Gangland Wire Blog

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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 […]

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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

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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

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  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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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