Jimmy Duardi

After Duardi was released from the Grove Oklahoma sentence, he started holding court at a small used car dealership at Gregory and Troost. A loan shark named Frankie Robertson and a small time mob associate named Joe Sivliango were usingJimmy Duardi this as a front. Joe was involved in cheating lending institutions using wrecked cars to get floor plan money and then he expanded to be involved in obtaining loans from a corrupt banker at the Shawnee State bank.

Jimmy was more sophisticated and he backed a guy starting an escort service and helped another guy get a bank loan from the Traders National Bank though a Teamsters supported banker and politician named George Lehr. Now Mr. Lehr was not really a corrupt politician or banker, he just thought he could run with the big tough boys. Of course, he was way over his head and his bank lost $300,000.00.

Bob Arnold and I were following Jimmy and Clifford Bishop and we watched him unload boxes of frozen meat from the back of his pickup truck at the Italian Gardens restaurant. We knew something was up because a restaurant does not buy meat out of an unrefrigerated  truck.

We got a whole team on him and found his connection to a Jim Elgin who had obtained the above $300 K loan and was on his way to busting out his trucking company called J&L Refrigeration. Several Kansas City food outlets were buying meat from the back of a pickup truck.

20 thoughts on “Jimmy Duardi”

  1. Hi Gary, was Jimmy the owner of the strip club that used to operate around 80th and troost, I think it was AB’s lounge. Also was this the same Cliff Biship involved in the bombing of the Red Apple at the behest of Corky. Did Jimmy get the explosives for this?

  2. ABs was owned by a guy named Anthony Bonomo. Now Jimmy would have been treated very good at that joint it would be easy to mistake him for the owner. Jimmy liked to act like he was in charge wherever he was. He had a good connection for explosives though Clifford Bishop who had this Tulsa gangster named Jack Michael King. He was a Native American and had connections to get explosives.

    The Red Apple car bombing, I think the guy’s name was Jack Anderson who owned the Red Apple. This was ordered by Cork Civella to scare the guy because he wanted to muscle in on the business. I am not sure where the explosives came from as a guy named Gene Shephard and Mike Ruffalo were involved. I don’t think charges were ever filed and Ruffalo ended up in witness protection.

    In the 1980s Duardi was convicted of obtaining explosives from Jack Michael King to use in a contract killing in Kansas City. I believe it may have something to do with the car bombing of Carl Spero. I can’t remember for sure. I think Clifford Bishop was involved with this. Did you ever meet Rod Murphy in these south side bars? Did you ever gamble at the private game upstairs in Waldo?

    1. Yeah it was Jack Anderson who owned the Red Apple. That whole deal was strictly Cork being Cork. Anderson had brought 3 girls to Vegas who worked at the club. He ended up leaving them out there and one of the girls was Corks “girl on the side”. Cork with his temper decided he was going to show Anderson by taking over his club. He certainly wasn’t his brother. I used to go to AB and there was always a couple of guys who seemed the type hanging around so I just assumed it was one of Jimmys places since he ran the south and I know he had the old place under the bridge at 85th and troost. I never gambled anywhere other than placing some football bets at Sutera’s place. My Dad was pretty good friends with Eddie Searing and Carlo Cavalerro so they would take my action. If I met Rod I don’t remember. I know charges were never filed in the Spero case but did you guys ever figure out who did it, word on the street was that it was Cammisano Jr. and Vincent Picone, but you know how neighborhood lore is. I run into Wille Jr every once in a while and its funny he is always so nice and polite, but when you know the guy was involved in at least 4 murders it changes how you relate to someone LOL.

      1. You refer to the “the old place under the bridge at 85th and troost” in your post. My cousins, Dennis and Mike Donegan owned Strouds which was located there. Was there another business there ?

        1. He was about a block or 2 off in his reference. The Old Fortress was in the building where B.B.s Lawnside is located.

      2. One of the girls that worked for Jack (and Denny) at the Apple was murdered. I don’t believe anybody was charged. Her name was Lindy and she was a real nice person. I think the main suspect was her husband/boyfriend but nothing apparently came of that, Anybody know anything about this and if charges were ever filed? It was a long time ago…..

  3. I left the Unit right after Carl was hit. I seem to remember some speculation about Jr. I think it was a sanctioned hit and whoever actually did it had good working knowledge around remote control bombs. Everybody does not have that. I will tell some great stories about how f$&cked up the Spero brothers with a remote control device. Movie premiere on nov. 15 at Screenland Crown Center.

    Oh and by the way, you know a little too much.

  4. I think you are right about King. I had forgotten that fact. Have you gone to that link I put up that has excerpts from a book about some of these Oklahoma guys? We once followed Michael Kattou and Gene Maggio about 1/2 way to Tulsa and got the Tulsa Intelligence guys to pick them up. They moved there for a while. They were running an operation where they had a lock picking and making tool lit in the back of a van. They were traveling the OK and Texas area to steal from vending machines. I know Kattou was killed, what ever happened to Maggio after he was caught inside that bank in Platte County?

    1. My Dad Gene Maggio went to Leavenworth for quite a while for that! He has since passed away from cancer.

      1. I am sorry for your loss, I had noticed his obituary. Would you want a copy of a little bit of his FBI file?

  5. The whole backdoor meat deliveries to the Italian Gardens makes perfect sense. Jack Bondon ran the place and he and Jimmy were very tight.

  6. Jack King was not married to Jimmys niece. Candy is totally unrelated except thru a friendship with her mother and father. Jack did not run the Gardens his brother John did & Carl of course. Jack was way more involved with the liquor stores. The amount of speculation on what you suspect Jimmy was involved in is sort of over the top. If he did all the things he was suspected of he should have been a millionaire.

  7. Hi Gary I was wondering if you could tell me anything about joe maggio or joe Farris. I’ve heard that they were body guards for jimmy. But how true is that I am just wondering because I like the history of stuff like this. And if you know who joe maggio are and joe Farris is how connected were they:

    1. I remember Joe Maggio. He was a fireman for a while. Seems like he took a pinch and got some prison time. I do not remember Joe Ferris. Email me at ganglandwire@gmail.com and let’s talk. Do you have a relative named Ron who lived at Lake Waukomis?

  8. Reading this brings up sooo many memories.In the early to late 70s I was the sidechick of Jr’s. My friend dated Maggio and afterward a man named Joe Mike. Does anyone remember him? She danced at the apple and remembers Lindy. We hung out on 12th and ABs and Uncle Joe’s in the Quay.my car was damaged badly when the bomb went off.Rumor had it there was a lion or tiger housed downstairs of a club close by.Anyone remember that?

    1. I would guess that Joe Mike was Joe Mike Mesh. He had somrhting to do with a River Quay club that had a lion in an adjoing room. A fire destroyed the buidlig and killed the lion. Vice cops used to throw the water on the girls for thwe wet tee-shirt contest. Email me and lets exchange some other stories. ganglandwire@gmail.com Gary

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