Retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Unit Detective Gary jenkins interviews retired ATF Agent Lou Valose about his undercover work on the Chicago Outfit and how he infiltrated a crew led by Outfit Associate Mark Polchan. Lou tells how he got his start working undercover stings that focused on buying “crime guns” from criminals who either had stolen them or traded drugs for them on the black market. He did not know, but he was really training for the biggest infiltration of his career. He will infiltrate the dangerous and feared Chicago Motorcycle gang called the Outlaws and then the Outfit. Marck Polchan will lead him to Mike “The Large Guy” Sarno and expose the Outfit to prosecution. Venmo me @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” A fellow agent who knew his work called him and asked if he would try to infiltrate a southside Outlaw Motorcycle gang leader’s pawnshop because they suspected he had done some bombings for the Chicago organized crime group known as the Outfit. When he arrived, he found this man’s name was Mark Polchan and he operated a pawnshop where he dealt with stolen property. Lou and other agents devised a plan to get the positive attention of Polchan. First, they knew he loved Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), and Lou was an MMA fighter. He started working at an MMA gym nearby in Cicero and was working his way into this subculture. He needed to get close to Polchan, so the agents had a novel idea, one agent knew a dentist and they purchased old gold teeth that the dentist had removed. He dropped by Polchan’s Pawnshop/jewelry store in Cicero and asked if he would buy gold teeth. Polchan replied he would and shortly after Lou returned with the gold teeth, some with roots still attached and a red stain that looked like blood on them. Polchan was impressed and also wanted to know more about his MMA career. Using these two things, Lou Valose worked his way into the inner circle of Polchan’s crew. He learned about his connection to a made guy named Mike “The Large Guy” Sarno. This guy had recently taken over the old Frank Calabrese Sr. crew after the Family Secrets convictions decimated the Outfit. Venmo me @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,click here To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos. To subscribe on iTunesclick here,please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Unit Detective Gary Jenkins interviews retired ATF Agent Jay Dobyns about his undercover investigation of the Mesa Arizona Hells Angels. ATF assigned Jay Dobyns and other agents to a long-term undercover investigation they labeled Black Biscuit. This operation resulted from a deadly shoot-out between Hell’s Angels members and the Mongols Motorcycle club in Laughlin, Nevada. Venmo me @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” Agent Dobyns and other agents obtained a cooperator and created the appearance they belonged to the Solo Angles Motorcycle Club from Tijuana, Mexico. They claimed they needed to buy guns and send them south to arm their fellow Solo Angles because of a rival Mongols gang. This ruse got the Mesa Hells Angel’s attention because they were bitter enemies of the Mongols stemming from the Laughlin Nevada shoot-out. Jay Dobyns was able to get the confidence of Mesa Bob, the local Hells Angles leader. After several mo...
Retired KCPD Intelligence Unit Detective Gary Jenkins and mob historian Camillius “Cam” Robinson discuss the life and times of New York Mob boss, Bill Bonanno. GET THE MAGIC MIND 40% DISCOUNT CLICK ON THIS LINK – MAGIC MIND – PUT THE CODE GANGLAND20 IN THE BOX AT CHECKOUT Venmo me @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,click here To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos. To subscribe on iTunesclick here,please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins examines the Gotti plot to kill Sammy the Bull Gravano. After Gravano served his time from his plea arrangement, 5 years for a lifetime of murder, assault, extortion, and racketeering. He was relocated to Tempe Arizona in the Witness protection program but left after a few years because he did not like the constraints. In 1995, he relocated to Scottsdale Arizona, started a construction company, and lived an open life. he even gave interviews to Diane Sawyer on 60 minutes and to the Arizona Republic newspaper. This enraged the Gotti family, especially after they learned he was collaborating on a book about his life in the Gambino family and his rise to underboss for John Gotti Sr. He even hired a publicist to get more press attention, the exact thing he claimed he did not like about John Gotti. TO GET THE MAGIC MIND DISCOUNT CLICK ON THIS LINK – MAGIC MIND –PUT GANGLAND20 IN THE CODE BOX AT CHECKOUT Gary tells the story...
Retired KCPD Intelligence Unit Detective Gary Jenkins interviews retired FBI agents Richard Stout and Jack “Jack Falcone” Garica. Richard Stout worked on public corruption in South Florida during the 1980s. Agent Stout uncovered a small cabal of corrupt Broward county Florida cops. Together, these agents conducted an operation that snared the ringleader, former Deputy Richard Tauber, and another deputy Kevin Frankel. They also took down two civilians named Robert Baccari and Christopher Provenzano. Venmo me @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” Agent Stout learned that Deputy Richard Tauber acted more like he was an organized crime associate than a deputy sheriff. He was able to insert an unc=dercover agent into Tauber’s circle and when the agent suggested that Tauber could earn a large payoff if he transported a large cache of stolen diamonds from Florida to New York. During the first meeting with this agent, Tauber openly bragged about how he could get anything...
Chicago Outfit historian James Imlach tells listeners about watching Frank Calabrese Sr. testify on his own behalf and how he could not hold his anger back. He also describes how funny and engaging Joey Lombardo was when he took the stand in his defense. Finally, he describes the rambling testimony of former Chicago cop Twan Doyle and how he had other Chicago cops testify what a great cop he had been. Then he watched as the prosecutor asked this question of each character witness, “Did you ever go visit a mob boss in prison?” Venmo me @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,click here To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos. To subscribe on iTunesclick here,please give me a review and help others...
In Part one of a two-part series, Chicago Outfit historian James Imlach tells how he attended the entire Family Secrets trial in 2007. The Family Secrets investigation started on July 27, 1998. Outfit associate Frank Calabrese Jr. mailed a letter from prison to the FBI and said he was willing to cooperate and help the FBI make murder cases on his father, Frank Calabrese Sr. Hence, the codename of the investigation became Family Secrets. Frank Jr. requested to meet in person with FBI agents and promised he could give good information about his father’s murders and other Outfit activities. Frank Jr. had stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from his father to feed his lifestyle and cocaine habit. He was afraid his father would eventually have him murdered. During the next few months, Frank Jr. “wore a wire” on his own father inside the prison. The agents reviewing these tapes heard Frank Sr. bragging about his many crimes to his son. One of the most significant intercepts...
Venmo me @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup click here Gary talks to Milwaukee author and mob historian Gavin Schmitt about the history of the Milwaukee organized crime family. One of the first things we learn is that Milwaukee rarely enforced the Volstead Act and consequently, the mob was important in smuggling from Canada but inside the city of Milwaukee, it was hard to tell that alcohol was a banned substance. Gavin continues to explain the rise of the Frank Balistreri crime family. Frank Balistreri became to head of the Milwaukee family and he was instrumental in Midwest organized crime activities. Frank Balistreri and the Teamsters are the most current and important stories we discussed. He was able to help influence the Central State’s Teamster’s Pension Fund to loan money to Allen Glick to buy the Stardust casino. In return, Glick ensured the mob could skim money from t...
In this bonus episode, Gary tells about when he developed his first long-term organized crime informant. Turning a mob associate into an informant is a nuanced and delicate process. Gary began by merely revisiting the guy many times at his business as they developed a friendship and trust. He knew the guy had something to hide, but the prize goes to the guy who waits and watches. Finally, the new friend confessed his crime. As usual, it was not near as bad as the guy thought, and Gary was able to make sure he could avoid prosecution easily. This is when the real work starts. Venmo me @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,click here To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos. To subscribe on iTunescl...
Charles Chuckie Russell was a vicious and brutal Chicago Outfit thief. He was a member of the Grand Avenue crew after Joey the Clown Lombardo went away in the Family Secrets trial. He was married to the sister of the new Grand Avenue Crew boss Albert Vena. Chuckie Russell took in an informant who was working for the ATF. He planned the home invasion robbery with this guy and told him how much he wanted to use a blow torch on their victim and take his money and jewelry. In the meantime, the informant introduced Chuckie Russell to an ATF agent who had guns for sale. In the end, they did a buy-bust on Russell and he never got to torture his home invasion victim into giving up his safe combination. Venmo me @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary,click here To buy my Kindle b...