Gangland Wire

Movie coupleMichael Pitt Nina AriandaReal CoupleTommy Uva, Rosemarie DeToma       Tommy Uva thought he was smart In the movie, Tommy Uva made the mob guys strip to their underwear and lay on top of each other and act like they were humping the bottom guy. I found nothing to substantiate that but I did find that Tommy Uva did make them drop their pants as he made his escape to the waiting Rosemarie...

Rob the Mob Movie In this first of a 2-part series, Gary and Aaron reveal that John Gotti inspired the Bonnie and Clyde couple made famous for robbing New York City mafia social clubs. The story was made into a crime film in 2014. Rob the Mob was directed by Raymond De Felitta and written by Jonathan Fernandez. The film stars Michael Pitt, Nina Arianda, Andy García, Ray Romano, Aida Turturro, Fran...

Peter Gotti and Michael DiLeonardo New York Mafia expert Ed Scarpo tells about his relationship with Michael DiLeonardo, aka Mikey Scars, since he went into the witness protection program. DiLeonardo gives very few interviews but he did give this one Ed Scarpo of www.cosanostranews.com . After the incarceration of John Gotti, the Commission allowed his older brother Peter Gotti to be acting as the...

In this second of a two part interview with former Las Vegas newsman and current Mob Museum blogger Larry Henry we talk Vegas and the mob and about the famous muckraking reporter Ned Day. Larry was the political editor at the Las Vegas Sun during those days. Back when “the mob ran the town.” Currently, Larry is an official blogger for the Mob Museum in Las Vegas and as as his own blog titled The M...

In this first of a two part interview with former Las Vegas newsman and current Mob Museum blogger Larry Henry we talk Vegas and the mob and about the famous muckraking reporter Ned Day. Ned Day Since we could not interview the late Ned Day, we opted for a man who knew him and the organized crime beat Day covered in 1970s Las Vegas. Larry was the political editor at the Las Vegas Sun during those...

Our friend from the federal prison at Marion, former guard David, continues in this episode telling about his experiences with New York City crime boss, John Gotti. We learn that when Gotti arrived at the Reception and Diagnostic Unit, he was greeted like royalty by other prisoners. David tells about the day-to-day life of the famous mob boss was like inside the walls of Marion. Learn more about h...

If you have not listened to the 7 part interview with the parachuting skyjacker Martin J. McNally, please stop and go back to listen to those episodes. In this episode, David, a retired Marion prison guard, recounts stories from his life as a guard in the maximum security prison at Marion Illinois. During his time at the facility, he was assigned to the cell block where Martin J. McNally resided....

We interview noted mob historian and author Scott Deitche about his latest book, Garden State Gangland and the listener learns about the New Jersey crime families. As a bonus, Scott also tells the Wiretappers about Santos Trafficante Jr. and the development of the Tampa crime family. Scott has written six books on organized crime, including Garden State Gangland: The Rise of the Mob in New Jersey,...

Jose Miguel Battle David Shanks spent most of his law enforcement career working on Jose Miguel Battle and his mafia organization known as The Corporation. Jose Miguel Battle started his life as a corrupt police sergeant taking bribes from american mobsters like Meyer Lansky and passing them along to corrupt Cuban officials in the Batista government. Battle joined the CIA backed anti-Castro revolu...

Jose Miguel Battle David Shanks spent most of his law enforcement career working on Jose Miguel Battle and his mafia organization known as The Corporation. Jose Miguel Battle started his life as a corrupt police sergeant taking bribes from american mobsters like Meyer Lansky and passing them along to corrupt Cuban officials in the Batista government. Battle joined the CIA backed anti-Castro revolu...

Bill Norton covered the Kansas City mob boss Nick Civella and the crime beat for the Kansas City Star newspaper from his first day as a reporter. In the 1970s, the KC Police Department furnished a bare bones office with one desk and a telephone for the crime reporter. Bill did not report to the Star offices but rather went to work each day at police headquarters. He developed police sources as wel...

Support Gangland Wire Scott Bernstein was one of my first contacts in the true crime mob world. I found his website and blog Gangster Report and realized this guy was a serious student of organized crime. another thing I notices was he also had developed his own sources within the criminal organizations as well as law enforcement. He does a podcast with his co-host Al Profit, Click here to go to t...

Support Gangland Wire The famous and controversial F.B.I. agent Melvin Purvis was most famous for his fanatical pursuit of the Midwest bank robbing gangs led by John Dillinger and George “Baby Face” Nelson. We like to find those other lesser known stories about well known criminals and the men who investigate them. We found a first hand account of the Battle of Little Bohemia in a 1937 newspaper a...

William Hanhardt as he leaves the Federal Building. Guv claims he masterminded a jewelry thief ring including the time he served as Chief of Detectives for the Chicago Police Department. CST/Brian Jackson In the 1950s, most large Police Departments had a few corrupt officers. We were not different here in Kansas City. We got a break in 1960 the city hired a square jawed and square in every other w...

  As we continue with our Media and the Mob series on the first Monday of each month, this week Aaron and I interview veteran Philadelphia television reporter Dave Schratwieser who has been an investigative reporter with Philadelphia FOX 29 News  since 1994. Dave has investigated Philadelphia organized crime and corruption as well as government and judicial malfeasance. Dave talks about gathering...

Support Gangland Wire   In part 2, Frank goes into how his father groomed him as a teenager for the Outfit life and his adult life as a soldier in the Calabrese crew ran by his uncle, Nick Calabrese. He describes how the Calabrese Frank at Mob-Con crew became the “go to” hit team for the Outfit bosses. He describes how meticulous the crew would prepare to do a murder. Yet, one of those murders don...

Support Gangland Wire Aaron and I interview Frank Calabrese Jr. and learn the inside story of what it is like to grow up in an Outfit family and then go into the family business. Frank Calabrese Sr. separated his work life from his family until he realized his namesake son, Frank Calabrese Jr., had the brains and fortitude to into his father’s business, loansharking, extortion and gambling.  Frank...

Support Gangland Wire   May 27, 1981 was a beautiful spring day at the exclusive Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A respected successful Tulsa businessman named Roger Wheeler finished his regular golf date with friends. He showered, dressed, had one drink with his golf buddies and walked to his car. This day seemed normal in every aspect except for a late model brown nondescript sed...

Chuckie Nicoletti and ‘Milwaukee Phil’ Alderisio On May 2, 1962, Chicago cops responded to a suspicious party radio call at 1750 SupeStor st. in Chicago. They encountered Chicago Outfit members Philip (Milwaukee Phil) Alderisio, an Outfit trigger-man and loan shark, and Charles Nicoletti,  a west side gambling boss sitting in a nondescript 4 door 1962 Ford automobile. As they searched this car, th...

Anthony DeStefano is a veteran reporter who covered the Five Families in New York City for over three decades. He recently sat through the trial of New York mob boss Vincent Asaros who was charged with conspiracy in the famous 6 Million dollar cash and jewelry robbery from a Lufthansa Air cargo warehouse. He is currently a reporter for Newsday in New York City, specializing in criminal justice and...

Support Gangland Wire This is a repeat of last week, I forgot to attach the audio and then was out of town all week. Sorry for the delay of the audio podcast. The subject of this episode is Narcos, the story of the Cali Cartel . Ron Chepesiuk hosts the Crime Beat Radio show on the Artists First network. Just click on the highlighted show tile and be entertained. Ron Chepesiuk is a former college p...

  Crown Point jail In episode 2, we discuss the frantic flight of John Dillinger and Herbert Youngblood. Lillian Holley and every law enforcement officer in the Midwest was on the lookout for Dillinger. He was wearing out his Robin Hood status among citizens by this time and this would help. The Dillinger gang gets back together and conducts a raid on a police station where they take guns and bull...

Dillinger escape car Dillinger with Sheriff Lillian Holley In this first episode of the exciting story of John Dillinger and his jailbreak the listener learns how John Dillinger was wanted for killing a police officer during a bank robbery when he was captured in Tucson Arizona. He was extradited to Indiana where he was held without bond in the Lake County jail, located in Crown Point, Indiana. La...

We talked in our first episode on the Irish mob about Owney Madden getting into promoting and managing and gambling on professional boxing. Like professional criminal activities, for young Irish and Italian guys, professional boxing was a manly way out of their crushing poverty.  Many people during this time observed that Madden became a different person at a boxing match. He would jump up and scr...

Jimmy Coonan brought the Westies into the 20th Century and presided over the most bloody and violent gang in New York City history James Coonan was a baby boomer born December 21, 1946. He became known as “Jimmy C.” As we said last week, Jimmy C. took over the Hell’s Kitchen Irish mob after he made a deal with Gambino member Roy Demeo to kill the previous boss, Mickey Spillane, in 1977.  During hi...