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Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary remembered a few more Cork stories so watch this to hear about Cork’s sex life and his gun buying gone wrong.
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Transcript
[0:00]Well, hey, all you wiretappers out there, Gary Jenkins, retired Kansas City police detective in the intelligence unit. You know, we just did Cork Civella, Carl Civella, and I left a couple of stories out that were I thought were pretty good. And plus, I was involved in one and some members of the unit were involved in the other. So anyhow, let me tell you those stories is a little bonus for episode. And, you know, I could have gone back and tried to insert these in, but that’s kind of a pain. So I just did another little short podcast here. You know, back in 1981, we had a couple of guys, Harold Nichols and Randy Collins were out driving around, you know, doing their thing, you know, looking for mob guys, going to the city market, going to the trap, the social club and some of the other usual haunts. Maybe if they had a business that, you know, they hung out at and then maybe you’d pick up on them and you’d follow them to see where they went. You know, if you find them going to a spot that you never heard of before, you know, that’s how we caught, got those phones on a Tuffy DeLuna calling Las Vegas is following Tuffyand finally get him going in this hotel.
[1:05]Then you catch him going there again and somebody runs inside and you see him on the phone. Like, bam, you got it. That’s how it works guys. And so these guys were out cruising around, not thinking about anything, not doing anything. They were downtown. I remember they were downtown Kansas city, a lot of traffic back then. And 1981 or 80, I believe, yes, 1980, it was in the spring. And so they saw Quark Civella with a woman by the name of Rita Armillio. And they were, I don’t know, looking for a parking spot. And they thought, well, you know, let’s just pull over and, you know, see where they go. And they finally settled in a parking spot. and they both went into a store that sold guns and and so they documented that and and at the time cork and another guy named paul barcelona they kind of about the same age they were contemporaries they were friends and they both had a big head of white hair although barcelona’s i think was real and corks was a wig he had this huge big head of white hair gray gray white hair but it was a wig and he was a dapper. Have you ever seen that picture of him in that checkered sport coat and that white wig? He’s a very, very dapper dude.
[2:24]So he and Rita go in there and they run up and kind of peek in the window and they’re looking at handguns and so they don’t want to burn the deal. They just back off and then they follow them and they follow them over to Rita’s apartment and they both go inside.
[2:40]So, you know, you write that up, send it over to the Bureau. Bureau goes to the U.S. Attorney, and the U.S. Attorney said, okay, we’ll put them in front of a grand jury. So they get Ms. Armillio. Of course, they know Cork’s not going to say anything. They get Ms. Armillio to come, and she testifies that she wasn’t there that day. Says, no, he wasn’t with me. me i he he there was another guy named Paul Varselona that was with me you know i did go into that store you know we did look at guns i did buy one because they you know found the records by then that she bought a 38 caliber handgun but she said i did not ask mr Civella to get go with me to get that weapon i know that he’s not supposed to be anywhere near guns or around guns and i i know he’s got better sense he would not have gone if i’d asked him to and you know i just wanted that gun then they call Civella and he says no they call Varcelona and he says no cork says i wasn’t there cork actually wouldn’t refuse to testify and in in the end then they charged her with perjury for saying that Paul Varselona was there because they got the policemen nichols and collins to testify without a doubt without a doubt in their their mind that was Cork Civella and not Paul Varselona.
[4:06]Bam, perjury. So they charged her with perjury and they ended up giving her like, I don’t know, like six months and two year probation, some kind of a fine for impeding and hampering a grand jury investigation of whether Cork Civella unlawfully possessed a firearm.
[4:24]
Cork’s Encounter with the Law
[4:24]So that’s one little story about Cork. And here’s another one that would involve me, actually. Again, I was out like those guys, only it was nighttime. I was out cruising. I was out cruising around by myself, and I happened to see Cork. And he had this, at the time, it was a Salmon Lincoln Continental, a Mark. You know, he loved those Marks. He had ones with like the, looked like a spare tire in the trunk. And he got a he had a salmon one colored one then and he got a lime green one after that i think i mentioned that last week or in the other podcast the other show and yeah i see cork and he’s over in the north what we call the north side uh just outside of the north end or little Italy and he’s headed east on independence avenue so i just follow him behind him there’s no other cars on the street but you know i haven’t been following him for a long time and so i just drift along behind Behind him, I can see him a couple of blocks up in front, and he pulls into this joint called the Country and Western Playhouse. It’s owned by a mob guy named Sal Manzo, and it’s a real well-known mafia hangout. But it was a big club, Country and Western Playhouse. They had country and western music. They had a band, and they always, when they had a band, they had dancing, and they, you know, it was hopping. It was rocking and rolling. And so I let him go on in and, you know, I kind of sit outside a little bit, check the parking lot, see who all’s inside, if I recognize any cars.
[5:52]And finally I park and I go in, sit down at the bar and order a drink and kind of let, you know, you turn around and look around and people up on the dance floor. And I see a large party over in the corner.
[6:06]Kind of a special little secluded corner. And there’s Cork sitting in the middle of really a bunch of young people. I didn’t know any of them. There’s one young gal that was sitting next to him and he was like chatting up pretty good. And then she was actually, she was probably, he was probably 60, 65 at the time. And, uh, uh, you know, much younger than I am now, but he seemed like an old man to me because I was probably in my thirties, early thirties. And, and this girl was probably probably in her middle twenties. She was attractive and they were chatting up and then pretty soon they get up on the dance floor and they dance. This old guy kind of shuffles around a little bit. It was kind of humorous to watch. And then there’s a guy sitting next to me and I feel his eyes. He’s just staring at me. Finally, I turn, how you doing, dude? You know, what’s going on? What’s up? You know, what’s going on? You know, some pleasantry. And he’s a boy. He said, I’m glad you started talking. I said, what do you mean? I thought you’re a guy that cut me. So I’m like trying to watch court and make sure he He doesn’t head out. And if anybody else comes over and meet with him and talk to this guy and calm him down. And he said, I said, no, man, I don’t have a knife. I don’t carry a knife. It wasn’t me. Yeah, I know. After I heard you talking. So we start chatting and this is some grizzled old dude that I said, what do you do for a living? I said, I hunt night crawlers or like big ass worms that people use as fish bait.
[7:27]And he looked like he hunted night crawlers for a living. and thank God that he realized that I wasn’t the guy that cut him because that sucker might have cut me. And, you know, during those days, you know, like a deal like that, he usually would not take a gun everywhere I went, going to a bar like that. You know, don’t take a gun. There’s no use in it. I’m not going to do anything. Nobody’s going to, you know, either just a normal bar room brawl or something, you know, they might do something there, but you don’t need a gun for that, especially back then. I guess today you would. But I keep watching Cork and chatting this guy up and pretty soon he and this girl is, it’s getting kind of closer around one o’clock and closing time was one 30 and they get up to leave. And, and so I make my amends with this guy. So I do, I got to go. It’s been nice talking to you.
[8:15]He was like my best friend by the end of that night, follow Cork out, follow the girl leaves, Cork leaves. He follows her and she pulls up in the apartment just a few blocks away, way really they both go inside and you know i can see a light come on and so i can go find out who you know what apartment number it is and later on and then find a and and get to tag off her car so i can figure out who this is and i don’t even remember who she was now but it’s just you know another little night in the life of cork Civella and there’s actually there’s one more we were watching i’ve told this story i told it in my movie brothers against brothers and i’ve told it But before, I won’t belabor you with too much, but they had this war going on between the Speros and the Civellas.
[9:03]
The War Between the Speros and Civellas
[9:04]And Carl Spero had been wounded and made into a paraplegic, probably by a toughie, with a shotgun at a shootout or a shooting that happened at the Virginia Tavern at Admiral in Virginia. So we are now, myself, Harold Nichols, and I think Bobby Arnold was there. And so we’re watching Carl Spero. Our job is to watch him and make sure nobody kills him.
[9:32]And we did that for quite a while so he’s at the virginia tavern he just sitting in there by himself he’s got his cadillac out and back with his license plate that has s-p-e-r-o spiro on he like he was right in their face all the time sitting in there by himself uh in the middle of the afternoon hardly nobody you know a few people came and went so we’re just sitting back watching smoking and joking and and we see joe ragusa drive by then he disappears and we find out later that he went to a phone and he called cork and he tells cork he says cork he said uh he’s there all by himself you know nobody around and cork says you know what did you see any agents around he said no i didn’t see any agents at all was a g around no there’s no g you know i looked all around which he really didn’t he just drove by a couple of times but he didn’t drive up by us he didn’t easily seen us going ganged up in a parking lot cork says you know if you don’t see them they’re probably there then you know back off but he didn’t back off they went and got toughy and and another guy who couldn’t we couldn’t see who it was and they came up and they proud drove around and around as we moved in you can’t really like just let that go you can’t just sit back and wait there run in and shoot somebody and then run back out maybe kind of have to try to interrupt it in some manner it’s a dicey situation so we drive in closer and they spot us and they take off at a high rate of speed actually followed me for a little bit and took off.
[11:01]At a high rate of speed when they got up next to me and glanced over and they.
[11:05]Saw me and they you know i’m in this this kind of down the hills neighborhood.
[11:08]And you know i mean you know i’m a 30 something white guy reasonably fit and all that i mean i just probably had cop written all over me we never like got all raggedy and had long hair and beards for the most part.
[11:22]
Closing Thoughts and Resources
[11:23]Anyhow, so that’s a few more stories about corks of L. I forgot to put in there. So thanks a lot, guys. Don’t forget to like and subscribe.
[11:31]Don’t forget to, if you’ve got a problem with PTSD and you’ve been in the service, get that hotline number off the VA website. And if you have a problem with drugs or alcohol, if you’re in the service, go to the VA. But if not, check out Angelo Ruggiano, a former Gambino guy.
[11:48]He has a website and he has a hotline number on that i believe at least he used to and i like to ride motorcycles so watch out for motorcycles when you’re out there and if you get on my facebook, gangland wire podcast and and we’ll make a lot of comments have a lot of interesting pictures and interesting uh interactions and the same way with my youtube channel get on that and and we and really read the comments a lot of them are a lot of fun a lot of times people get in little arguments but i never let that go too far homie don’t play that we do not go down those paths of people fighting with each other you know this is this is just for fun and if you have a different opinion about the mafia you know take it take it to the streets man or if you want to fight about it call each other names otherwise you can just simply state your position somebody else will state theirs for a fact i had one pretty interesting this last week a whole long thing about the jfk assassination at chucky nicoletti based on a comment on that show that i put on that i really thought was interesting a lot several interesting, comments on that one so there’s a good one to look at so we’re always here and provide you with mafia entertainment and keep coming back guys thanks a lot.