By Number
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 575
A Christmas Murder In Hollywood
Part Eight: At Long Last, Robert Durst Convicted of Murder
39 years after Manhatten Real Estate scion Robert Durst's first wife Kathleen vanished withou a trace, and 20 years after Durst, disguized as a woman, dismembered his neighbor Morris Black in Galveston, Texas, for which he was Prosecuted but Acquitted, Robert Durst has now been convicted for the murder of his friend, Mafia Journalist Susan Berman.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 574
Jeffery Epstein and the FBI
The investigations into the crimes committed by millionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplices did not end with his death, but only have intensified with each succeeding month since.
- By Nick Christophers, Feature Articles 573
After A Near Fatal Accident Director John Gallagher Has A Second Chance To Mold His Art
After a tragic experience most probably anyone else would have given up and hang their hat after what John Gallagher endured but his love and desire to live and entertain the masses overcame the worst.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 572
Christmas In Murdertown
20th Anniversary Edition
It was Christmas Eve, one of the Holiest days of the year for those of the Christian faith, and a prayer was sent up to Heaven; a prayer for help, for Divine Intervention, as an American hero was in danger of losing his life.
- By Julie A. Thompson, Feature Articles 571
The Hunt for the Last Public Enemy in Northeastern Ohio
Alvin “Creepy” Karpis and His Road to Alcatraz
The last Public Enemy No. 1 of the Depression era, Alvin "Creepy" Karpis reportedly compiled a record of fifty-four aliases, fifteen bank robberies, fourteen murders, three jailbreaks and two kidnappings.
- By Nick Christophers, Feature Articles 570
New Book With Co-Author John Alite Takes Us Behind The Wall.
Here in the book “Prison Rules” co-author John Alite, ex-bodyguard of John Gotti Jr, takes us on a different kind of prison tour.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 569
How Landmark American Mafia Investigations Impact Robert Mueller's Russia Probe
Part Two - U. S. Media Embraces Racketeering Option
One year after Part One of this series, the Media has now embraced a narrative Exclusively proposed by this reporter in the original Feature story of March, 2018. That narrative explored how the RICO Statutes passed by Congress as a tool for Prosecuting members of the American Mafia could now be utilized to prosecute several targets of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.
- By Neil Gordon, Feature Articles 568
Tony Accardo IS Joe Batters
The Brutal Reign of Chicago mob boss Tony Accardo. The last untold story of the 20th century.
After ten years of research, writing, and editing, Neil Gordon is excited to share “Tony Accardo is Joe Batters” with Mafia fans around the globe.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 567
The Mafia Discriminates
Why should only Paisani have all the fun? Only Italians need apply is surely un-American.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 566
The Model Racketeering Enterprise: Mafia
The Mafia seeks to infiltrate social, economic, political, and judicial institutions; it is a corruptive force that at its most successful corrupts civil servants to its own ends.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 565
This Is Not Your Grandfather's 'Ndrangheta
The concept of ‘Ndranghetismo makes reference to its mafia-type criminal culture that absorbs the various Calabrian clans.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 564
The Walter Mitty Syndrome
A person with a very fertile imagination who can mentally place himself in the role of another, whom he admires, but himself can never equal in status.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 563
Sin City - What Happens In Vagas Stays In Vagas
Indicators of the Vegas moral code and that of the Underworld; a distortion of the principle of manhood. After all, Vegas is a Mob creation.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 562
The Racketeer And His Customer - A Dyad - You Can't Have One Without The Other
Al Capone, said in his wisdom, 'All I am doing is giving the people what they want.' You cannot sell a product if no one wants it.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 561
Russiya Mafiya
Russia is a mafia state whose leaders ignore the crimes of their underlings in exchange for absolute loyalty.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 560
How Landmark American Mafia Investigations Impact Robert Mueller's Russia Probe
Many Americans, in order to understand the current drama regarding Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, are looking back to similar cases, notably those of Presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, as well as the Iran-Contra affair.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 559
CRIMINALPOL - The FBI Of Italy
In March 1967, in Italy, a national police organization was founded referred to by the acronym Criminalpol, which coordinates the four principle police systems in Italy.
- By Nick Christophers, Feature Articles 558
Author Maria Stewart Brings Us Back To The Scene Of The Crime
There have been a few books and films made from a women’s point of view when it comes to the mob yet with the story that Maria Stewart lays out for us it is quite different and compelling with a dark history behind it.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 557
FBI Microphone Tapping of Cosa Nostra
One of the FBI’s great feats was a successful phone tap of Samuel de Cavalcante.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 556
The Model Racketeering Enterprise: MAFIA
"Mafia", is treated here as a theoretical concept, not simply as your ordinary everyday orgcrime.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 555
Racketeering Enterprises
Racketeering is the operation of illegal businesses, or when an organized crime ring uses legitimate organizations to embezzle funds.
- By Nick Christophers, Feature Articles 554
Nicky Slick says something stinks in Philly
Nicky Slick DiPietro may die in prison for a murder everyone knows he did not commit.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 553
Napoli: La Camorra Chiacchierata
The meaning of the above title is that this article is essentially a casual chat about the Camorra of Naples.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 552
Gergo Is Italian Mobspeak
The significance of the term gergo is actually broader than the word mobspeak.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 551
La Mafia is Hyper Fratellanza
The concept of Fratellanza refers to a band of reciprocal affections that tightly unites Fratelli into a Brotherhood, leading to the Brothers gathering under the same symbol, swearing mutual and enduring fidelity.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 550
People Smuggling Out Of Africa
Human trafficking in Africa is very lucrative for the many organized crime groups that seek to exploit those whose desperation is such that they will gamble in putting their fate in the hands of a very exploitive racketeering system that is the most vile the modern world has seen.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 549
The Old Out - The New In
Our mobster of legend, the Goodfella, has been replaced by a phalanx of mumbling cyberexperts of sallow complexion, poor posture, having never witnessed sunlight; radar focused, typing furiously, hacking into the infinite cybernetic expanding universe.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 548
The Italian Carabinieri
It all began on 13 July 1814 when the King of Sardinia by Royal warrant instituted for national defense the ancient Corps of the Royal Carabinieri
- By Sonny Girard, Feature Articles 547
Mobsters Are Misunderstood
Organized crime is no more than a microcosm of the rest of American society.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 546
Camorristi and Mafiosi
Camorra earned a reputation for savagery, mafia for its stealth and infiltration into the Sicilian sociopolitical system.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 545
Do Mobsters Really Have More Fun?
The gangster of myth, so fully displayed in the entertainment culture, is a portal to the pervasive daydreaming of every wannabe.
- By Nino Perrotta, Feature Articles 544
Dual Mission:
A True Story about a Secret Service Agent and His Investigative Experiences to Include His Battle with the New York Mafia!
- By Nick Christophers, Feature Articles 543
removed by request of author
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 542
L’uomo con cinque mani
The first time I encountered the above phrase, which translates “The man with five hands,” I wondered what it meant.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 541
Mafiocracy
In the field of mafiology, mafiocracy is a neologism, a new concept, a form of governing.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 540
I Wannabe A Wannabe
Wannabe: A person who wants or aspires to be someone else or who tries to look or act like someone else.
- By Emma Stevens, Feature Articles 539
Promises, Threats, And Prestige - How Do Organized Crime Gangs Recruit New Members?
Those brought up around organized crime are more able to slip seamlessly into life as a member of an organized criminal gang.
- By Emma Stevens, Feature Articles 538
Paternalistic Psychopathy? The Mafiosi’s Mind
Is there a particular mindset which one needs in order to be a mafiosi?
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 537
The Short One, El Chapo
Unlike other master criminals, El Chapo, not exactly a Robin Hood figure, has become a populist anti-hero, both in his mind and more importantly among those who share his very humble origins.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 536
The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the American Mafia
Franklin Roosevelt vowed to lead the fight to repeal the Prohibition Amendment which banned the sale of alcoholic beverages, an attempt at legislating morality that fueled an unprecedented expansion of organized crime.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 535
Vengeance Is Mine
Vendicare: To offend or damage someone for an act or danger done by a vendettist to us or others. (Dizionario della lingua Italiana, 1941)
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 534
License To Steal: "The Goodfellas Trial"
Part Two: Aquittal Provides Plot-Twist Ending
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 533
Changing Times: Maifa, Cosa Nostra, Camorra ....Whatever.
Is There A Difference?
When it comes to the mafia one must understand that it is an association of criminals that enrich themselves at the expense of both the people and the state.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 532
Joe Barbara, Racketeering Businessman
Giuseppe Mario Barbara went from New York City to northeastern Pennsylvania, where as a young hoodlum and strong-arm man, he made his bones with an Italian mob that was operating in the coalfields in the towns of Pittston, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 531
Narcotic Trafficking Tunnels
One thing is certain in the drug-infested, corrupt Mexico, from top to bottom: the drug cartels are in command.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 530
Mafia of the Imagination
Every guy wants to be a mafioso; every gal wants to date one.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 529
A Christmas Murder In Hollywood
Part Seven: Murder, He Wrote
Once again, New York City real estate multi-millionaire Robert Durst has been arrested for yet another murder of someone whom he knew very well; the Mafia journalist Susan Berman, who was killed inside her Hollywood home on Christmas Eve in the year 2000.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 528
CINEMATIC MOBSTERS
The Godfather, the paragon of the Hollywood industry, is the obvious example of thoughtful mob film production.
- By Christian Cipollini, Feature Articles 527
Murder Inc.
Mysteries of the Mob’s Most Deadly Hit Squad
Excerpt taken from Chapter 9 - Disappearing Acts
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 526
PROTECTION
Selling protection is at the core of any mafia-type phenomenon. Mafia insurance is for life.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 525
What Happened In Sayreville?
Today, almost overnight, Sayreville is to be found in newspapers around the world, regarding a scandal involving it’s High School football team.
- By Emma Stevens, Feature Articles 524
The Fascinating Final Years of Al Capone
Capone is often romanticized as America’s greatest gangster, however there is nothing romantic or glamorous about the realities of the life the man lived.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 523
Omertá and Solidarity
To rat-out someone is a sin from which there is no escape. Today that code is in tatters.
- By Emma Stevens, Feature Articles 522
The Drug Trade and the Demise of the American Mafia
By the
1960s, the FBN had a massive database of mobsters that would be the start of
the end for the mafia and the drugs trade.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 521
At Long Last:
The Conviction of Whitey Bulger
Part Two: Bulger Trial’s Troubled Anniversary
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 520
Narcotraffickers South Of The Border
An estimated sixty-two percent of the Mexican economy is tied up with drug money.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 519
The Popular Mafia
Mafia! Its mere utterance strikes fear in the heart of the average law-abiding citizen.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 518
FRAMED!
Part Two: The Saga of Ken Littleton
Is Kenneth Littleton a dangerous murderer, or a man falsely accused for the benefit of others?
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 517
Vendetta
Vendetta is a primordial form of justice, an action necessary to reestablish a lost equilibrium.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 516
License To Steal: "The Goodfellas Trial"
"These 'Goodfellas' thought they had a license to steal, a license to kill, and a license to do whatever they wanted!," stated FBI official George Venizelos, in announcing the arrests of 5 members of the Bonanno Mafia Family.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 515
Mafia As Metaphor
Make believe mobsters are pathetic caricatures of the real thing. The impact of such portrayals comforts the gun lobby and has a corroding influence on the body politic.
- By William Hyrb, Feature Articles 514
Vanished: The Life and Disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa
This is an excerpt from the new book, Vanished: The Life and Disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, by William Htrb. is available from, Amazon.com and other publishing outlets.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 513
Italy's Mafias
It is one of gaining influence in community affairs; alliances and collaborations with state functionaries; infiltrating segments of the society and gaining support and protection of certain enabling segments of the population.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 512
Who Killed President Kennedy?
A Special Report on the 50th Anniversary of the “Crime of the Century!”
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 511
Favela Drug Trafficking
Brazilian-Portuguese name given to a hill near Brazil's Rio de Janeiro where shanty towns were first built.
- By Allan R. May, Feature Articles 510
Crimetown U.S.A.
Why Youngstown?
“Crimetown, U.S.A.” is a narrative of organized crime in Youngstown, Ohio and the surrounding Mahoning Valley during the years 1933 to 1963.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 509
At Long Last: The Conviction Of Whitey Bulger
One of the most dangerous and brutal criminals to have ever worked for the FBI, Boston Mob Boss James "Whitey" Bulger, has finally been convicted for the drug trafficking and murders he directed during his reign of terror dating back to the 1970s.
- By Christian Cipollini, Feature Articles 508
A Hit Man's Personal Affects
This is an excerpt from the new book, Diary of a Motor City Hit Man: The Chester Wheeler Campbell Story, by Christian Cipollini. Taken from Chapter 4 - Inventory of a Hit Man and is available from, Amazon.com and other publishing outlets.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 507
Politicians and Mobsters: Russia
The Russian Mafiya did not emerge as a result of the 1991 collapse of the communist state. It was present, as were other Russian mobs. They existed before and were a consequence of the unique characteristics of the Soviet system.
- By Peter Lance, Feature Articles 506
Deal With the Devil:
The FBI's Thirty-Year Relationship With a Mafia Killer
In Deal with the Devil, five-time Emmy winning investigative reporter Peter Lance draws on three decades of once secret FBI files—and exclusive new interviews—to tell the definitive story of Gregory Scarpa Sr., aka "The Grim Reaper;" a Mafia capo, who "stopped counting" after 50 murders, while secretly betraying the Colombo crime family as a Top Echelon Criminal Informant for the Bureau.
- By Ron Chepesiuk, Feature Articles 505
Black Caesar: The Rise and Disappearance of America's Biggest Kingpin
This is an excerpt from the new book, Black Caesar: The Rise and Disappearance of America's Biggest Kingpin, by Ron Chepesiuk. The book is published by Strategic Media Books (www.strategicmediabooks.com) and is available from the web site, Amazon.com and other publishing outlets.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 504
Whitecollar Racketeering
A closer look at the complete phenomenon of racketeering reveals greater complexity and scope, particularly in the inclusion of persons, businesses and corporations that function in the legitimate economy yet dip into criminality if not most of the time certain when the occasion warrants.
- By George Hassett, Feature Articles 503
Gangsters of Boston
excerpt from Gangs of Boston By George Hassett
This is an excerpt from George Hassett's just released Gangsters of Boston, which is published by Strategic Media Books
- By George Anastasia, Feature Articles 502
Being Oscar
From Mob Lawyer to Mayor of Las Vegas - Only in America
Oscar Goodman spent more than 30 years defending some of the most notorious mobsters in America. Now he's written a book - Being Oscar - in which he talks about all that and more, much more.
- By Martin Iacampo, Sr., Feature Articles 501
Luna Park
The story Luna Park is a true story about a kid named Benny Iacampo that crossed the pond to the “Land of Opportunity” from Campobasso, Italy in 1914 with his father Carmen, searching for the same thing that all of the other immigrants were looking for; a better life.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 500
Terror Comes To Boston
In an apartment in the Boston suburb of Waltham, three young men, Brendan Mess, 25 years old, Erik Weissman, also 25, and Raphael Teken, 37, were brutally murdered, their throats having been cut with either a knife or an ice pick.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 499
The Sicilian Character
Faulty governing and daily corruption forced the population to develop and to exercise their own local remedies.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 498
Chayotes: Mexican Drug Cartel Bribery
The practice of the chayote (bribe) has had a pre-cartel history in Mexico.
- By Richard Stanley Cagan, Feature Articles 497
Mafia Cop: The Two Families of Michael Palermo; Saints Only Live in Heaven
A true docudrama of the life of New York City narcotics detective Michael Palermo. Detective Palermo built his career on his unique ability to inhabit two worlds at once: the world of law enforcement and the underworld of New York’s crime family organizations.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 496
Jamaican Posses
Jamaican criminal gangs in the United States have taken on the word "posse" after the very popular old Western films viewed widely in Jamaica.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 495
FRAMED!
This story is about three men falsely identified as criminals within the space of a few weeks in New York City in 1993.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 494
The Heroin Trade In Bulgaria
Of the former communist states, Bulgaria has been the most hard-hit by its crime wave.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 493
Giuseppe Musolino and La Picciotteria
The parish priest noted that Musolino was an ill-mannered child and was growing up without absorbing any civility.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 492
Japanese Racketeers
The Yakuza tradition contains a conduct code that specifies being brave at all times and sacrificing oneself for others.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 491
Camorra In The Mid-1800s
Its influence is found throughout the Neapolitan province in the form of territorial secret societies that bend the law to their own arbitrary and fraudulent purposes.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 490
World War Two Racketeers
A racketeer is a person engaging in fraudulent activities; full-time, part-time, individually or in collusion with others.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 489
Sicilians and Mafia Sentiment
The true mafioso, the authentic mafioso, is always humble, speaks and listens with a modest and ostensive air and chooses his words carefully.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 488
Failed State Mexico
A failed state is one that is characterized by strongman rule and weak
institutions. There is a worrisome coziness between politicians and racketeering.
- By Ron Chepesiuk, Feature Articles 487
Mexico's Narco Drug Queens
This is an excerpt from the new book, Queenpins: Notorious Women Gangsters from the Modern Era, by Ron Chepesiuk. The book is published by Strategic Media Books (www.strategicmediabooks.com) and is available from the web site, Amazon.com and other publishing outlets.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 486
The Strange Case Of Leonardo Vitale
Leonardo Vitale was the first Sicilian informant of modern times.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 485
"UNHAPPY VALLEY"
Crime and Cover-up at Penn State
On two separate occasions, 11 years ago and 9 years ago, two men walked into a shower in the building of the Penn State football team and claim they saw a football coach sexually assaulting a young boy.
- By George Anastasia and Glen Macnow, Feature Articles 484
A Conversation with George Anastasia and Glen Macnow
authors of THE ULTIMATE BOOK OF GANGSTER MOVIES
Featuring the 100 Greatest Gangster Films of All Time
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 483
Confidential Informants
The informant system is an essential tool in successful criminal investigations.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 482
Crime Scene - World Trade Center
Part Three: The Terrorists, the Mafia, and Missed Opportunities
A Special Report on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11.
- By Tony DeStefano, Feature Articles 481
"Mob Killer" and the story of Charlie Carneglia of the Gambino family
Tony DeStefano introduces his new book
Mob Killer: The Bloody Rampage of Charles Carneglia, Mafia Hit Man
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 480
Mafiusu
The Italian concepts of mafioso and mafia evolved from the old Sicilian word mafiusu.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 479
OMERTÁ
the mafia abstraction of morality.
- By Ron Chepesiuk, Feature Articles 478
One Brave Man's Stand Against the Mob
This is an excerpt from Ron Chepesiuk’s new book: Straight from the Hood: Amazing but True Gangster Tales, by Ron Chepesiuk and Scott Wilson. The book is published by Strategic Media Books (www.strategicmediabooks.com) and is available from the web site, Amazon.com and other publishing outlets.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 477
Who Shot Godfather Colombo?
A Special Report On The 40th Anniversary Of An Historic Mafia Milestone
The evidence in this case, some of which has been presented here for the first time, is incomplete, somewhat confusing, and contradictory.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 476
Charley Lucky Paroled to Italy
In 1946, as a reward for his alleged wartime cooperation, he was paroled on the condition that he depart from the United States and return to his native Sicily.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 475
Surveillance Techniques
In 1968, Congress passed Title III, a law authorizing the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to engage in the bugging and wire tapping of criminal suspects.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 474
The True Mafia
A true mafia represents a model of criminal perfection.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 473
The Mafia Is A Gentlemen's Club
No definition seemed to suffice because no definition could fully capture this illusive Sicilian "thing."
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 472
Bombs And The Mob!
Part Two: Cleveland And Youngstown, Ohio
The crime families of two cities, Cleveland and Youngstown, would utilize the bomb more so than any other of the families of the American Mafia.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 471
Bombs And The Mob!
Part One: Chicago, Illinois
First came the knife. Then came the gun. Then came the bomb. Thus was the progression of tools made by Man to kill his fellow Man.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 470
The Gangster Fixation
Organized crime is an inward, specialized world composed of individuals who reject conventionality and finding themselves selecting behavior that more suits their predispositions.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 469
Myths Of The Mob!
"The vow of silence that is part of the oath of Omerta is more myth than reality today!" --FBI Agent Janice Fedarcyk
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 468
Raymond Chandler Interviews Lucky Luciano
Raymond Chandler(1888-1959) was a noted novelist and screenwriter who influenced the modern
detective story with the fictional protagonist shamus Philip Marlowe, private
eye. The interview was commissioned by the London Sunday Times. It was never
published.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 467
Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless
Part Four: New York's Activist Clergy
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 466
The Mexican Drug War
The Mexican drug conflicts, clan against clan, began over the fight for the right to move drugs through the border cities.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 465
Prohibition Bootlegging
Prohibition was a dream come true for opportunists who saw a chance to make a clean up and a perfect breeding ground for a massive crime wave by otherwise law-abiding citizens.
- By Tim Newark, Feature Articles 464
Lucky in Nazi Germany
Tim Newark uses primary sources in US and European archives to reveal new truths about the gangster and puncture old myths.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 463
Al Capone's Income Tax Trial
The case against Capone became the most important income tax investigation in American history, setting many legal precedents.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 462
Are Informers Reliable?
Can government informers be relied upon to give true testimony about themselves and others?
- By Arthur Nash, Feature Articles 461
New York City Gangland (Images of America)
Throughout the United States, there is no single major metropolitan area more closely connected to organized crime's rapid ascendancy on a national scale than New York City.
Click here to buy the book!
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 460
"Mother Of Mercy, Is This The End Of Rico?"
The quote above is the dying words uttered by Rico, a Chicago gangster of the 1920s, after being cut down by police bullets (in the movie - Little Caeser, 1931).
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 459
Fulton Fish Market Racketeering
The Fulton Fish Market…has for decades been corruptly influenced by organized crime.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 458
Mobsters Taking The Fifth
nor shall be compelled in any Criminal case to be a witness against himself.
- By Ron Chepesiuk, Feature Articles 457
American Gangster Revisited
This is an excerpt from Ron Chepesiuk’s new book: "Sergeant Smack, The Legendary Lives and Times of Ike Atkinson., Kingpin, and his Band of Brothers.". The book is available for purchase from Amazon.com, as well as www.ikeatkinsonkingpin.com, and through local book stores.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 456
Loansharking
Crime Commissions over the years have asserted that loansharking was the second most important activity of organized crime.
- By Ron Chepesiuk, Feature Articles 455
Kill The Beard
This is an excerpt from Ron Chepesiuk’s new book: The Trafficantes: Godfathers from Tampa, Florida: The Mafia, the CIA and the JFK Assassination. The book is available for purchase from Amazon.com, as well as www.ronchepesiuk.com, and through local book stores.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 454
Mafia Legend And Myth
When truth and legend collide, the saying goes, print the legend; it's more interesting.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 453
Kosher Nostra
The rise of Kosher Nostra began in New York City at the turn of the century when Monk Eastman (nee Jacob Osterman) ended the reign of the Irish gangs in the Five Points area of the old Lower East Side.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 452
The Kefauver Crime Committe, 1950-1951
Senator Kefauver introduced a bill calling for a full-scale investigation of crime in interstate commerce.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 451
Rackets & Racketeers
Rackets are organized illegal activities. Racketeers commit crimes.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 450
'Ndrangheta Women
There is a history of active participation of women in the Calabrian 'ndrangheta 'ndrine (clans).
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 449
Last Days of the Gotti Gang
Part Seventeen: Predictable Outcome of Latest Trial
Jurors were evenly divided in the charges involving racketeering, drug trafficking, and murders and thus, for the 4th time in 5 years, the son of the late Gambino crime family Godfather has escaped conviction in a trial prosecuted by the U. S. Attorney’s Office.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 448
La Compagnia Della Teppa
These delinquent youth constituted a teppa, a mob, under the name "La compagnia della teppa" (The Company of the Teppa). An equivalent in English is hooligans, which is derived from the Irish surname Houlihan, taking on the meaning ruffian or hoodlum (in England: teddy-boy)
- By Ron Chepesiuk, Feature Articles 447
Casino Royale-- the Mob, Gambling and Miami’s Early History
This article is adapted from a chapter in Ron Chepesiuk’s book, Gangsters of Miami: True Tales of Mobsters, Gamblers, Hitmen, Con Men and Gang Bangers from the Magic City, which Barricade Books will be published in November 2009 All rights reserved.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 446
The Trials Of Traficant
Part Eight: Traficant Returns to Youngstown
After spending 7 years in a Federal Penitentiary following his conviction on bribery and racketeering charges, former Congressman James Traficant has returned to his native Youngstown to face an uncertain future.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 445
Cosa Nostra Power In Sicily
Organized crime includes three components: the criminal group; its protectors (that is, those who defend the interests of the group); the specialists (those who knowingly render services to promote the interests of the group).
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 444
Last Days of the Gotti Gang
Part Sixteen: Liar's Poker
The Fifth prosecution of John "Junior" Gotti, son of the late Gambino Family Godfather John Gotti, in now underway in Manhattan Federal Court (Sept 09)
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 443
Dark Brotherhoods
Before the Sicilian mafia system established a firm foothold in the 1880s, there existed earlier forms, the proto-mafias, a few of which became counter-mafias. Taken together, these delinquent societies are known as Tenebrosi Sodalizi (Dark Brotherhoods).
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 442
Replacing Robert Morgenthau
Retiring as District Attorney for Manhattan, Morgenthau has attained a record that ranks him as one of the most successful Prosecutors in U. S. history.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 441
Mafia: What's In A Word?
The term mafia has had over the course of centuries different meanings under a variety of perspectives.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 440
The Rise And Fall Of Omertà
Omertà: to be men; to have blood in your veins. From the Sicilian word omu, man.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 439
Extortion Sicilian Style
The Italian term "pizzo" signifies a form of extortion. A typical practice is to demand a percentage of earnings or a fixed monthly rate from businesses and entrepreneurs in exchange for "protection."
- By Sandra Harmon, Feature Articles 438
MAFIA SON
The Scarpa Mob Family, The FBI, and a Story of Betrayal
Bestselling author Sandra Harmon uses her inside access to the Mob, law enforcement, and jailed Mafioso Gregory Scarpa Jr. to tell an epic true story of crime and betrayal.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 437
Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless
Part Three: Another Disappointing Sentence
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 436
Casalesi Camorra Clan
The camorra boot camp began with the "spirit of the dagger."
- By Ron Chepesiuk, Feature Articles 435
Interview with Billy Corben, Director of Gangster Documentaries
Billy Corben is a 30-year old award-winning director of gangster documentaries, Corben's most noted productions, Cocaine Cowboys 1 and 2, document the rise of the cocaine trade and the resulting crime epidemic plaguing Miami in the 1970s and 1980s.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 434
The Honorable Raffaele Palizzolo, Mafia Supporter
A number of crimes were to be attributed to Palizzolo: fraud, social insurance swindles, giving false testimony and favoritism to the advantage of the mafia.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 433
Analyze This: The Criminal Mentality
Mobsters are modern-day buccaneers, working schemes, profiting from the labors of others, exploiting the weak, picking the pockets of suckers, killing without remorse.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 432
The Cuocolo Affair
The Cuocolo double-murder trial of 1911, which produced the first Neapolitan camorra informer, drew international publicity because it opened a door to a criminal secret society whose operatives were plaguing both Italy and the United States.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 431
Life And Death In The Bronx
Part Two: Getting Away With Murder
It was the performance of his career, actor Lillo Brancato, Jr., tearfully portrayed himself as a victim.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 430
There Is No Mafia In America
"There was as much difference between the mafia and an American crime syndicate as there would be between a friar and the Pope." (The Truth about the Mafia, 1962).
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 429
License to Kill: Greg Scarpa and the FBI
Part Eight: "The Four Questions" - Scarpa was one of the most prolific contract killers in American History who was on the payroll - and evident protection from prosecution - of the FBI.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 428
George Raft, Mafia Wannabe
Raft’s tough-guy persona on the silver screen was not an act—gangsters were his heroes (and sometime mentors).
- By Ron Chepesiuk, Feature Articles 427
Retired DEA Agents and NYPD Cops Sue Frank Lucas, the "American Gangster…." Again
A group of retired DEA agents and New York Police Department cops have sued NBC Universal, the producers of "American Gangster," claiming that they were defamed in the movie’s closing credits.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 426
License to Kill: Greg Scarpa and the FBI
Part Seven: Racism and The FBI - what can be told now is a very disturbing story based upon what is already known about Hoover, Scarpa, and Marcello.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 425
La Mano Nera (The Black Hand)
The phenomenon of the Black Hand at the turn of the 20th century represented a brief and turbulent chapter in the history of Italian immigrant criminality.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 424
That Thing Called Cosa Nostra
The linkage between the state and Cosa Nostra is best demonstrated by the mutual
advantages that accrue with mafia infiltration into the political system.
- By Sonny Girard, Feature Articles 423
Hollywood vs The Mob
If audiences respond so well to mob material, why is it so hard to get mob projects made?
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 422
Last Days of the Gotti Gang
Part Fifteen: "Junior" Gotti Indicted! Again!
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 421
Mexican Mafias
The term Mexican mafias refers generally to criminal gangs operating in the United States, Mexico, and Central America. What the gangs have in common is an Hispanic heritage that drives a spirit of comradeship and loyalty to the body or association (brotherhood) to which one belongs—an animating spirit of a collective body and devotion to its honor and interests.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 420
RICO: The Nemesis of the Mob
An acronym for "Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations," - The RICO statute had its origins in previous attempts to curtail organized crime’s infiltration into legitimate business.
- By Rick Porrello, Feature Articles 419
"Thanks Mom"
In Memoriam: Frank D’Amico
Wiseguy-turned comedian/actor Frank D’Amico passed away June 1st, 2008
- By Sonny Girard, Feature Articles 418
The Rise & Fall of Organized Crime in America
To understand the Twentieth Century’s rise and fall of what is known as "the mob" in this country, one has to begin in Thirteenth Century Sicily and look back.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 417
Basilischi: The Fifth Mafia
There is Cosa Nostra in Sicily, ‘Ndrangheta in Calabria, Camorra in Campania and Sacra Corona Unita in Puglia. A fifth mafia has been added, the Basilischi, in the region of Basilicata (also called by its former name, Lucania).
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 416
HOLLYWOOD CONFIDENTIAL: The Rise and Fall of Anthony Pellicano
Part Two: Pellicano Convicted!
A jury convicted Pellicano on 76 counts of illegal wiretapping, identity theft, and racketeering in a trial that featured testimony from or about Hollywood stars including Chris Rock, Sylvester Stallone, Gary Shandling, Keith Carradine, and Kevin Nealon.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 415
Attendee Profiles At The 1957 Apalachin Mob Confab
On November 17, 1957, a number of gangsters gathered for a conference at Joseph Barbara’s farmstead in the hamlet of Apalachin (near Endicott village), located in the State of New York’s Southern Tier. This event would become a watershed in the history of American organized crime and the government’s response.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 414
Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless
Part Two: "Boss Hog" Pleads Guilty
McLaughlin perpetrated his various crimes against working people and their families so that he could "support his own version of ‘lifestyles of the rich and famous!'".
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 413
‘O Sistema: In The Land Of The Camorra
Long considered a minor mafia, camorra today controls entire sectors of the economy.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 412
Vito Ciancimino: Palermo's Mafia Mayor
Vito Calogero Ciancimino (1924-2002) was a part of what Sicilian journalist Nino Amadore called the zona grigia, the "gray zone," composed of members of the professional class at the service of Cosa Nostra and on its payroll.
- By Sonny Girard, Feature Articles 411
DAGO: The Joseph Petrosino Story
There is one lawman from long ago that I’ve come to greatly admire; so much so that I’ve recently completed a screenplay based on his life.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 410
Drug Trafficking In Italy
Cigarette contrabanding and other traditional mafia earning ventures, in totality, could not match the income from the narcotrade.
- By Frank R. Hayde, Feature Articles 409
The Mafia and the Machine:
The Story of the Kansas City Mob
The Mafia and it's close alliance with the Politcal Machine in Kansas City.
- By Sonny Girard, Feature Articles 408
R.I.P. ~ Bill Bonanno
Bill Bonanno did not choose a mob life; his father chose it for him.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 407
Mafia As Seen By Various Observers
Selected quotations from several perspectives on organized crime and gangsters, both American and Italian.
- By Ron Chepesiuk and Anthony Gonzalez, Feature Articles 406
Frank Lucas and "American Gangster"—the Myth and the Reality
Many of Lucas’s claims to fame are bogus, and "American Gangster," the movie, is largely the figment of Hollywood’s fertile imagination.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 405
A Christmas Murder In Hollywood
Part Six: The Vigil Continues
It’s becoming something of an annual Holiday tradition continuing chronicling Mafia writer Susan Berman, murdered on Christmas Eve, 2000, and Anthony Fox, the business partner of actor Johnny Depp, who disappeared during Christmas, 2001 and is presumed murdered
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 404
Donne Di Mafia (Women of the Mafia)
Some contend that the correct interpretation is to understand that a donna di mafia is not “part of” but rather “belongs to” the mafia system.
- By Sonny Girard, Feature Articles 403
"When We Were Kings"
A contemplative look back at the good old days of mobdom, brought on by the half century anniversary of the infamous Appalachian Convention.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 402
License to Kill: Greg Scarpa and the FBI
Part Six: The "Mistress of Manipulation" - Linda Schiro, a woman who used her beauty and sexual prowess to manipulate those men in her life whom possessed whatever young Linda desired.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 401
License to Kill: Greg Scarpa and the FBI
Part Five: Giuliani and the G-Man - The "Commission" of the Godfathers of New York City’s five Mafia families allegedly took a vote on whether to sanction the assassination of Rudolph Giuliani, according to an FBI report made public in the Brooklyn murder trial of retired FBI agent Lindley DeVecchio.
- By Sonny Girard, Feature Articles 400
Lansky and Miami
Outside of Las Vegas, there is probably no city in the United States that owes more of its development to the mob than Miami.
- By J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 399
License to Kill: Greg Scarpa and the FBI
Part Four: No Jury for Agent DeVecchio - Lindley DeVecchio, the retired G-man facing 4 counts of murder with the Mob, has waived his right to a trial by "a jury of his peers" and instead demanded he face a "Bench Trial,"
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 398
Rural Sicilian Mafia
The first Sicilian mafia, the rural mafia, also known as the Tradition, arose before the unification of Italy in the 1860s.
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 397
CYBERMAFIA
Cybermafia is a term used to describe all of the cybercrimes committed utilizing computers, especially the Internet.
- By Sonny Girard, Feature Articles 396
Arrivederci, Little Italy
The current demise of Little Italy can only be compared to the decades-long downward plunge of Atlantic City and Miami before their rebirths. Little Italy will have no such rebirth.
- J. R. de Szigethy, Feature Articles 395
17 Days In August: A Tale of Cops, Steroids, and The Mob!
Part Two: The Author’s Personal Revisiting of a Landmark Case
- By Mike La Sorte, Feature Articles 394
Mafia Bianca: White-Collar Mafia
A supporting wing that blends seamlessly into the middle and upper-middle classes.
- By Sonny Girard, Feature Articles 393
"Turning Mob Myths, From the Inside and Out, Inside-Out"
Some myths have been so ingrained in the public consciousness that gangsters themselves now believe them.
- By Rick Porrello, Feature Articles 392
The Chicago Mafia on Trial! |
