MS – 13 David Paul served with the Suffolk County Police Department for 20 years. Since that time, he has written true crime books, helped with Russian Organized Crime investigations, and has become an expert in the infiltration of Long Island by the MS-13 gang from El Salvador. This podcast tells the story of the MS-13 gang, how they got from El Salvador to Long Island, and about the crimes they have committed. David Paul, police officer, Russian organized crime expert, screenwriter and MS-13 e...
Dec 06, 2021
Nick The Blade – early years Eugene “Nick the Blade” Gesuale was a notorious Capo in the Genovese Crime Family. He also was the infamous “Pittsburgh Connect” in the movie Goodfellas and the guy that sup[plied narcotics to Henry Hill. Nick the Blade Gesuale grew up in the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh. He stared in the mob as a numbers runner like many other budding young gangsters. He dropped out of Central Catholic High School and started learning the trade of cutting hair at the Pittsburg...
Nov 29, 2021
John Gotti Arrives In this reboot of an old podcast, I talk with my friend David Layman who was a guard at the federal prison at Marion. He describes the day Gotti arrived at the Reception and Diagnostic Unit. David said men gathered around looking and watching like a movie star was being processed. He heard people yelling how much they loved Gotti, how they would do anything for him, and other expressions of admiration for the former mob boss. David tells about the day-to-day life of the famous...
Nov 22, 2021
Jesus Ruiz Henao Gary interviews the well-known true crime author Ron Chepesiuk and Jesus Ruiz Henao (aka Mr. Big). Gary gets the inside story of the largest single cocaine supplier to Great Britain during the 1990s. The famous English law enforcement organization known as MI-5 reported to British newspapers that when they took down the Henao organization, the price of cocaine increased by 50%. Henao tells the story of a young immigrant who works hard to establish himself in the cocaine business...
Nov 15, 2021
Madam Polly Adler Non-fiction author Debby Applegate discusses the famous New York madam Polly Adler. We learn how Ms. Adler came to America as a Russian Immigrant Jew and how she rose to prominence and achieved a certain amount of fame in New York Society in the same manner as other Jewish emigrants like Meyer Lansky. With most other opportunities denied her because she was Jewish, she turned to crime. Starting from the Brownsville Jewish ghetto in New York City, she learned that the only work ...
Nov 08, 2021
Giovanni Rocco Giovanni Rocco tells Gary his experiences as he infiltrated the DeCavalcante crime family AKA The Real Sopranos. Rocco was able to gain the confidence of the DeCavalcante hierarchy. He tells about the problems and rewards of working undercover on extended investigations that took years. He uses the tough guy characters he saw as he grew up in a working-class family in Bayonne New Jersey. He was a cop’s kid but also a wayward kid who is bored and looking for action. He started work...
Oct 25, 2021
William Jahoda William Jahoda was an Outfit gambler connected to Rocco Infelise, the ruthless consigliere of the Chicago mob. He and others run the most profitable gambling house in Chicago. The entire operation is dubbed the Good Ship Lollipop. At first, under Solly DeLaurentis, the Lake County crew are making money and not making any waves. This operation turns into a mess of greed, jealousy, and murder. After William Jahoda is forced to lure a couple of men to their deaths, he becomes disillu...
Oct 21, 2021
Vincent Rizza Vincent Rizza was a former Chicago cop who was a tipster to Outfit members, a gambler, a sports bookie, and a cocaine addict. His claim to fame later in life is that his daughter Pia Rizza was on a Mob Housewives TV show. Show notes by Gary Jenkins To go to the store or make a donation click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps ...
Oct 18, 2021
Ken Eto and Vince Solano An American-born man of Japanese extraction left the internment camps after World War II and landed in Chicago. Ken Eto was a professional gambler who received notice from the Outfit. By the 1970s, Vince Solano, boss of the Rush Street crew took over all Bolita action and he placed Ken Eto in charge. The FBI made a gambling case on Eto and before he appeared for sentencing, he assured Solano that he could do the time and he would not turn into a witness. Vince Solano did...
Oct 11, 2021
Mario Rainone Mario John “the Arm” Rainone saw a couple of guys tailing him and thought he was being set up for a hit. Rainone was preparing to take out a building inspector after his boss ordered the hit. As he followed his intended victim, he noticed a couple of other Outfit men named Rudy Fratto and Willie Messino were flowing him. He realized that he was actually the intended target. Rainone ran to his vehicle and escaped. he contacted the FBI in Chicago and told his story. He had been known...
Oct 07, 2021
Paul Panczko Gary, Camillus Robinson, and Paul Whitcolmbe discuss the chain of events that started with Paul “Peanuts” Panczko and ended with the FBI making informants and government witnesses out of Duke Baisle and Gerald Scarpelli. These two men were long-time Outfit thieves, armed robbers, burglars, hitmen, and enforcers. First, we go back to Paul Panczko. He was a well-known career criminal who did burglaries and other crimes with his brothers. They were known as the Polish Robinhoods. He wa...
Oct 04, 2021
Betty Tocco Outfit wife Gary, Camillus Robinson, and Paul Whitcombe take a look at Betty Tocco, the wife of Al Tocco who was the boss of what was called the South Side Crew. He had married a beautiful brunette but she should have gotten a clue. She claimed their first date was a visit to a brothel so Al Tocco could pick up some money. Over the years, he abused Betty Tocco while threatening her life. He often told her to pack all her belongings because they were going on the lam and disappeared h...
Sep 30, 2021
Robert Cooley Outfit Stool Pigeon Robert Cooley and his impact on the Chicago Outfit is examined in this first of seven short episodes on the year 1989 which became known as the Year of the Stool Pigeon. Outfit historians Camilius Robinson and Paul Whitcombe discuss the importance of Robert Cooley. He was a former Chicago Police Officer, son of a Chicago cop who worked as a lawyer in the notorious and corrupt Cook County court system. Cooley volunteered his services to the FBI out of a guilty co...
Sep 27, 2021
Joey Merlino returns to Philadelphia Dave Schratweiser is the co-host of Mob Talk Sitdown with well-known Philadelphia Mob reporter and author George Anastasia. Dave talks with Gary about the most recent activities out of the Philadelphia organized crime family. Right after we recorded Dave texted me and let me know about another breaking story and that was Joey Merlino had returned to the Philadelphia area from his home in Florida. He reported that Merlino made the rounds and visiting with his ...
Sep 20, 2021
Philadelphia Black Mafia – the origins Gary interviews former Philadelphia Police officer turned college professor Sean Patrick Griffin on the Philadelphia Black Mafia. The Philadephia Black Mafia was one of the bloodiest crime syndicates in modern US history. From its roots in Philadelphia’s ghettos in the 1960s, it grew from a rabble of street toughs to a disciplined organization. They exerted their influence across the entire Eastern Seaboard via murders and other intimidation tactics. Known ...
Sep 13, 2021
In this short episode, Michael DiLeonardo tells how he was inducted into the Gambino crime family by Sammy the Bull Gravano. He was inducted with John Gotti Jr. and John Gotti asked Gravano to conduct the ceremony because it did not look good for him to induct his own son. Show notes by Gary Jenkins To go to the store or make a donation click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vega...
Sep 05, 2021
Jimmy Burke in the Movies A listener named Paul Blackwood from Edinburgh Scotland emailed me with some great compliments on the show and suggested I do a story that focuses on “Jimmy the Gent” Burke. I looked around and he is mentioned in several podcasts but only as part of the famous Lufthansa heist. James “Jimmy the Gent” Burke is one of the most famous Mob associates of all time. We use the word “associate” because he was not Sicilian or even Italian or 1/2 Italian. We know about him mainly ...
Aug 30, 2021
Vito Genovese – The Deadly Don Gary interviews Pulitizer Prize-winning Anthony DeStefano on his most recent true crime history, The Deadly Don. Mr. DeStefano writes about the rise and fall of Vito Genovese. This is the very first comprehensive telling of this feared mafioso. Like most mobsters, he began his criminal career on the mean streets of lower Manhattan. He returned to Italy during the 1930s and was stuck there once World War II began. Genovese thrived, running a black market operation u...
Aug 23, 2021
Boston Bob Luisi Bobby Luisi was a mafia legacy growing up in the North End of Boston. His father and other relatives worked for the Boston capo Jerry Angiulo. As a young man, Bobby got into home construction and was doing week until the market crash in the 1990s. Bobby Lusi drifted back to his roots, the La Cosa Nostra. He had a good name and he organized some young drug dealers, opened up a loansharking business, and got into some gambling action. The Boston Family had a lot of internal confli...
Aug 16, 2021
Jimmy Frattiano and the Two Tonys This is a bonus episode with a telling of the story of how Fratianno made his bones by murdering the Two Tonys from Kansas City. Show notes by Gary Jenkins To go to the store or make a donation click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To subscribe on iTunes click here, please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Aug 12, 2021
Jimmy Fratianno and the Lawyer Dennis McDonald was a civil lawyer who became fast friends with Jimmy Fratianno just before he went into witness protection. This is a rare interview with Dennis McDonald who gives listeners a rare insight into a member of the La Cosa Nostra. After a life of crime, the government was expending a lot of resources on nailing Jimmy Fratianno. As this was happening, he wanted to hire a civil lawyer to file a lawsuit in a business deal. He interviewed a San Franciso are...
Aug 09, 2021
Dan Moldea Dan Moldea describes himself as Ahab and his White Whale is the missing Teamster boss James R. Hoffa and maybe even solving the crime. In this episode, he tells about this journey from a clandestine meeting with Chicago Outfit hitman Charles Crimaldi to a more credible source who was close to one of the men who may have disposed of the body. The Books of Moldea Mr. Moldea has reported on the mob, union racketeering, and political corruption all of his adult life. He is the author of b...
Jul 26, 2021
Crimaldi tells about Mad Sam DeStefano going to Outfit boss Sam Giancana and asking for a package deal to murder three men. One was a man named Leo Foreman and Giancana gave his permission. The second was a man Peter Cappollitti who owed Mad Sam money. Giancana refused his permission reminding DeStefano about a time in the recent past where Capolitti was in other trouble and DeStefano had pleaded for Cappolettii’s life because Cappy owned juice money to him. The third was a business deal that ha...
Jul 19, 2021
Charles Crimaldi tells Robert Wiedrich about his day-to-day life. He recounts a situation where he warns off a guy he did not want to kill but warned the guy, if he showed up a certain place, Crimaldi would have to kill him. He tells about the time DeStefano wanted him to murder a judge. Show notes by Gary Jenkins To go to the store or make a donation click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To subscribe on iTun...
Jul 15, 2021
Crimaldi tells about the day-to-day life of working for a maniac like Mad Sam DeStefano. He tells how DeStefano got himself placed in a hospital while incarcerated. He paid off the guards to leave the room while he conducted his loan shark business. Show notes by Gary Jenkins To go to the store or make a donation click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To subscribe on iTunes click here, please give me a review ...
Jul 12, 2021
Suburban Hospital Hideout In this episode, Charles Crimaldi tells Chicago Tribune reporter Robert Wiedrich about Northlake Community Hospital. He alleges the Outfit owned a man he knew as Dr. Bruni and this doctor would admit wanted men and allow them to hide from the authorities. He said the Outfit might take over a whole ward on a weekend and run big Gin Rummy tournaments. Show notes by Gary Jenkins To go to the store or make a donation click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documen...
Jul 08, 2021
Charles “Chuckie” Crimaldi – Portrait of a Hitman Chicago mob hitman Charles Crimaldi once explained his job this way: ”I’ve broken arms, and I’ve broken legs, and I’ve watched a man die with a knife in his throat. But most of them had it coming, so what’s the difference? I have no regrets.” This series of shows is taken from a 1973 Chicago Tribune series by reporter Robert Wiedrich. He titled this “Portrait of a Hitman.” This well-known mob reporter obtained a series of interviews with Crimaldi...
Jul 05, 2021
Nate Hendley Gary interviews the well-known Canadian true crime author Nate Hendley. Recently, He released his book Dutch Schultz: The Brazen Beer Baron of New York on Kindle for the first time. Mr. Hendley tells some of the best stories about this crude, repulsive 1930s mobster. For all his faults, Dutch Schultz could read the public’s desire for vice. As prohibition ended, he moved quickly into a previously untapped racket that the Italian mafia had not touched. He realized there was a lot of ...
Jun 28, 2021
Ron Rawson on Carlos Marcello Ron Rawson is our resident expert on all things Mafia in New Orleans. He has researched the Marcello crime family for many years. We discuss the origins of the Italian mafia and the famous murder of the former New Orleans Chief of Police, David Hennessy. Even though the suspects were unknown, police arrested and charged nineteen members of the Sicilian community. After these men had been acquitted for lack of evidence, a large mob gathered at the Parish prison. They...
Jun 21, 2021
Stephen Metelsky Gary interviews Stephen Metelsky about his life as an Intelligence Unit officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Stephen left his career as a Mountie and entered the academic world but he did not leave undercover work behind. He wrote about many famous undercover operations in his new book Undercover: Stories From the Underworld of Law Enforcement. Stephen went into the academic world and he is a criminal psychology professor at Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario....
Jun 14, 2021
