Download or read book The Goodfella Tapes written by George Anastasia and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2011-03-08 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As mob families go, the Philadelphia Mafia is the most dysfunctional family of all—with brother turning against brother, sons turning on their fathers. In 1993, an embittered legacy of rivalry and hatred exploded into a brutal, bloody battle between old world mobster and the young, flamboyant Joey Merlino. However, this would be warfare different from any other. This time, the FBI had it all down on tape. Among the mobsters caught on tape: John Stanfa, the violent, often irrational, paranoid old-school mob don battling a new generation of savage young turks. Rosario Bellocchi , the young Sicilian-born hitman in love with his boss’s daughter, who would do anything to get ahead—even kill his best friend. John Veasey, the two-hundred-pound mad dog hitman who once had to postpone a hit—in order to visit his parole officer. Drawing on four years of investigative work, and more than two thousand taped conversations, veteran true crime journalist George Anastasia takes readers inside the world of mobsters at war, and FBI agents so close on their heels that t hey even watched one hit unfold live through a surveillance camera.
Download or read book The Last Gangster written by George Anastasia and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2011-10-18 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Journalist George Anastasia’s New York Times bestseller The Last Gangster is a revelatory biography of mobster turned informant Ron Previte. “It’s over. You’d have to be Ray Charles not to see it.” —former New Jersey capo Ron Previte, on the mob today As a cop, Ron Previte was corrupt. As a mobster he was brutal. And in his final role, as a confidential informant to the FBI, Previte was deadly. The Last Gangster is his story—the story of the last days of the Philadelphia Mob, and of the clash of generations that brought it down once and for all. For thirty-five years Ron Previte roamed the underworld. A six-foot, 300-pound capo in the Philadelphia-South Jersey crime family, he ran every mob scam and gambit from drug trafficking and prostitution to the extortion of millions from Atlantic City. In his own words, “Every day was a different felony.” By the 1990s, old-school workhorse Previte found himself answering to younger mob bosses like “Skinny Joe” Merlino, who seemed increasingly spoiled, cocky, and careless. Convinced that the honor of the “business” was gone, he became the FBI’s secret weapon in an intense and highly personalized war on the Philadelphia mob. Operating with the same guile, wit, and stone-cold bravado that had made him a force in the underworld—and armed with only a wiretap secured to his crotch—Previte recorded it all; the murder, the mayhem, and even the story of mob boss Ralph Natale’s affair with his youngest daughter’s best friend. Previte and his FBI cronies eventually prevailed, securing the convictions of his nemeses, “Skinny Joey” Merlino and Ralph Natale.
Download or read book Mobfather written by George Anastasia and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Blood and Honor written by George Anastasia and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces the rise and fall of the Scarfo family, one of the most violent Mafia families in America.
Download or read book Last Don Standing written by Larry McShane and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2017-03-21 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the last Don of the Philadelphia mob, Ralph Natale, the first-ever mob boss to turn state’s evidence, provides an insider’s perspective on the mafia. Natale’s reign atop the Philadelphia and New Jersey underworlds brought the region’s mafia back to prominence in the 1990s. Smart, savvy, and articulate, Natale came up in the mob and saw first-hand as it hatched its plan to control Atlantic City’s casino unions. Later on, after spending 16 years in prison, he reclaimed the family as his own after a bloody mob war that left bodies scattered across South Philly. He forged connections around the country, invigorated the family with more allies than it had in two decades, and achieved a status within the mob never seen before or since until he was betrayed by his men and decided to testify against them in a stunning turn of events. Using dozens of hours of interviews with Natale along with research and interviews with FBI agents, this book delivers revelatory insights into seminal events in American mob history, including: - The truth about Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance - The murder of Jewish mob icon Bugsy Siegel - The identity of the man who created modern-day Las Vegas With the full cooperation of Natale, New York Daily News reporter Larry McShane and producer Dan Pearson uncover the deadly reign of the last great mob boss of Philadelphia, a tale that covers a half-century of mob lore—and gore.
Download or read book The Complete Idiot s Guide to the Mafia written by Jerry Capeci and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2005-01-04 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offers a comprehensive overview of the world's most notorious criminal organization, tracing the history of the Mafia, changes in the ranks and power following the conviction of key members, and their diverse roles in cities across the United States.
Download or read book Havana Nocturne written by T. J. English and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In modern-day Havana, the remnants of the glamorous past are everywhere—old hotel-casinos, vintage American cars & flickering neon signs speak of a bygone era that is widely familiar & often romanticized, but little understood. In Havana Nocturne, T.J. English offers a multifaceted true tale of organized crime, political corruption, roaring nightlife, revolution & international conflict that interweaves the dual stories of the Mob in Havana & the event that would overshadow it, the Cuban Revolution. As the Cuban people labored under a violently repressive regime throughout the 50s, Mob leaders Meyer Lansky & Charles "Lucky" Luciano turned their eye to Havana. To them, Cuba was the ultimate dream, the greatest hope for the future of the US Mob in the post-Prohibition years of intensified government crackdowns. But when it came time to make their move, it was Lansky, the brilliant Jewish mobster, who reigned supreme. Having cultivated strong ties with the Cuban government & in particular the brutal dictator Fulgencio Batista, Lansky brought key mobsters to Havana to put his ambitious business plans in motion. Before long, the Mob, with Batista's corrupt government in its pocket, owned the biggest luxury hotels & casinos in Havana, launching an unprecedented tourism boom complete with the most lavish entertainment, the world's biggest celebrities, the most beautiful women & gambling galore. But their dreams collided with those of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara & others who would lead the country's disenfranchised to overthrow their corrupt government & its foreign partners—an epic cultural battle that English captures in all its sexy, decadent, ugly glory. Bringing together long-buried historical information with English's own research in Havana—including interviews with the era's key survivors—Havana Nocturne takes readers back to Cuba in the years when it was a veritable devil's playground for mob leaders. English deftly weaves together the parallel stories of the Havana Mob—featuring notorious criminals such as Santo Trafficante Jr & Albert Anastasia—& Castro's 26th of July Movement in a riveting, up-close look at how the Mob nearly attained its biggest dream in Havana—& how Fidel Castro trumped it all with the revolution.
Download or read book Philadelphia s Black Mafia written by S.P. Griffin and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2005-12-08 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Philadelphia's 'Black Mafia' could be used as primary reading in deviance and organized crime courses. Academicians in the fields of criminology, sociology, history, political science and African-American Studies will find the book compelling and important. This book provides the first sociological analysis to date of Philadelphia's infamous "Black Mafia" which has organized crime (with varying degrees of success) in predominantly African-American sections of the city dating back to the late 1960's. Philadelphia's 'Black Mafia': -is a first step in developing both data and sophisticated theoretical propositions germane to the ongoing study of organized crime; -uses primary source documents, including confidential law enforcement files, court transcripts and interviews; -explores the group's activities in detail, depicting some of the most notorious crimes in Philadelphia's history; -thoroughly examines the organization of the Black Mafia and the group's alliances, conspiracies and conflicts; -challenges many of the current historical and theoretical assumptions regarding organized crime.
Download or read book Doctor Dealer written by George Anastasia and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-10-26 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dr. James Kauffman and his wife, April, were the perfect couple: a respected endocrinologist and a beautiful radio host. But under the surface lurked a world of drugs, sex, and biker gangs. A world Dr. Kauffman would kill to keep secret. In May 2012, April Kauffman, a well-known local radio personality and staunch advocate of military veterans rights, was found shot to death in the bedroom of the home she shared with her husband, Dr. James Kauffman. Six years later, in the fall of 2018, Freddy Augello, a leader of the notorious motorcycle gang the Pagans, went on trial for drug dealing and murder. He was charged with arranging the death of April Kauffman in exchange for $50,000 from her husband, who, in addition to practicing medicine, was one of the area’s most prolific drug traffickers. Told by two accomplished reporters and authors with exclusive insights and details provided by two principal players, this is the story about one man's descent into evil and the people he took with him. It's a story about a doctor who helped flood the streets with opioids, about a husband who hid dark secrets from his wives, and about a man so consumed with greed and arrogance that he thought he could get away with murder.
Download or read book Undercover Cop written by Mike Russell and published by Thomas Dunne Books. This book was released on 2013-08-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One moment, New Jersey state trooper Mike Russell was working undercover, playing the role of an up-and-coming mobster hoping to infiltrate a Mafia family crew. The next, he was lying facedown in an alley after being ambushed and shot in the back of the head by a mobster over a dispute. Russell miraculously healed, and rather than press charges, he maintained his cover. Soon he had a stroke of good luck when he saved a man from an attack by two street thugs. The man he saved turned out to be Andy Gerardo, one of the ranking captains of the Genovese crime family. Quickly earning the trust of his new friend, Russell would orchestrate one of the biggest Mafia takedowns of all time. Urged by his police handlers, Russell used his cover story---an ex-cop fired for excessive force who now made his living from an oil-delivery business---and street skills to assimilate into the Genovese crime family in New Jersey, ultimately leading to more than fifty arrests of mobsters, corrupt prison officials, and even a state senator. Straddling the thin line between collecting evidence and participating in the very crimes he was leaking to the cops, Russell consistently placed himself at risk—especially when his police handlers disregarded his wishes and his well-being, conducting premature raids on the gangsters. With his marriage suffering and his family in danger, Russell took extraordinary steps to ensure his financial security and safety, demanding better terms from the police and allowing a film crew to document the final moments of the epic bust for a documentary that was later sold to HBO. A real-life version of The Sopranos, Undercover Cop immerses readers in the colorful yet harrowing trials of a standout cop who faced the mob on his own terms, crippled organized crime in New Jersey, and forever redefined undercover law enforcement.
Download or read book The Gilligan Tapes written by Jason O'Toole and published by Merrion Press. This book was released on 2023-09-04 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Gilligan is no altar boy, by his own admission. One of Ireland’s most infamous criminals and drug lords, and widely believed in the court of public opinion to have ordered the cold-blooded murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, he remains a defiant figure. In this remarkable book – the first of its kind – journalist Jason O’Toole distills hours of sensational face-to-face, no-holdsbarred interviews with the feared criminal into a fast-paced and jaw-dropping account of the Irish gangland scene. And Gilligan doesn’t mince his words. ‘I didn’t believe in God, but I know I’m going to hell.’Starting out as a petty thief in Dublin, Gilligan rose to the status of crime lord earning £10 million from drugs within his first two years. He mixed with serious criminals such as Martin ‘the General’ Cahill, Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch, Patrick 'Dutchy' Holland and John Traynor. He was deeply involved with money laundering, miraculously survived an assassination attempt, and it is said he has millions stashed away at a secret location. O’Toole demands answers from Gilligan for all the hard questions; some of his responses will make readers shiver. Gilligan knew that laying all his cards on the table could mean signing his own death warrant. But he has done it here. And with a cast of all the country’s deadliest underworld figures, this exposé is nothing short of explosive.
Download or read book The Mafia written by Nate Hendley and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2013-08-27 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on original sources and research, not legends and myth, this book presents a lively, in-depth analysis of how the American Mafia epitomizes organized crime. Whether it's supplying illicit drugs, alcohol during Prohibition, gambling, prostitution, or even loans to those with bad credit, the Mafia has established itself as a part of the fabric of American society, politics, and economics for over a century. The Mafia continues to exist not only because of their immense power that allows their criminal organization to defy law enforcement, but because demand remains strong for what they offer. This book utilizes verifiable information about the Mafia based on newspaper and magazine accounts, police and FBI documents, court records, and the author's own original research to offer a deeper analysis of "the Mob" that provides historical, social, economic and cultural context. Fascinating biographical sketches that profile well-known Mafiosi such as Charles "Lucky" Luciano and John Gotti are also presented.
Download or read book Takedown written by Rick Cowan and published by Putnam Adult. This book was released on 2002 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A NYPD detective describes his work as an undercover cop, in which role he infltrated a lethal mob cartel to uncover evidence of a conspiracy among the various mob families to extort billions of dollars from the nation's most influential corporations.
Download or read book Blood Oath written by George Fresolone and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recounts the author's transformation from aspiring underboss to government agent who stopped believing in the mob way of life and wanted to get out
Download or read book True Crime New Jersey written by Patricia A. Martinelli and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2007 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of criminal offense in New Jersey is documented in this book, beginning with a general survey of crime in the state and then focusing on its headline cases, including the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, the John List killings, the mob activities that inspired The Sopranos, and the murder that led to Megan's Law.
Download or read book The Messenger written by Karl Evanzz and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-09-07 with total page 704 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here, eagerly anticipated, is the definitive biography of Elijah Muhammad (né Elija Poole), a sharecropper's son with a fourth- grade education who became one of the most controversial Americans of the twentieth century, the founder and "Prophet" of the Nation of Islam, a movement dedicated to black separatism and self-empowerment. Though Muhammad's main argument--that white people were innately evil ("devils," he called them)--ran counter to the precepts of orthodox Islam, he was the chief influence in the conversion of nearly four million African Americans to Islam, touching in the process the lives of figures ranging from Muhammad Ali and Jesse Jackson to Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan. But in his desperate grasp for power, Muhammad also amassed a huge personal fortune at the expense of his followers. He was a party to ritualistic homicides, had illicit affairs galore, and was quick to betray his friends and charges, most notably Malcolm X. In brief, he violated every ideal and principle that he espoused. With the cooperation of some of Elijah Muhammad's children and former apostles and with access to previously unreleased FBI files, Karl Evanzz gives us an unprecedented account of the life of the man whose philosophy continues, long after his death, to shape race relations in America.
Download or read book The Kennedy Assassination Tapes written by Max Holland and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2004-09-14 with total page 469 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A major work of documentary history–the brilliantly edited and annotated transcripts, most of them never before published, of the presidential conversations of Lyndon B. Johnson regarding the Kennedy assassination and its aftermath. The transition from John F. Kennedy to Johnson was arguably the most wrenching and, ultimately, one of the most bitter in the nation’s history. As Johnson himself said later, “I took the oath, I became president. But for millions of Americans I was still illegitimate, a naked man with no presidential covering, a pretender to the throne….The whole thing was almost unbearable.” In this book, Max Holland, a leading authority on the assassination and longtime Washington journalist, presents the momentous telephone calls President Johnson made and received as he sought to stabilize the country and keep the government functioning in the wake of November 22, 1963. The transcripts begin on the day of the assassination, and reveal the often chaotic activity behind the scenes as a nation in shock struggled to come to terms with the momentous events. The transcripts illuminate Johnson’s relationship with Robert F. Kennedy, which flared instantly into animosity; the genuine warmth of his dealings with Jacqueline Kennedy; his contact with the FBI and CIA directors; and the advice he sought from friends and mentors as he wrestled with the painful transition. We eavesdrop on all the conversations–including those with leading journalists–that persuaded Johnson to abandon his initial plan to let Texas authorities investigate the assassination. Instead, we observe how he abruptly established a federal commission headed by a very reluctant chief justice of the Supreme Court, Earl Warren. We also learn how Johnson cajoled and drafted other prominent men–among them Senator Richard Russell (who detested Warren), Allen Dulles, John McCloy, and Gerald Ford–into serving. We see a sudden president under unimaginable pressure, contending with media frenzy and speculation on a worldwide scale. We witness the flow of inaccurate information–some of it from J. Edgar Hoover–amid rumors and theories about foreign involvement. And we glimpse Johnson addressing the mounting criticism of the Warren Commission after it released its still-controversial report in September 1964. The conversations rendered here are nearly verbatim, and have never been explained so thoroughly. No passages have been deleted except when they veered from the subject. Brought together with Holland’s commentaries, they make riveting, hugely revelatory reading.
