As most of you know, I obtained the entire set of tapes and transcripts from the “Strawman” case. This successful prosecution by the F.B.I. uncovered the domination of the Central States Teamster’s Pension Fund by the leaders of the Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Kansas City La Cosa Nostra families. The only recordings available were the […]

I recently was made aware of an interesting new mob book about Al D’Arco by two of the most respected experts in East Coast Mob activities. Jerry Capeci and Tom Robbins have covered the New York City  Organized Crime scene for several decades. In Mob Boss: The Life of Little Al D”Arco, the Man Who

The Courier for the Kansas City Mob was bringing $40,000 a month back from the Tropicana. The Stardust skim was much larger and that is calculated in the millions every year. Despite the fact that Lefty Rosenthal was an informant, the Stardust courier was never intercepted. They did set the FBI up one time to

In the below clip, Nick Civella discusses political donations in Nevada with Carl “Tuffy” DeLuna. A lot of these conversations were recorded inside the law office of James Patrick Quinn. Civella and his upper echelon mobsters often gathered at this law office to discuss their skimming and other business activities in Las Vegas. They believed

As most folks know, the Midwest La Cosa Nostra Families influenced the Teamster’s Central States Pension Fund to loan money to unqualified persons to buy casinos. Below is a clip from Gangland Wire that tells exactly how that worked. The Battle For Las Vegas by Denny Griffin tells this story as well as anybody.  

Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal was the victim of an attempted homicide by bombing his Cadillac in October of 1982. Gangland Wire contains an interview with an eyewitness. Many persons have speculated who was responsible. A popular theory is Anthony “Tony” Spilotro because of a love triangle with Rosenthal’s wife, Jerri. That is crap, Mob guys don’t

Bill Norton, KC Star reporter, and the Star paper became a thorn in the side of the La Cosa Nostra in Kansas City. As you can see from Gangland Wire, Nick Civella paid a lot of attention to press coverage. He knew the press would create community pressure on law enforcement to take action. More

The F.B.I. spent thousands to install a decent microphone in the visitors area of the Federal Prison at Leavenworth. This is bad, but it is the best they could do under the circumstances. Bugging is not easy. Nick Civella continued to run his organization out of the Pen.  In this audio clip he is talking

In the below audio, Tuffy DeLuna discusses with Joe Agosto the problem of employees stealing from the casino. They are talking about the Tropicana. Carl Thomas had been allowed to hire his friend Donald Shepard and place him inside the count room. They discuss how much authority Shepherd should have if he finds others are

As I have done talks about the Italian Mafia, I often get questions about Mafia organizations in the African-American community in Kansas City and how that connects to the Civella family’s La Cosa Nostra Outfit. I have learned that most large cities had a similar “Black Mafia” organization during the 1960s and 1970s. In Kansas