegging business. Diamond Joe was just beginning to form a bootlegging gang and had joined with Sam Giancana and his Chicago street gang kn...
Apr 06, 2021
Russell Shorto -Johnstown Mob Gary interviews the author of Smalltime: A story of My Family and the Mob. Mr. Shorto is the namesake and grandson of Johnstown Mafia gambler and long-time close associate of Youngstown Pennsylvania boss, Joseph (Little Joe Ragno) Regino. The grandson, Russell Sorto grew up knowing there was something dark and mysterious about his grandfather but the family never talked about this. As an adult, Mr. Shorto has become a successful author of non-fiction books. But, not...
Mar 29, 2021
Anthony Celano Retired Intelligence Detective Gary interviews a crime-mystery writer Anthony Celano. He is a retired New York City Police Department Intelligence Detective. Gary and Tony had very similar careers and this episode is like a couple of old friends who worked the mob telling war stories. He tells the greatest story about a confrontation he had with John Gotti when he was sitting surveillance on his house Anthony Celano Mystery-Writer Tony Celano started his Sgt. Markie series in 2019...
Mar 22, 2021
Abe Reles: A Brotherhood Betrayed Gary interviews Michael Cannell, the author of four non-fiction books and former sportswriter and editor for the New York Times. His most recent book, A Brotherhood betrayed: The man Behind the Rise and Fall of Murder Inc. tells the story of Murderer Incorporated’s most prolific killer, Abe Reles. The feared Albert Anastasia had turned to a group of young ambitious Jewish gangsters to carry out murders for the Mafia. They were so feared by other gangsters and th...
Mar 15, 2021
Raymond Patriarca the Early Years Raymond L.S. Patriarca started like every other major mafia figure of the 20th century. First, his parents were Sicilian. His father, Elatario Patriarca emigrated from Sicily in the early 1900s. He married a woman named Mary and they lived in Worster Massachusetts where Raymond was born. The Patriarca family moved to Federal Hill, an Italian neighborhood in Providence Rhode Island in 1908. Raymond’s father ran a bar and liquor store where young Raymond got his f...
Mar 10, 2021
Bill Roemer FBI Bill Roemer was one of the first FBI agents assigned to Chicago’s Organized Crime Squad. He and his fellow agents in the C-1 Squad (organized Crime Squad) lost their access to many off-the-books wiretaps and hidden microphones. Once the Omnibus Crime Control Bill passed in 1968, Congress made it illegal and punishable by a prison sentence to conduct electronic surveillance without a warrant. To replace that source of intelligence on the Outfit, Chicago agents started developing “...
Mar 08, 2021
Justice and Davis Gang Gary interviews retired Oklahoma City Detective Sergeant Richard Mullins about his career and his investigation of the Justice and Davis criminal gang. This was a group of long-time professional criminals who terrorized business owners during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. By the end of their run, they specialized in large grocery stores because they kept large sums of money to cash checks. Books by Richard Mullins Retired Detective Sergeant Richard Mullins had written and pu...
Mar 01, 2021
Most Wanted and The Trial of Alain Olivier Most Wanted, starring Josh Hartnett and Jim Gaffigan, is the real-life story of a French Canadian drug addict named Alain Olivier and how the Royal Canadian Mounted Police intimidated him into setting up an undercover narcotics operation. This plan went horribly wrong and ended with a Mountie getting killed under suspicious circumstances. In this second interview, Alain Olivier tells about his trial, 100-year sentence, and subsequent life in a Thai pris...
Feb 22, 2021
Alain Olivier Most Wanted Recently Gary watched an Amazon Prime movie titled Most Wanted. The film starred Josh Hartnett, Jim Gaffigan, and Antoine Olivier Pilon. This film was about a Royal Canadian Mounted Police operation that went horribly wrong. The Mounties needed a big drug dealer that was importing China White heroin from the Southeast Asian Golden Triangle. Listen while a recovering drug addict named Alain Olivier tells how he was arrested in Thailand for heroin trafficking. In the seco...
Feb 19, 2021
Lennie Patrick Flips Gary and Cam discuss an Outfit gangster named Lennie Patrick with Chicago mob historian and attorney Paul Whitcombe. Paul and Camillus Robinson are associated with John Touhy and the Killers Kings and Clowns You Tube Mob channel and the Mafia Facebook group, Killers Kings and Clowns. In 1992, Paul was a law clerk for the trial Judge Patrick Alesia when 78-year-old Lennie Patrick testified against the Outfit’s chief political fixer and then boss Sam “Wings” Carlisi and severa...
Feb 01, 2021
Dustin Marks is a Magician Dustin Marks tells listeners how he was drawn to perform magic tricks as a child. He notices that all the good magicians are based in Las Vegas. As a young adult, he moved to Vegas after a series of dead-end jobs. After a few months, he discovers that all the good magicians met on Wednesday nights at Gary Darwin’s Magic Club. He had to ask questions and search for a few months before finding this club. Like he was told, all the good magicians meet there on Wednesdays. ...
Jan 25, 2021
Jeffrey Sussman Gary interviews Jeffrey Sussman who is the author of 15 non-fiction books. Mr. Sussman’s most recent book, Big Apple Gangsters: The Rise and Decline of the Mob in New York, is the subject. He has also written extensively about professional boxing as well as the subject of Marketing. with books like Boxing and the Mob: The Notorious History of the Sweet Science; Rocky Graziano: Fists, Fame, and Fortune; Max Baer and Barney Ross: Jewish Heroes of Boxing, and Power Promoting: How to...
Jan 18, 2021
Chris Paciello – The early days Chris Paciello was born Christian Ludwigsen in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn to an Italian mother and non-Italian father who was an addict and a petty thief. Chris’s father was a street guy who rarely took care of his family. His mother moved Chris to an Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn and they began using her maiden name, Paciello. Chris started as a petty thief, boosting car stereos at age 15, and graduated to stealing cars. He became close with the New ...
Jan 11, 2021
Ron Fino- Undercover Contractor This is the audio from a Zoom call in which the Gangland Wire Supporters and I talk with Mr. Undercover, Ron Fino. Ron started as a Union business manager in the Buffalo New York area. His father was a member of the Buffalo Family under Stephano Maggadino. He saw how the mob abused their power and harmed union employees. Ron has always looked out for the folks with less power over their circumstances. Mr. Fino contacted the FBI and volunteered his services. They h...
Dec 28, 2020
Joe Pistone Podcast In this episode, Gary interviews the famous retired FBI Agent Joe Pistone aka Donnie Brasko, and his podcasting partner Leo Rossi. Joe Pistone has started his own true-crime podcast based on stories from his 6-year undercover assignment. Agent Joe Pistone infiltrated the Bonanno Crime Family. He tells about working with Lefty Ruggerio and other stories. This podcast is titled Deep Cover and you can find it on all podcast apps. Click here to find their website Leaving Vegas: T...
Dec 14, 2020
Jack Garcia – the early days Joaquin “Jack” Garcia was actually born in pre-Castro Cuba. His family immigrated to the U.S. in the early days of Castro because his father was going to be arrested by the new regime. As a child, Jack was often the target of bullies because he did not speak English. His size and demeanor quickly put an end to the bullying. He grew into a 6′ 4″ 250-pound college football player. he became interested in law enforcement and tried several times to join the FBI. Finally,...
Dec 07, 2020
Frankie Carbo- the early years Paul John Carbo (born Paolo Giovanni Carbo; AKA Frankie Carbo was a New York City Mafia soldier in the Lucchese crime family. He was a gunman and assassin for “Lepke” Louis Buchalter in the Murder Inc. organization. Authorities arrested Carbo seventeen times for murder. He will gravitate to California and continue his murderous habits. In 1939, he was a suspect in the murder of informant Harry “Big Greenie” Greenberg in California. “Kid Twist” Abe Reles agreed to t...
Nov 30, 2020
Larry Newman Committed Murder in McHenry County Paul Scharff learned who murdered his father years before from his former babysitter. Paul’s father, Ron Scharff, was closing his neighborhood tavern on June 2, 1981. A man walks in that Ron knew. What he did not know was that this man was carrying a grudge because Ron had thrown the guy’s ex-wife out of the bar, and she complained that he had disrespected her. Larry Newman was a murderer who served several years for a triple murder of some folks h...
Nov 23, 2020
Diamond Jim Moran and New Orleans Bobby Brocato Jr, nephew of the famous Diamond Jim Moran, aka James Brocato, has published a New Orleans history/Mafia history/New Orleans cuisine cookbook/family history book titled Food for Kings: A New Orleans Legend. In this episode, I interview Mr. Brocato about his famous grandfather. Diamond Jim Moran, the Boxer Diamond Jim Moran started life as an Italian immigrant who shined shoes on the streets of New Orleans. As a teenager, he found he had a talent an...
Nov 16, 2020
William Kirkpatrick – Big Trenchcoat Robber This is the story of the trenchcoat robbers, one of the most successful bank robbery teams in all history. In the 1970s, William Kirkpatrick was often followed by the KC Police Intelligence Unit because he was a well-known booster or shoplifter connected to the Mob. I remember we once got information from a small town in Illinois where he had been caught by a random patrol car as he was trying to steal a car. He was on foot and the cops found he was dr...
Nov 09, 2020
The Massacre on St. Valentine’s Day Gary investigates follows the journey of the bullet-riddled bricks for the wall where four assailants lined up seven members of the Bugs Moran gang and shot them down. This podcast includes an interview with Geoff Shumacher, Director of the Mob Museum, about how they obtained the bricks and about their current display. On St. Valentine’s Day morning in 1929 four men, two of them wearing police uniforms, wheeled up in front of the Clark Street building housing ...
Oct 31, 2020
The Grave Avron Goldbogen or Michael Todd started in the construction business and then got his start in the film industry when he worked on soundproofing stage sets when the pictures changed from silent to talking films. He would go bankrupt during the depression but soon rebounded first ventures into the construction business. After WW II, Michael Todd worked on a new big-screen film process called Cinerama. He then broke off and developed another Widescreen film process that would become know...
Oct 26, 2020
Jerry Catena the early years Gerardo Jerry Catena was born in 1902 in South Orange, NJ. He made early connections to Jewish gangster “Longy” Zwillman working as a bodyguard and chauffeur. Later, he worked for racketeer Willie Moretti—the inspiration for Luca Brasi. Through Moretti, Catena made connections with Luciano, Costello, Adonis, and Genovese, and took part in the Castelamarese War. Catena had a younger brother, Gene, who followed him into the rackets. The Catena brothers were both very s...
Oct 19, 2020
