tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44685341614206675092024-03-17T23:01:40.099-04:00Die Youngdieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-90138653740990360282022-03-12T02:24:00.010-05:002022-05-17T10:56:17.262-04:00The Infamous...Alberto "Alpo" Martinez<p> </p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">by Ran</span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDbkL0t5t-q33zsNO3GcGCQ9evuNU5FZ0Wgc4f3zCIW1fNxTPB4PhqMDNg_exuIBsg914aPkRcc2ZlIWMH-UeL8lUgtFesGvaErwvhzq7c2CwxIhXbpeNE36sfG7dojHdzLFdtMDyoEl0/s2048/alpo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1589" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDbkL0t5t-q33zsNO3GcGCQ9evuNU5FZ0Wgc4f3zCIW1fNxTPB4PhqMDNg_exuIBsg914aPkRcc2ZlIWMH-UeL8lUgtFesGvaErwvhzq7c2CwxIhXbpeNE36sfG7dojHdzLFdtMDyoEl0/w310-h400/alpo.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Alberto Geddis Martinez was born June 8, 1966 and grew up in New York City's Spanish Harlem, a </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood located in </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Manhattan</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">.</span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Martinez became involved in the drug trade in 1980, selling narcotics hand-to-hand on a street corner. He eventually met burgeoning cocaine kingpin and fellow Harlemite Azie Faison Jr. at Harlem's historic Rucker Park and began dealing drugs for him </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">after asking for a job. During a shopping trip to purchase a Volvo for his mother, Faison noticed Martinez admiring an Isuzu Impulse on the showroom floor and immediately bought the $18,000 vehicle for him. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Faison's childhood friend, Richard "Rich" Porter, who'd served a year in prison following drug and weapons convictions in 1984, reconnected with the former once he was released.</span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In 1986, Faison, Porter and Martinez sold upwards of five kilograms of cocaine per day in $10 increments. By year's end, the trio had established storefronts from which they continued their business, making in excess of $100,000 per week. Faison, in particular, opened an arcade, "The Jukebox", on Harlem's 145th Street. The three made so much money during this period that Porter reportedly never wore the same outfit twice </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">and Martinez and Porter purchased matching Porsche 944s.</span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Following the 1989 arrest of Washington, D.C.-based drug-trafficker Rayful Edmond, Martinez relocated to the area in order to take advantage of the vacuum left in the former's absence. After establishing a foothold in the city with the help of his enforcer, Wayne Anthony Perry, Martinez reportedly sold up to 30 kilograms of cocaine per day. </span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In 1989, Martinez was indicted on narcotics charges. While Martinez himself was absent, multiple witnesses testified that he supplied crack-cocaine during the subsequent trial. Both Nathaniel Watkins and Sherrille Gilbert were convicted and sentenced to life in prison.</span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">On Janurary 3, 1990, Rich Porter was murdered in his native Harlem. He suffered several gunshots to the head and chest and was found in the bushes in Orchard Beach Park with $2,239 in cash in his pockets. He was last seen driving his 1989 black Nissan coupe. </span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Porter had been targeted for extortion in 1989 when his younger brother Donnell was abducted while on his way to his school, P.S. 92, on December 5. The kidnappers demanded $500,000 ransom for 12-year-old Donnell's safe return by telephone. When Porter insisted that he didn't have the half million dollars the kidnappers lowered the ransom to $350,000. On Dec. 6 the abductors directed the family to a nearby McDonald's restaurant located at West 125th Street and Broadway, where they found a coffee cup containing Donnell's index finger, two of his rings and an audio cassette in the men's bathroom. According to police, the cassette tape contained a recording of Donnell pleading to his older brother Rich to pay the ransom, stating, "They cutted my finger off...Please help me...Get the money. I love you, Mommy." Porter's sister Pat contacted the FBI against his wishes and was directed to the NYPD, who placed taps on the family's phone lines. On Dec. 10, a local boy delivered a note to the family's West 132nd Street apartment in Harlem given to him by an unknown woman stating that Donnell was badly in need of medical attention.</span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">On July 17, 1990, D.C.-based drug kingpin</span> <span style="font-family: verdana;">Michael "Fray" Salters was shot to death at the behest of Martinez and Perry. The pair had allegedly paid Michael Anthony Jackson a half-kilogram of cocaine, a 9mm handgun and $9,000 cash to kill Salter because they'd learned that he'd planned to murder Martinez. </span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">On November 7, 1991, Martinez was apprehended by FBI agents and Washington, D.C. police shortly after 12 a.m. while driving through Southeast Washington.</span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">On December 19, 1991, Martinez and four others were indicted in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Martinez's charges included conspiracy,</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> weapons violations, </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">money laundering and operating a continuing drug enterprise. He was also charged with 14 counts of murder. U.S. Attorney Richard Cullen described Martinez's organization as a narcotics network that spanned from New York City to Fredericksburg, Virginia. The group was estimated to have transported in excess of 500 kilograms of cocaine into Washington, D.C.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The other defendants included: Natasha Roland Martinez, David Mark Armstrong, Kevin Jerome Dockett and Ronnie Earl Melton. Armstrong, whose charges included money laundering and conspiracy, had been apprehended in Washington after FBI agents rammed the late model BMW that he was driving at the time of his arrest. Earlier in the day, Armstrong eluded federal agents who gave chase by driving in excess of 100 mph. He was placed into custody at approximately 11 a.m. following the intentional collision. </span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1VGwSBUVFuQrj_XCMS0cb_x3sYfMaCEcNXMakNJdZ3cdAbhBQQ2mCTI7RxTLP-q4Jmf1ePero-ir0geCueMFeCAEQdyLGOC1ClHpNWS-EjkvdTelE0byRPDxvAYJX3Y1gzXNPmOO-sMU/s320/alpo+mugshot.jpg" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="320" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1VGwSBUVFuQrj_XCMS0cb_x3sYfMaCEcNXMakNJdZ3cdAbhBQQ2mCTI7RxTLP-q4Jmf1ePero-ir0geCueMFeCAEQdyLGOC1ClHpNWS-EjkvdTelE0byRPDxvAYJX3Y1gzXNPmOO-sMU/w400-h225/alpo+mugshot.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Martinez agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, which included detailing his operation and confessing to 14 murders. He also disclosed that Perry murdered Salters; D.C.-based trafficker and former Martinez lieutenant Garrett "Gary" Terrell; and sex-worker and potential witness Evelyn Carter. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Martinez also confessed to shooting Porter to death in Harlem with an accomplice and later carrying the body to City Island in the Bronx, where it was found at 12:50 am the next morning. He told law enforcement that the murder was the result of a business dispute between the two. Martinez alleged that Porter had routinely overcharged him from $3,000-$5,000 per kilo of cocaine that he supplied him. Because Porter was no longer around to raise the ransom demand, his younger brother Donnell was murdered by his kidnappers. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">On January 28, Donnell Porter's body was found in City Island, less than a mile from where Rich's body was discovered. The corpse was found inside 14 black plastic garbage bags. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Martinez</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> was subsequently sentenced to a 35-year federal prison term and entered the witness protection program. </span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">On March 5, 1993, Perry, Michael Anthony Jackson and Tyrone LaSalle Price were indicted on 27 counts in federal court, including robbery, kidnapping, retaliating against a witness, racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute crack-cocaine, and committing nine murders in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise. Consequently, Perry became the first person to face the death penalty in Washington, D.C. since 1971. Perry, in turn, agreed to a plea deal which included confessing to five murders in exchange for leniency during sentencing. He revealed that he shot the Brooklyn-based Benson as he was in the act of shaking Martinez's hand because he had allegedly slapped the latter's wife previously. Perry recounted shooting Carter in the head as she exited DAR Constitution Hall</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">, near the White House, following a Keith Sweat concert,</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> because he feared that she'd provide law enforcement with evidence that he'd murdered Salter. Perry also admitted to killing Terrell, Yolanda Burley and Alveta Hopkins but declined to provide information on anyone else's crimes. He was sentenced to a term of life in prison without parole. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Days later, Price pleaded guilty to a single count of retaliating against a federal witness and two counts of second-degree murder. </span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Martinez was released from supermax federal prison in Colorado in 2015 and moved to Lewiston, Maine, living in a three-bedroom, first-floor apartment </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">under the name Abraham Rodriquez.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> After finding employment with Pepsi as a warehouse worker and a Walmart distribution center employee, Martinez started a business out of his 169 College Street apartment, 5 Star Construction Cleanup, in 2017. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">He owned a luxury sedan, a Harley-Davidson and a 2017 Dodge Ram pickup truck. Martinez made frequent trips to New York City in order to visit his mother (who died in 2020) and sister, both of whom had been diagnosed with cancer in the following years. He also visited other cities, including Boston and Atlanta, in order to attend parties. In July of 2021, Martinez reportedly moved to New Jersey and spent much of his time in his native New York. </span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">On October 31, 2021, at approximately 3:20 am, Martinez was murdered while driving through Harlem. After being shot six times through the driver's side window, he rear-ended the vehicle in front of his </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ram pickup truck on</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Frederick Douglass Blvd </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">before managing to </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">drive four blocks and </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">hitting three parked cars near West 147th Street. Martinez, who was still alive when police arrived, had been grazed on the chin and sustained gunshots to his arm and chest. He succumbed to his wounds at Harlem Hospital, where he'd been transported for treatment.</span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">On February 28, 2022, 27-year-old Harlem-resident Shakeem Parker was arrested by the NYPD in connection to the shooting and later charged with weapons violations and Martinez's murder. Parker was being held at Rikers Island on an unrelated gun possession charge at the time of his arrest. According to investigators, he'd been caught on surveillance cameras arriving in Manhattan from the Bronx before meeting his brother at a deli near 147th Street and 7th Avenue. Parker is then alleged to have walked over to Martinez's vehicle and fired through the window before exiting via the Harlem River Houses and returning to the Bronx by cab. Cellphone data confirmed his whereabouts the night of Martinez's killing.</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img class="irc_mi" src="http://dondivamag.com/wp-content/uploads/pep-vn/ba/ba300aac/alpo-young1-7f-300x350.jpg" style="margin-top: 22px;" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img class="irc_mi" height="393" src="http://40.media.tumblr.com/00812fdc800820dd536411197b7464b9/tumblr_nuys9iPDOu1u6ir2vo1_1280.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="374" /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img class="irc_mi" height="393" src="http://www.gorillaconvict.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/alpo7-e1429477898438.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="498" /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img class="irc_mi" height="393" src="https://41.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9a7reJ9bx1qzfpk2o1_500.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="488" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Stan, Rich Porter and Alpo</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><img class="irc_mi" height="640" src="https://40.media.tumblr.com/608db1d93dcd85623c459fde802c68b9/tumblr_mzvzq29Lt31s5s4rfo1_500.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="397" /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Related:</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://theranreport.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-infamousrich-porter.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="500" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgmFCJOVS_aDZ_prxRprXALE2yUxdaYvtgTJZ4h0lSO7woXI8K5UCGPKBzeSi-D45KWlT4QI6Pl3GNSSADaWsgutKg92aFzQtMekmbLxsh1UKqEY8CBdJl-GeObSCOXRttv2QDmmZOA44UHdLfCHWFegtXYqvuRpgGRoRmvVuoQHTmCW6c6X9XddTPS=w200-h196" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://theranreport.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-infamousrich-porter.html">The Infamous...Rich Porter</a> </span></div><div><br /></div><br /><p></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://theranreport.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-infamousclarence-preacher-heatley.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjrXUm8EVMpVa7Edk35Svglmib_rZ0WZLOXH8q01D5ep-J8bmMNiLM-4aKwacjNeV6DaeV9gEOSUuU_q-BofNn-t6ims9aZvHU0tuY2LV3CWtpVz6TdS6HAKeaJ6m0yxp9L-Xbx92Q33alYaSB49SFA4oAHfmud6CheFLfeEM5AT8qtFaonDA0PXGhM=w200-h200" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://theranreport.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-infamousclarence-preacher-heatley.html">The Infamous...Clarence "Preacher" Heatley</a><br /></span></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-81612013448180461392020-06-18T09:46:00.001-04:002021-06-08T06:04:39.961-04:00The Infamous...Nicky Barnes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">by Ran </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqvKCz8zfsc1fTkKmMm3nUvfE1Q6Rl8Pwgl5t6h2qiRqXDX586Dsn1T2DBMBYD-49hrD8D4CYNy8su6mvMmcszn60CcBGFfuK2zutt4VBEL8IV3mYyJKIEw2hekiK8WRzyLbuqfh3K4E/s218/nicky+barnes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="195" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEqvKCz8zfsc1fTkKmMm3nUvfE1Q6Rl8Pwgl5t6h2qiRqXDX586Dsn1T2DBMBYD-49hrD8D4CYNy8su6mvMmcszn60CcBGFfuK2zutt4VBEL8IV3mYyJKIEw2hekiK8WRzyLbuqfh3K4E/w358-h400/nicky+barnes.jpg" width="358" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Leroy Nicolas Barnes was born on October 15, 1933 in the Harlem section of New York City, New York. He and his sister grew up in a one bedroom apartment around Eighth Avenue and West 113th Street with their mother and father, Leroy, who worked as their building's superintendent. Leroy Sr. supplemented his income by selling marijuana and beer and hosting a regular poker game in the apartment. He also suffered from a gambling addiction, which ate into his profits. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">At six-years-old, Leroy Jr., nicknamed "Nicky", began spending time in the streets in an effort to avoid his parents' fights. During this time, he befriended fellow local youth Jackie Gomez with whom he executed purse snatchings and car break-ins. At 13, Barnes and Gomez joined the Tiny Turks street gang. As a teen, Barnes discovered a package of heroin that his father had stashed in one of his building's utility closets for a local drug dealer. The younger Barnes consumed the heroin, eventually developing a drug habit that he shared with Gomez. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Barnes left home following an incident in which he attempted to break up one of his parents' fights by firing a zip gun at his father. Though the weapon exploded in the teen's hand and the bullet harmlessly bounced off of his father's jacket, his relationship with his father was further strained by the episode. As a consequence, Barnes crashed with fellow members of the Tiny Turks and sold heroin in order to support his addiction to the drug. He also dropped out of high school. After Barnes' dealing caught the attention of two neighborhood heroin dealers, they recruited the former to work as a courier, transporting packages of the product from East Harlem. Barnes' best friend Gomez was subsequently shot to death by police during a subway change booth robbery, prompting Barnes to swear off committing robberies and to go into business for himself as a heroin dealer. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By 1959, Barnes was earning $1600 per day ($11,000 in today's money) selling heroin. However, his residence was subsequently raided by police, working on an informant tip, who seized heroin, syringes, other drug paraphernalia and cash. He was convicted on drug charges and sentenced to three and a half years in prison in Dutchess County, New York's Green Haven Correctional Facility. During his stay at Green Haven, Barnes reportedly converted to Islam and became re-acquainted with Lucchese crime family associate and East Harlem heroin dealer Matthew "Matty" Madonna -- in spite of the prison's custom of racial segregation. Madonna, who was serving time for murder, taught Barnes mafia customs and policies, among other things, until the latter was released in 1962. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Soon after his release, Barnes obtained a half-kilogram of heroin on consignment, a silencer-equipped Baretta handgun and a $5,000 cash loan from Madonna's brother, Frank, at the latter's East Harlem restaurant. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Though he cut his heroin with baby laxative, Barnes made sure that the finished product was relatively pure and extremely potent compared to other dealers, ensuring a loyal customer base. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpZpEz6PDQf7UhaCmPMuyuwt2AhEXJCp0RipbOG_-8ZkL2xCqP1WkP3Fc-dbAjP6Y3TwHB2bdJDibeI3ndDeqoCeoFGrfq4Tny5XbTKmuX6Lws5XZUjz4t7cgG3Wh2YeiUasYVY5ztmL4/s290/nicky+barnes+detectives.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="290" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpZpEz6PDQf7UhaCmPMuyuwt2AhEXJCp0RipbOG_-8ZkL2xCqP1WkP3Fc-dbAjP6Y3TwHB2bdJDibeI3ndDeqoCeoFGrfq4Tny5XbTKmuX6Lws5XZUjz4t7cgG3Wh2YeiUasYVY5ztmL4/w400-h240/nicky+barnes+detectives.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></span>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><img alt="Assistant district attorney David Blatt, left, and detectives stand by as Nicky Barnes is booked at Bronx police station." src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/6a020d1f2199e1027aeff7b73d3398b71d43e663/0_132_3000_1800/master/3000.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=e61358ce9e3b1d1cf0200b9823c7247d" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" /></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That same year, Barnes was introduced to a woman known by the nickname "Sister" by one of his customers. "Sister", whom Barnes began dating, revealed that she'd cut heroin for a former boyfriend and suggested that Barnes hire a group of women to do the same for him -- except naked, in order to make stealing any of the product more difficult. Barnes and "Sister" were married during a civil ceremony in the Bronx by the end of the year. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1965, one of Barnes' "processing labs", where the heroin was cut, was raided by police who seized an amount of heroin worth an estimated $500,000. After being convicted of drug possession, Barnes was sentenced to 25 years in prison. During his incarceration, he converted to Islam and befriended Colombo crime family member Joseph "Crazy Joe" Gallo. Gallo proposed that he and Barnes organize heroin distribution in Harlem as a first step toward usurping control of the New York City drug trade from the mafia. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1969, following filings by an attorney provided by Gallo, an appellate court ruled that the information which led to the raid that ultimately landed Barnes in prison, had been obtained by police through an illegal wiretap of a conversation between Barnes and a business partner. The ruling led to the admission into evidence of audio recordings on which an NYPD officer discussed plans to frame Barnes. As a result, Barnes' conviction was reversed and he was released. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Barnes' wife, however, had made a religious conversion and the two divorced. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Madonna, who'd also been released, began supplying Barnes with large quantities of heroin.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1971, Barnes met dancer Thelma Grant, who quickly became pregnant with Barnes' child. She would have a girl that they named Nicole.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Intent on establishing a drug-trafficking organization designed to insulate himself from criminal convictions, Barnes recruited Harlem dealer Frank Alphonse James, Wallace "Wally" Rice, Joseph "Jazz" Hayden, Ishmael Muhammed, Brooklyn dealer Thomas "Gaps" Foreman, and Bronx dealer Guy Thomas Fisher. Barnes name the seven-man group The Council. Each member took an oath to "treat my brother as I treat myself". They also agreed to a hands-off policy regarding other members' girlfriends and wives. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Each member of the Council ran his own territory. As a whole, the group's terrain spread throughout Harlem and Brooklyn. The Council's </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">heroin was cheaper and of higher quality than that of their competitors. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Barnes personally made $25 million annually from drug sales and he began to live accordingly. He purchased a home in the Bronx and two more in New Jersey. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Barnes also owned a fleet of luxury cars and a wardrobe consisting of 200 suits, 100 pairs of shoes and 50 full-length leather coats. He also derived income from his purchases of travel agencies, gas stations and </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">a chain of automated carwashes. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Folk rock singer's chart-topping 1973 song "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" is rumored to have been inspired by Barnes. The following year, someone attempted to post bail for Barnes' 1974 arrest with $100,000 in checks from a Harlem church. After the court rejected the money, he offered his </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">equity in a </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">$4.6 million Detroit housing project as collateral.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1975, Barnes met 19-year-old Shameka (last name unknown), whom he began dating, unbeknownst to Grant. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That same year, the Council purchased an amount of heroin worth an estimated $250,000 from </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Bonanno crime family soldier Mikey Puglisi. When the product was deemed to weak to sell to users, the group intended to obtain a refund. However, Puglisi couldn't be located. When the mobster resurfaced in 1976, he offered to repay the money as well as to front them more product in an effort to repair his strained relationship with them. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In July of 1976, Barnes ordered the murder of Puglisi, whom he suspected of cooperating with federal authorities. On July 29, two of Barnes' enforcers tracked Puglisi to Manhattan and shot him to death, hitting him 10 times in the chest. The trigger-men were so close to Puglisi during the shooting that the latter's shirt caught on fire. Though Barnes anticipated the Bonannos to retaliate for the killing of one of their own, no reprisals ever came.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><img alt="Barnes went to prison in 1977. But after seeing how his former associates, wife and girlfriends treated his empire, he decided to testify against them. For his cooperation, the government released him in 1998 and he went into the witness protection program and started a new, quieter life. He died from cancer in 2012 at age 78 or 79, and his death was only confirmed when the New York Times reported it on Saturday" height="640" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/10/17/14609154-7124719-image-m-17_1560183378952.jpg" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" width="460" /></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On October 15, Barnes threw a party atop Midtown Manhattan's Time-Life Building to celebrate his birthday. The then three-year-old</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), who was investigating Barnes, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">infiltrated the party by sending agents undercover as waiters and valets. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By November, the Council had generated $100 million in heroin sales, a fact which inspired the DEA to ramp up its investigation of the group. That same month, undercover agent Louis "Lou" Diaz was introduced to Guy Fisher's younger brother, Wally, by</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> informant Robert "G" Geronimo under the pretense that Diaz was seeking to re-enter the heroin trade after spending time in California and out of the business. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Undercover DEA agent Mary Buckley infiltrated the organization beginning with an escort to a favorite hangout of Barnes' associates, Julia's Bar, a Harlem nightclub. Buckley was accompanied by a Harlem underworld figure known as "Promise Bruce". </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In December, Diaz got Wally Fisher to agree to sell him a half-kilogram of heroin, worth an estimated $200,000. Fisher was instructed by Barnes to get the heroin from Steven "Fat Stevie" Monsanto. On December 29, Geronimo and Diaz drove together to the Harlem River Motors Garage in order to obtain the drugs from Monsanto. The pair were accompanied by a DEA team who surveilled the proceedings from across the street. They even witnessed Barnes interacting with Monsanto, which led to his being charged.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In March of 1977, Buckley made a deal with a Barnes associate in which she paid him $12,000 for heroin at Julia's Bar.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By this time, Barnes had escaped conviction for </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">13 </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">arrests in his adult life. On March 15, 1977, Barnes, Fisher and Hayden were among the organization members named on arrest warrants issued by the prosecutor's office. Barnes was apprehended after a brief car chase with police in Manhattan. Police arrested 19 other suspects and seized $300,000 in cash and an amount of heroin estimated to be worth $1 million. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">After making bail, Barnes agreed to participate in a cover story about his legal issues for the June 5, 1977 issue of The New York Times Magazine entitled "Mr. Untouchable". He wore Gucci shades and a red-white-and-blue necktie for the cover photo. After reading the story, President Jimmy Carter pressured the prosecutors assigned to the case to achieve a guilty verdict.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On September 29, 1977, the nine-week trial of Barnes and 14 others began. The trial made legal history as the first in the U.S. to utilize an anonymous jury. During the proceedings, the prosecution played audio recordings made secretly by Diaz that captured Hayden discussing drug deals. On December 2, Barnes, who'd testified that he'd ordered killings as opposed to committing them himself, Hayden and nine others were found guilty. Barnes was given a life sentence on January 19, 1978 by Judge Henry F. Werker. He was subsequently sent to a federal prison in Marion, Illinois to serve his sentence, during which time he earned a college degree. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Fisher, who'd been acquitted, was left to run the Council, which now only consisted of himself, Muhammed, Foreman, James and Rice. After learning that Fisher had begun an affair with Barnes' mistress, Shameka, he ordered the new organization head murdered. However, the order was ignored. Barnes retaliated by agreeing to become a federal informant. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On December 13, 1982, Shameka was shot to death in a Washington Heights bar. She'd been shot in the head by a masked triggerman.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On March 10, 1983, arrest warrants were issued for the remaining Council members.</span><br /></span>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Hayden discovered that Barnes had cooperated with federal investigators while on the yard at USP Lewisburg, the maximum-security federal prison in which he'd been incarcerated. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Barnes broke down in tears during his testimony against his former associates. Fisher, Muhammed, Rice, Foreman and James were each found guilty of running a continuing criminal enterprise and subsequently given sentences of life without parole. Barnes' testimony against Thelma Grant and her subsequent guilty plea to federal narcotics charges resulted in her serving 10 years in prison.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Barnes' cooperation and testimony resulted in the convictions of close to 50 members of his drug organization.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1998, Barnes was released from prison and entered the U.S. Federal Witness Protection Program, where he reportedly operated an automated carwash. Barnes' daughters, who'd been placed in the foster system after their mother's imprisonment, were placed in the program as well. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Barnes died of cancer in 2012 in an undisclosed location but due to the secrecy of the witness protection program, his death wasn't reported until 2019.</span><br /></span>
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-24833091700435056422020-05-03T02:06:00.001-04:002021-02-20T09:44:09.353-05:00The Infamous...Thomas "Tootie" Reese<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">by Ran Britt</span><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Thomas C. Reese entered the cocaine trade in 1965 and</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> eventually established an ongoing relationship with an Iranian heroin supplier. Reese's organization consisted of six employees, including brothers Ron and Conway Waddy.</span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">Though Reese's operation and his reputation grew in the 1970s, he often conducted business personally rather than delegating tasks to his workers. During negotiations with a dealer over the purchase of a pound of cocaine, Reese brandished a shotgun in order to convey his seriousness.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">In 1972, Reese was arrested in Los Angeles and charged with possession and distribution of cocaine. Though he was found guilty and handed a 15-year sentence, the verdict was later reversed by a federal appeals court. In 1976, Reese was found not guilty of income tax evasion and in 1978, he was acquitted on a narcotics distribution charge.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">A federal investigation into Reese's activities was launched in 1979. In the estimation of law enforcement, Reese was the preeminent African-American narcotics trafficker operating in Los Angeles during the 1960s and 70s.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">On June 30, 1983, Reese associate Kevin Morgan was contacted by two undercover DEA agents in search of a cocaine supplier. During the phone call, Morgan set up a meeting at an LA gym and promised to introduce the pair to Reese's daughter, Rhonda. The following day, Morgan arrived for the meet in Reese's blue Rolls-Royce with Reese's 13 year-old son Thomas Reese, Jr; the two sold the agents an ounce of cocaine for $2,000.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">In spite of his anger at Morgan for involving his son and suspicion that the would-be buyers were police officers, the elder Reese met the agents later that night at LA's Olympic Auditorium, where he attended a boxing match. That same night, Reese sold them an ounce of cocaine for $1,600 via Morgan. Still suspicious, Reese examined the serial numbers of the agents' cash and later sold his Rolls in order to prevent its potential seizure by police.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On September 6, Thomas and Linda Reese, accompanied by Reese-associate Carlos Garcia, met the two undercover agents at an LA cafe, where Reese agreed to provide them with a heroin sample and to sell them three ounces of cocaine. After selling the agents the cocaine for $4,800, Reese met them once more in Las Vegas and two more times in Los Angeles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On September 27, the Reeses met the agents in a hotel room in Marina del Rey, California. Arriving in a green Rolls-Royce, Linda gave the pair five ounces of cocaine; when Thomas arrived, in a red Corvette, he brought a scale with which to weigh the narcotics and took the agents' $7500 payment. Three days later, Reese met the pair at an LA cafe and sold them $12,000 worth of heroin. On December 1, the day after meeting the agents at a Reseda, California country club to discuss business, the Reeses again met them at </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Marina del Rey's </span><span face="verdana, sans-serif">Marina International Hotel, where they sold them two kilograms of cocaine for $50,000. Both Thomas and Linda Reese were placed under arrest as they attempted to exit the hotel room. That same day, a search of the Reeses' home turned up a semi-automatic carbine rifle behind a painting in the living room and a .44 Magnum revolver under a pillow in the couple's bedroom.</span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">A federal indictment naming Reese as a member of a cocaine and heroin distribution conspiracy was unsealed on December 2 and he was subsequently charged with 24 counts of drug-related offenses by a federal grand jury.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">On June 19, 1984 Reese was found guilty on 20 counts of narcotics-related offenses by US District Court Judge Richard Gadbois, Jr. A charge of illegal possession of a firearm was dismissed. Linda Reese was found guilty on six counts, including: conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute; aiding and abetting the sale of cocaine; and possession with intent to distribute. The couple held hands as the verdicts were read. Reese faced a potential 129-year prison stint and a $345,000 fine; Linda faced a maximum of 60 years in prison.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">Following the verdict, the father of 13 admitted to selling the kilograms during an interview with the Los Angeles Times. He was subsequently sentenced to 35 years in federal prison; Linda was sentenced to 10 years.</span></div>
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-16073790807872349122019-11-01T05:25:00.001-04:002023-02-05T10:05:56.141-05:00The Infamous...Bumpy Johnson<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ellsworth Raymond Johnson was born on October 31, 1906 in Charleston, SC. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1916, Johnson's brother, Willie, was accused of killing a white man. Fearing that he'd become the victim of a retaliatory lynching, his parents sent him to live with the boys' sister, Mabel, in Harlem. In 1919, the Johnsons sent Bumpy to New York as well.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Bumpy found employment sweeping floors and selling newspapers. He subsequently embarked on a gambling career, hustling pool and shooting dice. Within two years of arriving in New York, the South Carolinian transplant had become a burglar as well. He reportedly earned the nickname "Bumpy" because of a prominent bump on the back of his head.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Johnson attended Brooklyn's Boys High and after graduating, he enrolled in City College as a pre-law major.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">At 19-years-old, Johnson was arrested for burglary following completion of a single semester in college. He would serve seven years in prison. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1932, a newly-paroled Johnson's entrance into organized crime came when he was hired as an enforcer by Harlem numbers-runner Madame Stephanie St Clair. St Clair needed the additional muscle for her war with Jewish-American mobster Arthur "Dutch Schultz" Flegenheimer. Initially a bootlegger, Schultz encroached on St Clair's operation following the repeal of Prohibition. The Schultz conflict raged for years, eventually prompting St Clair to retire and turn her operation over to Johnson, with whom it's believed she also had an intimate relationship.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The numbers was an unofficial and illegal lottery devised in the 1920s. Players made bets on a three-digit number of their choosing, gambling that their number would be the one selected as the big winner.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Following Schultz's October 1935 murder, suspected to have been ordered by mobster Salvatore "Lucky Luciano" Lucania, Johnson secured a deal with the Italian gangster that allowed his and the other Black organizations to remain independent on the condition that they paid a 1% tribute to La Cosa Nostra. This independence -- and his expansion into the heroin trade -- allowed Johnson to flourish and he eventually became the preeminent gangster in Harlem. Numbers-running brought in an estimated $100 million in 1935.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Johnson's growing power -- and his taste for nightlife -- brought him into regular contact with celebrities with whom he forged friendships, including: boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson; tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson; and singers Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday and Lena Horne.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1948, Johnson met future wife Mayme Hatcher, with whom he quickly began a romantic relationship, at a local restaurant. That October, Johnson proposed during a drive around Harlem with Hatcher in his Cadillac.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">A ladies man, Johnson maintained a relationship with writer and former Vanity Fair managing editor Helen Lawrenson. But he was also a family man. Johnson raised his grandchild, Margaret Johnson, born in 1950, as his daughter, pampering her with chauffeured limousine rides to private school and extravagant birthday parties.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1952, Johnson was indicted for narcotics trafficking. In 1954, after being released on $22,500 bail, Johnson turned himself in to New York police to begin a 15-year prison sentence stemming from a drug-trafficking conviction. Johnson had filed -- and lost -- an appeal accusing multiple prosecution witnesses of perjuring themselves at his trial. He was sent to San Francisco's infamous Alcatraz prison, where he was designated inmate number 1117.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Nicknamed "the Rock", Alcatraz, which was ordered closed down by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in 1963, was notoriously difficult to flee. However, during his stint, Johnson is widely believed to have aided the June 11, 1962 escape of three men from the island facility. Johnson is rumored to have arranged for a boat to transport the escapees to Pier 13 in San Francisco's Hunter's Point once they reached the San Francisco Bay.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Upon his release and return to Harlem in 1963, Johnson was welcomed back to his adopted hometown with a parade. Vowing to go legit, Johnson opened the Palmetto Exterminating Business shortly after his return. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1965, Johnson orchestrated a sit-in protest at a local police station in order to express his objection to law enforcement surveillance. He was charged with, and eventually acquitted of, "refusal to leave a police station".</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1967, Johnson was arrested following a brief chase through traffic and charged with drug trafficking by federal agents acting on information supplied by a confidential informant. However, a search of Johnson's vehicle came up empty. He was released on $50,000 bond. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On July 7, 1968, Johnson dined at Harlem's Well's Restaurant, where he suffered a heart attack in the company of childhood friend Finley Hoskins. After being transported to Harlem Hospital, Johnson was pronounced dead from congestive heart failure. His last meal was chicken legs, hominy grits and coffee.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Funeral services for Johnson were held on July 11 at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, located at 122nd St and Lenox Avenue. He was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.</span></span><br />
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-87831418454958995452019-10-23T17:23:00.000-04:002019-10-23T17:23:53.551-04:00The Infamous..."Crazy Joe" Gallo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Joseph Gallo was born on April 7, 1929 in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, New York to a loan shark father, Umberto, and his wife, Mary. Joseph had one sister, Carmella, and two brothers: Lawrence and Albert. Joseph attended Brooklyn's Public School 179.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rumor has it that after seeing <i style="font-weight: bold;">Kiss of Death </i>in 1947, Gallo began imitating and dressing like the film's main character Tommy Udo, portrayed by Richard Widmark. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1950, Joey was convicted for burglary but was given a suspended sentence after being diagnosed with paranoid-schizophrenia. Seven years later, he allegedly murdered Albert Anastasia, head of "Murder Incorporated", </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">which earned him (as well as Larry) a position in the Profaci crime family as a made man. Gallo and Jackie "Mad Dog" Nazarian allegedly shot Anastasia to death as he sat in a barber chair in Manhattan's Park Sheraton Hotel.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Not long after, the dissatisfied Gallo brothers and various fellow mobsters rebelled against the head of the family, Guiseppi "Joe" Profaci, and established a base of operations in a South Brooklyn warehouse. By this time, Larry had earned the nickname "the Boss" and Albert, the youngest Gallo sibling, was known as "Al the Blast". In 1961, the Gallos kidnapped Profaci's brother, brother-in-law and Profaci family underboss Joseph Colombo, demanding a greater share of the organization's proceeds in exchange for their release. On January 31, 1962, Larry and Al, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">along with fellow gang members John "Lupo" Commarato, Leonard "Lenny" Dello, Anthony "Tony Shots" Abbatemarco, Frank "Punchy" Illiano and Alphonso "Peanuts" Serantonio</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, rescued six children from their burning apartment on South Brooklyn's President street, which they controlled. Joe was incarcerated at upstate New York's Attica Correctional Facility at the time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1960, Gallo married Jeffie Lee Boyd and in 1962, the couple welcomed a daughter, Joie. The pair divorced when Gallo was sentenced to five years in prison. However, upon his release, the two remarried. The couple divorced for the second and final time in 1971, after which Jeffie moved to California with Joie.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Larry Gallo died of cancer in 1968.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After serving eight years for an attempted extortion conviction for muscling the owner of a Brooklyn bar, Gallo was released from the Ossining State Correctional Facility on April 11, 1971. During Gallo's incarceration, Joseph Anthony Colombo took over the Profaci family following the death of the organization's namesake. While he renamed the gang after himself, Colombo nevertheless founded the Italian American Civil Rights League, an organization dedicated to eliminating the "myth" of Italian Americans, such as himself, as gangsters. Opposed to his high-profile, Gallo challenged Colombo for power shortly after his release, attempting to extort him for $100,000. In turn, Colombo placed a hit on Gallo. However, on June 28, Colombo was shot in front of a crowd of thousands, including NYC mayor John Lindsay, at an Italian American Civil Rights League event near Central Park. As Colombo was preparing to speak, an African American man, Jerome Johnson, opened fire on him. Johnson, in turn, was quickly shot to death. Though the incident, which left Colombo paralyzed, garnered an enormous amount of publicity, including a cover story in <i>Time</i> magazine, a clear motive for the shooting was never established. However, many believed that it was orchestrated by Gallo.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Later that year, a film adaptation of the book <i>The Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight</i>, loosely based on Gallo's crew and their exploits, was released. Though he reportedly resented the film's depiction of him, Gallo befriended the actor --Jerry Orbach -- who portrayed the character "Kid Sally", who was loosely based on Gallo. It wasn't long before Gallo and his new girlfriend, Sina Essary, began going on double dates with Orbach and his wife Marta. In fact, Gallo and Essary, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">a former nun from Ohio,</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> were married in the Orbach's home in March of 1972. Popular 1970s comedian David Steinberg served as Gallo's best man.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Joe Gallo (left)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On April 6, 1972, Gallo, dressed in a pinstripe suit and a gray fedora, and friends, including his new wife Sina Essary Gallo, whom he'd married the previous month, and her 10-year-old daughter, Lisa (a Broadway star); his sister, Carmella Fiorello; Steinberg; the Orbachs; stand-up comic Don Rickles; childhood friend (the two met at P.S. 179) and bodyguard Peter "Pete the Greek" Diapoulas and his date, Edith Russo; and bodyguard Robert "Bobby Darrow" Bongiovi partied at Manhattan's Copacabana to celebrate Gallo's birthday until the legendary nightclub closed at approximately 4 a.m. Gallo's party --minus the Orbachs, Rickles, Steinberg and Bongiovi -- then headed to Umberto's Clam House in Gallo's black 1971 Cadillac for breakfast. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At approximately 5:30 a.m. on April 7, 1972, Gallo was shot to death by a lone unknown assailant armed with a .38 caliber handgun during his birthday celebration at Umberto's, located at 129 Mulberry Street in Manhattan's Little Italy. Diapoulas sustained a gunshot to the left hip during an exchange with the triggerman, during which 20 shots were fired. The assailant, who, according to witnesses, entered the restaurant through a side door, was described as being middle-aged, having black hair and standing 5'8". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Gallo upended the table at which the group was seated, and after sustaining injuries, exited through the front door before collapsing, dead, on Hester Street. Because Umberto's was located one block from Police Headquarters, officers arrived quickly, alerted by the shooting, and both Gallo and Diapoulas were transported, via police car, to Beekman-Downtown Hospital for treatment. Gallo had been shot in the back, left elbow and left buttock and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Diapoulas, who was placed under police guard at the facility, refused to cooperate when questioned about the shooting. In fact, he even declined to reveal his name. Mrs. Fiorello, who was overcome with emotion, had to be sedated. Diapoulas was subsequently convicted for unlawful possession of an unloaded firearm and served a year in prison.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Gallo-Colombo war intensified following Joe's death. At approximately 9:30 pm on August 11, 1972, a lone assailant armed with two long-barreled revolvers, gunned down four men dining in Manhattan's Neapolitan Noodle restaurant. Two of the men, Leon Schneider and Jack Forem, survived, while the other two, Sheldon Epstein and Max Tekelch, were killed. Forem sustained a bullet in the leg and Schneider was treated at New York Hospital for four gunshots. The triggerman, a Las Vegas hitman, had mistaken the four victims for Colombo soldiers and opened fire when they left the bar area of the restaurants with their dates. In the summer of 1974, four members of the Gallo crew were shot at a benefit held at a Brooklyn synagogue. One of the men, Steve Grillo, was killed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1975, Diapoulas identified Gallo's killer as Carmine Di Blase, also known by the alias Sonny Pinto. Joseph Luparelli later admitted to being the getaway driver. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Joe and Jeffie</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Joe Gallo post-mortem</span></div>
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-21736467993842767402019-09-01T14:43:00.000-04:002019-11-23T16:44:07.386-05:00The Infamous...Angelo Bruno<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Angelo Annaloro was born on May 21, 1910, in Sicily, Italy. He moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his family as a teenager. Annaloro's father opened a local grocery store, where he Angelo helped out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bruno became a "made man" during his thirties.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Annaloro eventually adopted the surname "Bruno" as a nod to Philadelphia mobster Giuseppe "Joe Bruno" Dovi. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bruno married Sue Maranca, with whom he eventually had two children: Michael and Jean.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bruno painted the windows of the family home on Broad Street black in order to protect his number-running business from surveillance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bruno later moved his family to a three-bedroom rowhouse on 934 Snyder Avenue -- the first home that he owned. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bruno was named head of the Philadelphia family by 1959, replacing Antonio Pollina. Bruno oversaw the organization's participation in extortion, loan sharking and racketeering, which yielded significant profits.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1960, Bruno was reported to be one of nine men who comprised La Cosa Nostra's national commission.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In late 1963, Bruno was charged with conspiracy to travel across state lines to commit extortion following an October 31 indictment; his bail was set at $75,000 by U.S. Commissioner Francis H. Farrell.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1976, Atlantic City, New Jersey was on the verge of legalizing gambling in the city, prompting Bruno to exploit his ties to Pittsburgh steel corporations to involve himself in the construction of casinos -- and later, their operation -- in the burgeoning gaming destination.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bruno earned the nickname "the Gentle Don" because of his rumored preference for resolving conflicts non-violently. Bruno even exiled one of his soldiers, Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, to Atlantic City, New Jersey because he deemed him too violent. Bruno also adhered, at least officially, to the long-standing Cosa Nostra prohibition on narcotics sales. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Not one to shun the limelight, Bruno rubbed shoulders with celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Joe DiMaggio and Vic Damone. DiMaggio even reportedly sold some of actress Marilyn Monroe's jewelry to the mobster after the couple divorced.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bruno threw his daughter Jean an extravagant 16th birthday party at chic Philadelphia area nightclub the Latin Casino.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1971, Bruno was indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with conspiring to prepare a fraudulent tax return -- for 1965 -- for his wife, Sue. Mrs. Bruno was charged with knowingly submitting the alleged false return. However, after Bruno's co-defendants, Martin A. Coopersmith and Marvin J. Levin, were granted a separate trial and acquitted following the three-week proceedings, his conspiracy charge was dismissed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However, following Bruno's refusal to testify before the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation, he was incarcerated at the New Jersey State Prison, located at Yardville, NJ.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In April 0f 1977, Bruno met with New York's Gambino crime family capo regime Paul Castellano at Cherry Hill, New Jersey's Valentino's Restaurant. According to investigators, the summit was convened at the Gambinos' request because of their interest in securing Bruno's approval to operate in Atlantic City, which was a part of his South Jersey turf for decades, and would soon be hosting legalized casino gambling. Subsequently, two Gambino family members met with Bruno at his home on April 10, Easter Sunday, at which an agreement between the two organizations was reached. In May, Bruno agreed to testify before the State Commission of Investigation, but ultimately failed to satisfy the panel's inquiries regarding organized crime in New Jersey. In June, New Jersey governor Brendan Byrne signed a bill allowing casino betting in the Garden State.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On Friday, March 21, 1980, Bruno had a meal of chicken Sicilian and rigatoni marinara at South Philadelphia restaurant Cous' Little Italy before heading home. He was killed by a single shotgun blast to the back of his head as he sat in the front passenger seat of a car parked in front of his South Philadelphia rowhouse, located at 934 Snyder Avenue. He remained seated upright with his mouth open in death. Bruno's driver, John Stanfa, sustained minor injuries from shotgun pellets. Bruno's murder is widely believed to have been retaliation from members of his own organization who resented his agreement to allow the Gambinos to conduct business within their territory. It would later be revealed that Philadelphia family consigliere Anthony "Tony Bananas" Caponigro put out a contract to murder Bruno.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bruno's funeral was held on March 27. His copper-lined casket weighed 800 pounds. Bruno's death would bring an end to the longest tenure of anyone atop the Philadelphia family in the organization's history. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Caponigro was found murdered in April; his corpse was discovered in the trunk of a car in the South Bronx, New York. Approximately $300 in cash was found lodged in his mouth and rectum as a message -- a warning against greed. He'd been shot to death at his own home by mob enforcer Joe "Mad Dog" Sullivan because he'd failed to secure the Commission's (the Mob's ruling body) blessing to kill Bruno.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In February of 1981, a federal racketeering indictment naming Bruno the head of the Philadelphia crime family came down. Bruno wasn't charged because of his murder.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Though a May 27, 1981 Philadelphia Daily News article announced Bruno associate Frank "Frankie Flowers" D'Alfonso as the new boss in the wake of the former's murder, the report was incorrect and angered the actual new head of the family, Nicodemo Scarfo, who'd succeeded short-lived organization head, and former Bruno underboss Philip "the Chicken Man" Testa after his March 1981 murder. Scarfo consequently dispatched Eugene "Gino" Milano and Salvatore Testa to interrogate D'Alfonso, who was never inducted into the mafia, about his business dealings. When he refused to answer their questions, Testa and Milano beat D'Alfonso with a baseball bat and a pipe, leaving him for dead.<br /><br />Though he survived the assault, D'Alfonso was shot to death in 1985, allegedly at Scarfo's behest. Nicholas Milano, Eugene Milano, Joseph Ligambi, Salvatore Merlino, Lawrence Merlino, Francis Iannarella, Thomas DelGiorno, Frank Narducci, Phillip Narducci and Scarfo were charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit the murder and possession of an instrument of crime. Following a three-week trial, all but DelGiorno and Eugene Milano -- both of whom agreed to cooperate with the prosecution -- were convicted on all charges and given mandatory life sentences for the murder conviction. However, the convictions were reversed on appeal in 1992, largely due to prosecutorial misconduct. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stanfa was named boss of the Philadelphia family in 1989. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On March 17, 2016, the Philadelphia Historical Commission rejected a petition to have Bruno's three-bedroom Snyder Avenue rowhouse designated one of the city's historical landmarks.</span><br />
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-52211941756947958772019-08-01T02:47:00.000-04:002019-11-25T14:48:30.969-05:00The Infamous...Phil "Chicken Man" Testa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<img alt="Philadelphia boss Philip "Chicken Man" Testa was blown up with a nail bomb in 1981. His son, Salvatore Testa, was murdered three years later." height="640" src="https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer/jqinnIIOQIXuNDTtXqUQIjxxiGc=/800x1249/top/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tronc.s3.amazonaws.com/public/WHNDSBBXNFUSC6322KT6OSRIZA.jpg" width="409" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Philip Carlos Testa was born on April 21, 1924 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Eventually, Testa joined the Philadelphia crime family and rose through the ranks to become underboss to the organization's longtime leader, Angelo Bruno.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On Friday, March 21, 1980, Bruno was killed by a single shotgun blast to the back of his head as he sat in the front passenger seat of a car parked in front of his South Philadelphia rowhouse. Bruno's sudden demise left Testa in charge of the organization.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On February 21, 1981, Testa and nine others, including: </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Frank "Chickie" Narducci, who </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">oversaw the organization's gambling operations; Harry "Hunchback" and Mario "Sonny" Riccobene; former Teamster Joseph "Chickie" Ciancaglini; Carl "Pappy" Ippolito; Frank Primerano; Pasquale Spirito; former Philadelphia police officer Joseph Bongiovanni; and Charles Fred Warrington </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">were indicted on federal racketeering charges involving gambling and loan-sharking. After surrendering to federal agents, Testa was freed on $40,000 bail. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On March 15, 1981, Testa was killed on the porch of his South Philadelphia home by a bomb filled with shotgun pellets and nails. The murder would be the sixth in the Philadelphia family power struggle that ensued following Angelo Bruno's 1980 shooting death. Testa was interred with his wife, Alfia Arcidiacono Testa, at Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon, PA.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A suspect in Testa's homicide, Rocco Marinucci, was subsequently discovered shot to death one year after the former's death; firecrackers had been placed in the mouth of his corpse. However, on June 11, 1982, 21-year-old South Philadelphia waiter Theodore DiPretoro was arrested and charged with Testa's murder. On September 21, 1983, DiPretoro pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in connection to Testa's killing in order to avoid the death penalty. He also admitted that Marinucci participated in the murder as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At 10:23 pm, on September 15, 1984, Testa's son, Salvatore Testa, was discovered murdered on Garwood Road in Glouchester Township, New Jersey. He'd been shot once behind each year and wrapped in a blanket. Acting on an anonymous tip, police located the younger Testa's corpse attired in white tennis shorts, matching sneakers and a white Temple University t-shirt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Phil Testa (left) and Angelo Bruno (right)</span></div>
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-38320823276735763082019-07-01T03:08:00.000-04:002019-12-10T09:34:15.413-05:00The Infamous...Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anthony Provenzano was born on May 7, 1917 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He was one of six sons of Sicilian immigrants Rosario and Josephine Dispensa Provenzano. At 17-years-old, Anthony dropped out of school and took a job as a truck driver in Hackensack, New Jersey, earning $10 per week. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Provenzano married Marie-Paule Migneron, with whom he had four daughters: Marie, Josephine, Charlotte and Doreen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Provenzano joined the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and by 1941, he'd worked his way up to shop steward. By 1958, the former amateur boxer had become the head of the 13,000-member Local 560 Teamsters Union, headquartered in Union City, New Jersey. The following year, Provenzano was called to testify before the Senate Labor Rackets Committee investigating racketeering; he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights 44 times in response to questioning from the committee's chief counsel, Robert F. Kennedy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1961, Provenzano was tried for the murder of union rival Anthony Castellito. Court testimony revealed that Provenzano had paid mobster Harold Konigsberg $15,000 to kill Castellito. Konigsberg and three associates carried out the hit at the former's Kerhonkson, New York summer home; after being struck with a lead truncheon, Castellito was strangled to death with a garrote.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1963, Provenzano was tried for extortion. During the trial, a Provenzano rival, Walter Glockner, was murdered in Hoboken, New Jersey. Following his conviction, Provenzano was sentenced to seven years in prison and sent to the high-security federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania -- the same facility where Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger, serving a 20-year sentence for three bank robberies; future mob boss, John Gotti; and Teamster president Jimmy Hoffa were incarcerated. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hoffa was last seen in a Detroit suburb on July 30, 1975. When he disappeared, Hoffa was scheduled to meet with Provenzano. Like Castellito, Hoffa's body has never been found. An FBI investigation determined that three Provenzano associates had abducted Hoffa and cremated his remains in an incinerator after putting his body through a garbage shredder.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1978, Provenzano was convicted for his role in Anthony Castellito's murder and sentenced to 25 years-to-life in prison. That same year, Provenzano was convicted for extortion in New York and given a four-year federal prison sentence. The following year, he was convicted of extortion in New Jersey and sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Provenzano began his sentence in 1980 at FCI Lompoc, a low-security federal facility located 140 miles northwest of Los Angeles, California. Though he was eligible for parole in 1985, Provenzano declined to attend a parole hearing, as his release would've led to the start of his 25-year sentence in New York and he reportedly preferred the California weather. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In November of 1988, Provenzano was admitted to Lompoc District Hospital for treatment of congestive heart failure. On December 12, 1988, he suffered a fatal heart attack. Provenzano's funeral was held at Clifton, New Jersey's St. Andrews Roman Catholic Church on December 17. He was interred at Hackensack's St. Joseph's Cemetery. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jimmy Hoffa (left) and Anthony Provenzano (right)</span></div>
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-414641762833052892018-11-15T17:48:00.000-05:002018-11-20T02:32:30.614-05:00The Infamous...Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo was born on January 8, 1946 in Mexico.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Like his future business partners, Rafael Caro Quintero and Ernesto Fonseco, Gallardo moved to Culiacan,</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">the capital of Mexico's Sinaloa state, from rural Mexico. All three initially resided in the impoverished Tierra Blanca section of the city. Gallardo began his business career selling sausages and chicken from a bicycle.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> He later became a police officer and later a bodyguard until ultimately entering the drug trade.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">While the majority of drug shipments from Colombia to the U.S. in the 1970s entered the country through Florida, Colombian cartels also established routes through Mexico. Medellin Cartel leader Benjamin "Black Pope" Herrera Zuleta, father of Cali Cartel leader Helmer "Pacho" Herrera Buitrago, forged a business relationship with Mexican drug trafficker Alberto Sicilia Falcon after the two were introduced by Cuban-born drug kingpin Juan Matta-Ballesteros. Shortly after Sicilia Falcon's arrest, Gallardo filled his position as point-man for the Mexican end of the transportation network.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Gallardo's influence spread to legitimate business as well. He held a seat on the Board of Directors of the Mexican state-owned investment bank SOMEX and invested in the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">According to eyewitnesses, DEA agent Enrique S. Camarena was kidnapped in Guadalajara by four men while heading to meet his wife for lunch o</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">n February 7, 1985. The bodies of Camarena and his pilot Alfredo Zavala were discovered that March near a ranch in Michocoan. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In mid-March, 13 former and then-current law enforcement personnel, six of whom were members of the Jalisco state judicial police, were arrested in connection to the killing. One, Gabriel Gonzalez Gonzalez, died from acute hemorrhaging of the pancreas while in custody. Gonzalez was a former Guadalajara metropolitan section commander assigned to the homicide division. While Gallardo was widely suspected of ordering Camarena's death, fellow Guadalajara cartel founders Rafael Caro Quintero and Ernesto "Don Neto" Fonseco Carrillo were charged in connection to the murder. The murders of Camarena and Zavala were widely believed to be retribution for the shutdown of some of the cartel's marijuana plantations that resulted from the former's undercover investigation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1986, Gallardo reportedly attended a quinceanera in Culiacan, the capital of Mexico's Sinaloa state, accompanied by a caravan of 12 green vans, each filled with at least four armed men. The city's governor, Antonio Toledo Corro, who died July 6, 2018 at the age of 99, was alleged by U.S. sources to be actively protecting drug traffickers in the region. U.S. officials also alleged that Gallardo had spent time as a guest at Toledo Corro's ranch, though the latter denied having ever met the former. However, it was reported that Gallardo's nephew, Antonio Toledo Felix, happened to be Toledo Corro's illegitimate son with Gallardo's sister.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Miguel Ãngel Félix Gallardo, drug trafficker. Photo: Archive" height="400" src="https://cdn.proceso.com.mx/media/2014/04/Felix.jpg" style="font-family: "times new roman"; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sinaloa was plagued by violence in 1986. There were 1,400 killings in the state that year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Following a three-month criminal investigation, Gallardo was arrested at his home in Guadalajara on April 8, 1989. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However, Mexico Attorney General Enrique Alvarez del Castillo believed that Gallardo disapproved of murdering Camarena.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Approximately 80 local police officers were arrested as well, though most were released after being questioned. The suspects included Arturo Moreno, director of the Sinaloa State Judicial Police, and Robespierre Lizarraga Coronel, chief of the Culiacan municipal police.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Undeterred by his incarceration, Gallardo continued to lead the cartel from prison, giving orders via mobile phone. In 1991, however, he was transferred to the then newly-constructed Altiplano maximum-security prison (Mexico's first) located in the Mexican town of Almoloya de Juarez. Following Gallardo's transfer, the Guadalajara Cartel was divided into smaller organizations -- the Sinaloa Cartel, run by his former lieutenants, Hector Palma Salazar and Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera; the Juarez cartel, led by Amado Carrillo Fuentes; and the Tijuana Cartel, headed by Gallardo's nephews, the Arellano-Felix brothers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On August 23, 1994, Gallardo's kidnapping charge was vacated by the First Unitary Criminal Court of Guadalajara.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison for homicide, cocaine possession, bribery and carrying a weapon. Quintero was convicted for the same crimes and received the same sentence. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 2013, Rafael Caro Quintero's conviction was overturned and he was released from prison. However, he is still being pursued by U.S. authorities, who have offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 2016, a judge ordered that Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo be allowed to complete his sentence under house arrest due to his deteriorating medical condition. That same year, Gallardo requested that Jalisco's Fourth District Court in Federal Criminal Proceedings allow him to be transferred to home detention as well, citing failing health, specifically, hearing loss, a hernia, cataracts in one eye, the loss of the other eye, and a ministroke. Though Gallardo's request for home confinement was denied the following year, he was granted a transfer to a medium-security prison in Guadalajara, Jalisco. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On August 23, 2017, following a retrial ordered in the early 2000s, a Mexican federal judge handed Gallardo a 37-year prison sentence for the murders of Camarena and Zavala. Gallardo was also ordered to pay $1.18 million in damages.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At its peak, the Guadalajara Cartel is estimated to have shipped upwards of four tons of cocaine to the U.S. monthly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://theranreport.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-infamousgilberto-and-miguel.html">The Infamous...Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela</a></span><br />
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-27794016226830840912018-10-01T04:54:00.000-04:002018-11-19T10:40:14.840-05:00The Infamous...Jorge Ochoa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jorge Luis Ochoa Vasquez was born on September 30, 1950, the year after his brother Juan David. His brother Fabio was born seven years later. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All three brothers and their sisters worked as waiters/waitresses, cooks and busboys/busgirls in the family's restaurant after school. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jorge eventually picked up the nickname "El Gordo" (Spanish for the Fat One), a reference to his physique. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jorge has stated in an interview that his first drug shipment to the U.S. consisted of 20 kilograms of cocaine. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By 1979, the Ochoa brothers had established a lucrative cocaine distribution network in Florida. They </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">raised their public profiles by attending horse shows and financing bullfights. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1981, Jorge was accused of illegally importing fighting bulls into Colombia from Spain -- a minor Customs violation. Around the same time, the Ochoas formed an alliance with Pablo Escobar, Jose Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha and Carlos Lehder. The participating organizations began to collaborate with regards to manufacturing and shipping cocaine as well as laundering the profits derived from the sales of the drug. The association itself would come to be referred to as the "Medellin Cartel". </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On November 12, 1981, Jorge's sister Marta Nieves Ochoa Velasquez was abducted from the campus of Medellin's University of Antioquia by Colombia's M-19 guerrilla group, which demanded $1 million for her release. The Ochoas responded by arranging a meeting of the most powerful drug traffickers in Colombia at the family's Medellin restaurant, La Margarita. The meeting resulted in the creation of the group Muerte a Secuestradores (Spanish for "death to kidnappers"), dedicated to "the public and immediate execution of all those persons involved in kidnapping." Following the subsequent murders of several M-19 associates, some of whom were hanged in public parks, Marta was released unharmed on February 19. After his daughter's release, Fabio Sr. debuted a new stallion that he'd named Ransom at horse shows.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In March of 1983, drug-smuggler Barry Seal, who transported cocaine to the U.S. for the Medellin cartel, was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was charged with money laundering and smuggling Quaaludes. Seal attempted to negotiate a deal with assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Zimet, promising to give information on high-ranking Medellin cartel members Jorge and his brothers Juan David and Fabio Jr. When Zimet refused, Seal contacted the office of Baton Rouge U.S. Attorney Stanford O. Bardwell, Jr., who attended Baton Rouge High during the same time as Seal, but Bardwell refused to meet with him. Seal did, however, eventually manage to become an informant for the DEA.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Seal flew to Medellin, Colombia on April 8, 1984 and met with Escobar and the Ochoa brothers to make plans to ship a 1,500-kilogram load to the U.S. During the meet, Jorge Ochoa divulged to Seal that the Sandinistas had sold him a 6,000-foot landing strip in Nicaragua and had agreed to allow him use the location as a refueling stop during trips from Colombia to the states. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Following the April 30, 1984, murder of Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla, Jorge Ochoa and Pablo Escobar met with former Colombian President Alfonso Lopes in Panama in May. The two attempted to negotiate with </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">then Colombian President Belisario Betancur </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">for amnesty</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">via Lopez. Ocha, Escobar, Carlos Lehder, Frederico Vaughan and seven other individuals were indicted on drug trafficking charges by a federal grand jury in Miami on July 27, 1984. The indictment alleged that 1,452 pounds of cocaine was shipped from Nicaragua to the U.S., while $1.5 million was delivered to Escobar and Vaughan by the pilot of the aircraft ferrying the narcotics. The two subsequently requested that the pilot ship 2,200 pounds of cocaine back to the U.S. from Nicaragua.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Both Jorge Ochoa </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and his childhood friend, high-ranking Cali cartel leader </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, who was travelling with him, were arrested in Spain in November of 1984. While both the U.S. and Colombian governments requested to have both men extradited, Colombia won out, amidst suspicions that the Spanish judge who approved the extradition had accepted a bribe. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">While Ochoa was released without being tried by the Colombian court, Rodriguez, who'd been caught with a Venezuelan passport in Spain, was put on trial with fellow Cali cartel leader Jose Santacruz Londono in Cali. However, the presiding judge refused to admit evidence submitted by the DEA in connection with U.S. indictments in LA and New York City and the two were acquitted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In November of 1985, paramilitary troops believed to be financed by the Medellin cartel killed 11 of 24 Supreme Court justices during a raid on Colombia's Palace of Justice. On November 15, Jorge Ochoa and fellow drug trafficker Huberto Rodriguez were arrested by Interpol in Madrid, Spain due to an extradition request from the U.S. government. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On January 21, 1986, a Madrid court ruled that there were sufficient grounds to extradite Jorge to the U.S., where he was charged with shipping 3,300 pounds of cocaine into the country via Nicaragua in 1984. After a battle between the U.S. and his home country to determine who could claim him, Jorge was extradited to Colombia in March -- </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">following the February 19, 1986 murder of Barry Seal, who was scheduled to testify against him -- and</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> released. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On August 13, 1986, Judge Fabio Pastrana gave Jorge a 20-month suspended sentence, a $1,000 fine and probation following his conviction for falsifying documents in connection with importing fighting bulls from Spain. He was released after posting a $11,500 bond. At the time he was still sought by U.S. authorities for exporting 659 kilograms of cocaine to Florida. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1987, the U.S. government seized Juan David's Florida ranch along with 39 Paso Fino walking horses. That same year, Forbes magazine listed Jorge among the world's richest people, with an estimated net worth of $2 billion. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That June, Colombia's Supreme Court voted 13-12 that a 1979 extradition treaty between the U.S. and Colombia was unconstitutional. On November 21, Jorge was arrested </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">for speeding </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">in Bogota after being stopped driving a Honduran diplomat's car in the Valle del Cauca province. Following the traffic stop, he was unable to locate the registration that for the white 1987 Porsche. On November 23, the U.S. government formally requested that he be extradited in accordance with the 1933 Montevideo Inter-American Multilateral Convention. Cartel-associates subsequently attempted to break into the home of Medellin mayoral candidate Juan Gomez Martinez but were chased off by Gomez and one of his sons, armed with handguns and a hunting rifle. The cartel leaders, The Extraditables, later released a statement that read, "We want the government to know that if citizen Jorge Luis Ochoa is extradited to the United States, we well declare total and absolute war against the entire political leadership of the country. We will execute without any hesitation the main political leaders of the traditional parties." In December, Colombian Justice Minister Enrique Low Murtra ruled that Jorge was ineligible for extradition as a Colombian citizen citing the absence of an extradition treaty between Colombia and the States. Ochoa was released from La Picota prison, accompanied by his lawyers and Warden Alvaro Camacho, on December 30 and quickly driven to a private Bogota airport where he flew away in a private jet. The following week, Murtra issued warrants for Ochoa; his brothers Juan and Fabio; Escobar; and Gonzalo Rodriguez. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another consequence of Jorge's release was made public on January 14, 1988, when U.S. Customs Commissioner William Von Rabb announced a new policy wherein all vessels and aircraft entering U.S. waters or airports after departing Colombia were subject to in-depth searches. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On January 24, 1988, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">a group calling themselves "The Extraditable Ones"</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> announced that they'd kidnapped Bogota mayoral candidate Andres Pastrana the previous week -- January 18. Pastrana also happened to be the son of former Colombian president Misael Pastrana Borrero. The following day</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, "The Extraditable Ones" took credit, via a statement released to local media, for the murder of Colombia's attorney general, Carlos Mauro Hoyos. The group relayed, "We announce that we have executed Atty. Gen. Carlos Mauro Hoyos for the crime of treason against the fatherland...You can inform that the war will go on." Hoyos was intercepted by 10 men in four vehicles -- a car and three jeeps -- at about 7:30 a.m. on his way to the Medellin airport after spending a week in the city investigating two judges and five other officials suspected of having a hand in Ochoa's early release from prison. Hoyos' Mercedes-Benz was run off the road and his pair of bodyguards were killed during the ensuing gun battle. Altogether, the two had been shot 19 times. Hoyos, who'd also been shot to death, was found blindfolded and handcuffed near the site of the shootout. A police officer who witnessed the attack said that it appeared that Hoyos had been shot in the throat. Authorities searching the hillside hours after the shooting inadvertently found Pastrana in a farmhouse where he'd been held after being flown there via helicopter. The Extraditable Ones, who vehemently opposed being extradited to the U.S. to face drug trafficking charges, included Escobar and Juan David and Fabio Ochoa, Jr. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jorge also made Forbes' list of the world's richest people again in 1988. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In January of 1990, CBS News reported that the Medellin cartel was planning to target U.S. President George H.W. Bush aboard Air Force One with anti-aircraft weapons upon his arrival for the February 15 summit on the international drug trade involving the heads of Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. Bush's security measures for the trip included: U.S. Navy vessels patrolling Colombian waters, including a submarine and a helicopter carrier -- the USS Nassau. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On January 29, 1990, former customs judge Fabio Pastrana Hoyos was convicted on the charge of obstruction of justice and given a six-year prison sentence for ordering Jorge's 1986 release from Cartegena. He was fired from his position as a judge prior to the conviction. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Accepting the Colombian government's September 5 promise not to extradite drug traffickers who turned themselves in and confessed to at least one crime, Fabio Jr. surrendered December 19. On January 15, 1991, Jorge turned himself in to Colombian authorities at Caldas and subsequently detained in an Itagui jail. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All three brothers were incarcerated together and ate meals prepared by their mother. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Meanwhile, Fabio Sr. opened another restaurant, La Margarita del Ocho, near Bogota in 1994.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jorge, Juan David and Fabio Jr. were released from prison in 1996.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After being </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">arrested on drug charges again in 1999, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fabio Jr. was extradited to the U.S. in September of 2001. In 2003, he was convicted of drug trafficking, narcotics conspiracy and distribution of cocaine in the U.S. and sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Juan David returned to ranching following his release from prison. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On July 25, 2013, he died of a heart attack in a Medellin medical clinic.</span></div>
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-74163070976988754882018-09-05T19:05:00.001-04:002022-02-08T11:24:06.722-05:00The Infamous...Lorenzo "Fat Cat" Nichols<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">Lorenzo Nichols was born on December 25, 1958, in Birmingham, Alabama. He was raised by his grandmother in Bessemer, AL until he moved in with his mother, Louise Coleman, in Queens, New York at the age of 10. Nichols and his mother, a nurse's aide (his father was a plumber), lived in the Ozone Park neighborhood, located in the southeast section of the borough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Nichols dropped out of middle school. He began his criminal career committing armed robberies. H</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">is first arrest came at 13-years-old and h</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">e was arrested again in 1976. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Nichols</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> eventually moved on to selling cocaine and heroin, supplied by Italian Mafiosi. He later obtained his heroin from a Chinese supplier whom Nichols' associates referred to as "John" after finding his real name difficult to pronounce. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The bulk of Nichols' organization's profits stemmed from hand-to-hand sales of $10 and $25 amounts of narcotics. Working 15-hour shifts was common practice for street dealers under his employ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">While incarcerated in a New York state prison, Nichols met Howard "Pappy" Mason, who, after initially serving as one of the former's security guards upon the pair's release, eventually formed his own cocaine trafficking gang. Nichols would routinely supply Mason's organization, the Bebos, with product. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1982, Nichols' older sister, Viola, went to work for her brother, processing cocaine into crack. Viola was paid approximately $3,500 per week to cook 250 grams of powdered cocaine into 10,000 vials worth of crack for the Bebos. She would eventually develop a destructive drug habit. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Nichols controlled drug sales on Jamaica's 150th Street.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1985, Nichols was arrested following a raid on his mother's apartment which resulted in weapons and narcotics charges. Following his conviction, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison. That same year, Nichols' parole officer, Brian Rooney, was shot to death. Nichols' who gave the order to have Rooney assaulted but, according to him, not killed, was subsequently charged with second-degree murder. Rooney became a target of Nichols' because he had him sent back to prison for a parole violation. </span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">While Nichols was incarcerated, he gave the order to have rival drug trafficker Isaac Bolden murdered. Bolden, who'd robbed members of Nichols' organization, was killed in November of 1986. In 1987, Nichols was indicted and charged with second-degree murder in connection to Rooney's killing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In May of 1987, Nichols' wife, JoAnne, was kidnapped and held until a $77,000 ransom was paid for her release. Initially, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of 10 kilograms of cocaine. After two days as a captive, JoAnne, who had been taken from the Elmont, Long Island home she shared with Nichols, was set free. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In December, 19-year-old Bebos-associate Todd Scott shot a woman, whom he'd suspected of stealing some of his cash and drugs, in the chest on 157th Street in Queens. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In late December of 1987, the mother of Nichols' son, 20-year-old Myrtle Horsham, was shot to death in a car in Jamaica, Queens. Nichols, who was incarcerated at the time, later testified that he'd ordered the murder because he'd discovered that Horsham had stolen some of his cash and had subsequently spent it on another man. Horsham had blamed the missing money on a robbery. Nichols had given the assignment to kill Horsham to one of his enforcers, Brian "Glaze" Gibbs, whom he'd recruited after the latter was acquitted of murder than June. Gibbs delegated the job to two of his subordinates. The two triggermen, who'd been surveilling Horsham, waited until she left her mother's Springfield Gardens home and got into another woman's vehicle with her son and then rushed into the back seat of the car themselves. The pair then forced Horsham's friend to drive to a dead-end street at gunpoint. Ignoring Horsham's pleas for her life and her offer to pay them $100,000 to walk away, they shot both women. The gunmen then placed the 3-year-old in Gibbs' car, who'd been supervising the entire incident. Gibbs in turn drove back to Horsham's mother's residence, left her grandson on the front lawn and called from a payphone to tell her where he could be found. While Horsham succumbed to her headshot, the other woman's injuries proved to be non-fatal.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That same month, Gibbs orchestrated the shooting death of Maurice Bellamy at Nichols' behest. The triggerman, sent by Gibbs, shot Bellamy in the head at the Linden Ave. Laundromat, where the latter worked. Maurice was targeted because Perry Bellamy, Maurice's son, had cooperated with investigators probing Rooney's murder. Perry himself, a member of Nichols' organization, was out of reach as he'd been given protection by law enforcement. Following the shooting, Nichols called Bellamy's home and told his relatives that he wasn't responsible for the killing. The murder was intended to lure Perry out of hiding in order to attend the funeral. The plan was abandoned when Perry was escorted, chained, to the funeral by police. He is still incarcerated following a state murder conviction stemming from his time as a member of the organization. </span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">Nichols was convicted of weapons and narcotics charges in January of 1988. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">At about 3:30 a.m. on February 26, 22-year-old Officer Edward Byrne, of Jamaica's 103rd Police Precinct, was fatally shot five times in the head as he guarded the home of a witness from his patrol car on South Jamaica, Queens' Inwood Street. Todd Scott, serving as a decoy, distracted Byrne by getting his attention while standing on the passenger side of the police vehicle. The triggerman, David McClary, positioned on the driver's side, shot Byrne at close range using a nickel-plated revolver. Scott, McClary and Scott Cobb, the getaway driver, then fled the scene in a yellow Dodge. Mason, who was incarcerated at the time for his role in the murder of his parole officer, had sent a message through Phillip "Marshal" Copeland that a police officer should be murdered. Copeland, Scott, McClary and Cobb split the $8,000 payment for the killing. Each member of the foursome was apprehended during the first week of March. Cobb, who'd subsequently made a videotaped confession, was eventually given a sentence of 25-to-life alongside the other three. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On May 12, Richard Frejomil of Brooklyn was convicted in connection with JoAnne Nichol's kidnapping.</span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">On May 21, Nichols' South Jamaica residence was firebombed, resulting in the death of his 50-year-old sister, Mary Nichols. A perpetrator fired 16 rounds from a semi-automatic weapon at the front of the three story home a little after 12:30 a.m. He then proceeded to throw a bomb through one of the ground-floor windows before fleeing in a gray Buick sedan with three accomplices who'd remained in the car. Mary, who was wheelchair-bound as a result of a stroke years earlier, was discovered by firefighters in a bedroom on the second floor of the house. Her 10-year-old son, Wynell Nichols, was transported to Jamaica Hospital before being taken to New York Hospital for treatment of second and third-degree burns on his face and both arms. Mary's daughters, Tamika Nichols and Ida Nichols, fled the house unharmed. Nichols' 70-year-old mother, Louise Coleman, and his stepfather, Amos Coleman, also escaped without injury after unsuccessfully attempting to pull Mary to safety. At the time of the fire, Nichols was incarcerated at the Shawangunk Correctional Facility located near Kingston, NY.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On August 11, 1988, a federal taskforce comprised of 400 agents conducted raids on homes in three states in the most wide-ranging response to Officer Byrnes' murder six months prior. Louise Coleman, who was accused of making drug sales, and Amos Coleman were arrested in Birmingham; JoAnne Nichols was arrested in Norfolk, Virginia. Mason's mother, Claudia Mason, was arrested as well. Nichols himself was arrested in his cell at the Wallkill Correctional Facility; Mason was also arrested while serving time in upstate New York. Five buildings, including Louise Coleman's home, loaded machine guns, cash, heroin and cocaine were all seized during the sweep.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gibbs, who was also arrested on August 11, was apprehended on drug trafficking charges by federal agents at a McDonald's restaurant in South Carolina. Seeking leniency, Gibbs agreed to cooperate against Nichols. Though he pleaded guilty to five murders and two attempted murders, he served less than 10 years in prison. Gibbs did his time at the federal facility located in Otisville, NY and FCI Sandstone, a low-security prison in Minnesota. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Following Viola Nichols' arrest, she eventually pleaded guilty as part of a deal with prosecutors that required her to cooperate against her brother. She was entered into the federal Witness Protection Program for her safety. In July of 1989, Viola testified in open court against Claudia Mason and Bebos third-in-command Char "Shocker" Davis, both charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine base. (10) As a consequence, Davis was convicted and subsequently sentenced to 33 years in federal prison by Judge Edward Korman in 1990. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On September 28, 1989, Nichols pleaded guilty to two counts of racketeering-related murder in connection to the deaths of Bolden and Horsham. As part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Nichols gave testimony explaining his role in the killings in the chambers of Federal District Court Judge Edward R. Korman. The agreement also required that he cooperate against members of his organization, including Mason. Nichols was already serving a 25-year-to-life sentence stemming from drug convictions in state court. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1992, Nichols pleaded guilty to ordering Rooney's murder and was sentenced to a term of 25 years to life in prison for his role in the crime. He was also given a 40-year sentence in connection with federal racketeering, murder and narcotics convictions. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Following his July 1997 release from prison, Gibbs entered the witness protection program and now lives under an assumed name in the Southern U.S. He makes nearly $100,000 per year.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">At its peak, Nichols' organization generated $20 million annually in drug sales. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">A two-year criminal investigation, nicknamed Operation Road Runner, exposed both Nichols' and convicted Detroit drug trafficker Richard "White Boy Rick" Wershe's involvement in an </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">auto theft ring, which sold over 250 Florida vehicles to 14 other states from 1999 - 2005, grossing $8 million in the process.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Nichols pleaded guilty to racketeering for his role in the scheme in December of 2006. Nichols, who, along with Wershe, was incarcerated in Florida and in the witness protection program, received a 10-year sentence after confessing to heading the ring. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In March of 2010, Nichols became eligible for parole. However, he declined to appear before the board. He is currently incarcerated at the Clinton Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison located in Dannemora, NY.</span></span></div>
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Brian "Glaze" Gibbs and Lorenzo "Fat Cat" Nichols<br />
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-25910895936744878152018-08-07T20:21:00.000-04:002018-08-08T19:43:46.412-04:00The Infamous...Steven Sealey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">by Ran Britt</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Steven Sealey was born in 1964 in Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up in the Columbia Point housing projects, located in the city's Dorchester neighborhood. During his childhood, Sealey began a lifelong friendship with fellow Boston native and future pop superstar Bobby Brown, who grew up in the Orchard Park housing projects located in the city's Roxbury neighborhood.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1981, a teenaged Sealey began a working for Dwayne "Wonderful Wayne" Davis, one of the co-founders of Detroit-based Young Boys, Inc. drug organization. Earlier that year, Davis had led his faction of YBI, dubbed "the H2O crew", into making inroads into Indianapolis, Indiana, Cincinnati, Ohio, Seattle, Washington and Boston. Sealey worked as Davis' driver and bodyguard after the latter established a satellite operation in Columbia Point. On September 28, 1982, months after a return trip from Boston alongside other associates, including Sealey, Davis was shot to death in Northwest Detroit. Following Davis' murder, Sealey and the other members of H2O returned to Boston, renamed the H2O crew "the Bomb Boys" and picked up where Davis left off. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At some point Sealey picked up the nickname "Stevie Shots". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1988, Bomb Boys leader Toby "Big Blood" Johnson was killed, reputedly by other members of the organization, and Sealey subsequently changed the group's name to the Columbia Point Dawgs. On June 20 of that year, Bobby Brown's sophomore solo album, <i>Don't Be Cruel</i>, was released and went on to sell 7 million copies. <i>Don't Be Cruel</i>, featuring Brown's signature song, "My Prerogative", which reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, became the best-selling album of 1989. Following the 1991 life sentence of Roxbury drug kingpin Darryl "G-d" Whiting, the CPD rushed to fill the vacuum left by the former's 100-man New York Boys organization. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1993, Sealey began serving a two-year prison sentence following a conviction for weapons violations. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sealey eventually became engaged to Brown's sister, Carol and w</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">hen Brown hired him as a bodyguard, Sealey moved to Atlanta, Georgia.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bobby Brown</span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1995, Sealey is alleged to have ordered the robberies of local drug dens and stash houses operated by rival organizations. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On September 28, 1995, Sealey rode with Brown, who was driving pop superstar Whitney Houston's (his then wife) $400,000 cream-colored Bentley, to Boston's Biarritz Lounge, located a block from the Orchard Park housing project where Brown grew up. Brown signed several autographs for fans before the two decided to depart. Minutes before 1 a.m., as the pair were seated in the Bentley preparing to leave, a triggerman with a shaved head shot Sealey at least three times in the face, head and chest using two firearms and relieved him of a gold chain before fleeing the scene. Brown was uninjured. When paramedics arrived, they gave Sealey emergency treatment on the sidewalk before transporting him to Boston City Hospital, where he was pronounced dead five hours later. Firefighters at the station across the street from The Biarritz witnessed the shooting and reported that an individual, believed to be another of Brown's bodyguards, returned fire. Local police searched for the lone assailant in the Orchard Park housing development, where Brown's mother resided at the time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">John "Black" Tibbs, 23, was convicted for Sealey's September 1995 murder. Tibbs was subsequently sentenced to 27 years in federal prison. His getaway driver, Cedric "Cookie" Phillips, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in the killing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sealey's shooting is believed to have been connected to a rumored drug war between the Point Dawgs, who were under investigation by the FBI, and Tibbs' rival organization from the Orchard Park housing project.</span><br />
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-50307404661434156192018-07-30T20:35:00.002-04:002023-02-07T09:36:06.107-05:00The Infamous...Clarence "Preacher" Heatley<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">by Ran</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Clarence Heatley was born in 195<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">3</span> in New York City and grew up in Harlem, located in the northern section
of Manhattan. Heatley, who dropped out of school in the fourth grade,
was sent to juvenile detention by the time he was nine-years-old<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eventually, Heatley grew<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> to 6'7"<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">At some point Heatley acquired the nickname, "Preacher". </span>His <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">violent reputation</span> also earned him the nickname, "The Black Hand of Death."</span> </span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1983, Heatley established his criminal organization, which would come to be known as "The Preacher Crew". <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Organization members included: John "Big Cuz" Cuff, Derrick Hailstock, Paul "Nutsy" <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Weller, Raymond "Jerry Woo<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">" </span>Jackson, J<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">oh<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">n "<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Apple" Porter, Curtis "<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Snowman</span>" Medley, Darrel "Bright Eye<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">s" </span>Barner, </span></span></span></span>Darryl Haskins, Leroy "Echo" Echols, Steve Fairley, Shak<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">a "Heavy" Heatley, </span>David "Popcorn" Collins, Sherman "Kendu" Baker, Yvonne "Mom" Miller, Adrienne "Adee" Bundy, Bernard Mitchell, Denise <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dawson<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">,</span> Ganeene Goode</span>, Anthony Boatwright, Alvin "Butch Cassidy" Goings, Greg "Sleep<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">" Sorries, Clifford Randall, Farris Phillips, Ralph "Black" Wallace, Duane Beatty, Darnell Walker, Kenny Wilson<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> and</span> Freddy<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Hill<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Heatley met his chief lieutenant, John "Big Cuz" Cuff, in 1983 when <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the latter was still employed as a<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">n officer <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">in</span> the now-defunct New York City Housing Authority <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Police Department<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. Cu<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">ff served as a driver and enforcer for Heatley even be<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">fore he left the police department.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The organization<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">'s</span> base of operations was <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Manhattan's 144th and 8th <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Avenue. </span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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owned an apartment building on the Grand Concourse, a main thoroughfare
located in the Bronx, in which people were allegedly tortured (and<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> sometimes killed) </span>in the basement. Heatley lieutenant Anthony Boatwright resided in the building<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span> </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sometime
in 1986, Heatley, aware that he was the subject of investigation by law
enforcement, voluntarily went to Harlem's 32nd police precint to
address his concerns regarding police inquiries with the chief
detective. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Much
of Heatley's income was derived by extorting local drug dealers,
charging upwards of $10,000. In many cases, the payment was made <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">with the understanding that the Preacher Crew would murder the dealers' rival<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span> </span></span></span><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDZpYTIfkC-tMARZu4Hx3XXSydmbuaWsxoOKEQNLEDasGhuB5qLdgt8SCQs8pj02DjLA4u1y3KImKv6sMI5hb7A7oMsJtw4sjO3nnYrOQ-XP6guyZcWsfdc4S7FImeyyswdP1nl8xKjiFvP6VvuC3BUkIvio0UqsxcOqAG1gi6cX8xVg0lTi0c7mCN/s300/preacher%20mugshot%20profile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDZpYTIfkC-tMARZu4Hx3XXSydmbuaWsxoOKEQNLEDasGhuB5qLdgt8SCQs8pj02DjLA4u1y3KImKv6sMI5hb7A7oMsJtw4sjO3nnYrOQ-XP6guyZcWsfdc4S7FImeyyswdP1nl8xKjiFvP6VvuC3BUkIvio0UqsxcOqAG1gi6cX8xVg0lTi0c7mCN/w400-h224/preacher%20mugshot%20profile.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The
organization's enforcers were known as "janitors" and some of them were
given tattoos depicting a bucket and a mop dripping with blood. </span></span></span> </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Allegedly, Heatley was t<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">he ar<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">chitect</span></span> of the 1989 kidnapping of Donnell Porter, 12-year-old nephew of Preacher Crew member Johnnie "Apple<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">" Porter. A $500,000<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> ransom demand was delivered to Donnell's older brother, <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Harlem drug <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">kingpin <span style="color: #a64d79;"></span>Rich Porter (<a href="http://theranreport.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-infamousrich-porter.html">see here</a>). </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Donnell was
abducted while on his way to his school, P.S. 92, on December 5. The
kidnappers demanded $500,000 ransom for 12-year-old Donnell's safe
return by telephone. When Porter insisted that he didn't have the half
million dollars the kidnappers lowered the ransom to $350,000. On Dec. 6,
the abductors directed the family to a nearby McDonald's restaurant
located at West 125th Street and Broadway, where they found a coffee cup
containing Donnell's index finger, two of his rings and an audio
cassette in the men's bathroom. According to police, the cassette tape
contained a recording of Donnell pleading to his older brother Rich to
pay the ransom, stating, "They cutted my finger off...Please help
me...Get the money. I love you, Mommy." Porter's sister Pat contacted
the FBI against his wishes and was directed to the NYPD, who placed taps
on the family's phone lines. On Dec. 10, a local boy delivered a note
to the family's West 132nd Street apartment in Harlem given to him by an
unknown woman stating that Donnell was badly in need of medical
attention.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Rich Porter
was murdered a little less than a month later on Janurary 3, 1990 in
his native Harlem. He suffered several gunshots to the head and chest
and was found in the bushes in Orchard Beach Park with $2,239 in cash in
his pockets.</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On January
28, Donnell Porter's body was found in City Island less than a mile from
where Rich's body was discovered. The corpse was found inside 14 black
plastic garbage bags.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">his biggest source of revenue came from trafficking crack and cocaine, most of which was done between 1990 and 1996<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Heatley's
organization, sometimes known as "The Family", truly was a
family-affair that included his son, daughter and girlfriend. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">According to former Preacher Crew member David <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Collins, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">H</span></span>eatley and his associates abducted R&B superstar <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Bobby Brown a<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">t gunpoint in April of 1993.</span></span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Associates of Heatley in<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">troduce<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">d themselves, at his behest, to the recording star at a Manhattan nightclub before convincing him to follow them to a<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">n apartment in the Bronx. After being beat<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">en, Brown was </span>taken to another apartment<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> and</span></span></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> held cap<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">tive -- naked, gagged and hogtied<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">except for when he</span>
was permitted to place a call to then-wife Whitney Houston in order to
relay the the kidnappers' demand of $400,000 in cash in exchange f<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">or the singer's release<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span> </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Brown supposedly <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">had a<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">n outstanding debt of $25,000 wit<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">h a New Jersey-b<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">ased dealer who'd supplied him with <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">coc<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">aine</span></span>. <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Heatley is said to have assumed <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the crooner's debt after giving the dealer the amount owed<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The day after Brown's phone call, Houston complied with t<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">he kidnappers' or<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">der to show up alone with the money at <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">an abandoned building</span>. She wore a wig and dark glasses<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">,</span> so as not to be recognized by the general public, and <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">turned</span> the <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">cash over to Heatley himself</span>. Heatley kept half and the rest was divided amongst his associates.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig_sJ0zRy1zPWgLgZDIiRVVKaZbTEQacnSViHX_GCu7vqR5McJBS8hnGkjnG7GKrwnTmrsN-b-AbW8-fPEPfDkVBhK1WryTj2WO4Itl-biJDCOkstK9cyp__HGe16SEA1K0Yt7lj1z82DiRs4vuJqC2IpeM9v5fqDSgd_EMZ5zikr-Q6ugOPs3-GNz/s900/bobby-Whitney-Houston-89.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="556" data-original-width="900" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig_sJ0zRy1zPWgLgZDIiRVVKaZbTEQacnSViHX_GCu7vqR5McJBS8hnGkjnG7GKrwnTmrsN-b-AbW8-fPEPfDkVBhK1WryTj2WO4Itl-biJDCOkstK9cyp__HGe16SEA1K0Yt7lj1z82DiRs4vuJqC2IpeM9v5fqDSgd_EMZ5zikr-Q6ugOPs3-GNz/w400-h248/bobby-Whitney-Houston-89.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On
March 21, 1994, John Cuff murdered Heatley's chief enforcer, Anthony
Boatwright. After Cuff shot Boatwright in the head in the basement of
Heatley's apartment building, Heatley supervised as his associates used a
circular saw to dismember the corpse. The severed arms and head were
then burned disposed of in an abandoned building in Manhattan<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The
Preacher Crew was enventually targeted by the FBI's C-11 Squad, a
task force specifically formed to investigate heroin and cocaine
trafficking organizations operating in New York City (10). The squad was
comprised of 12 FBI agents, three DEA agents, 12 NYPD officers and three IRS
agents.</span><br /><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">After
one of the organization's members was arrested by C-11 Squad members
and agreed to cooperate with investigators, Heatley and three
associates, including Cuff, attempted to abduct the informant as he left
a New York City courthouse. Following a brief chase, the van in which
Heatley and the others rode was stopped by police, who seized 3 lead
pipes, 4 gorilla masks, duct tape and rope from the occupants. Heatley
was not convicted in connection to the incident.</span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On July 15, 1996, Heatley was indicted on three counts of murder and conspiracy to murder in the aid of racketeering.<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> On August 1<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">2, <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">h</span></span>e was<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> found in the Bronx and placed under arrest by the NYPD and <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">transported to Harlem's 32nd precint. John Cuff, wh<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">o'd been arrested by the FBI that same day, was<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> detained in the same cell<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> with Heatley.<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Less than two hours later they were both placed under federal custody.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In
November of 1996, a 47-count federal indictment charging Heatley and 17
associates with narcotics trafficking, 11 murders and 11 murder
conspiracies was unsealed. By November 14, 14 of the suspects had been
arrested. </span><br /><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On December 17, 199<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">7, a federal indictment was filed charging Heatley and 11 others with 86 counts of racketeering. Additionally, Heatley and <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Cuff were charged <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">with murder in aid of racketeering, attempted murder and conspirac<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">y to commit murder, participating in a narcotics dist<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">ribution </span>conspiracy, and unlawful possession of a firearm. Heatley was al<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">so</span> charged with participating in m<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">urders while acting as the principal administrator, organizer and leader of<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> a continuing crim<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">inal ent<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">erprise involving narcotics, robbery and extortion. <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Cuff<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">'s
charges also included participating in murders while working in
furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise involving narcotics and
extortion.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Heatley </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">became the first defendant to be charged under the federal "drug kingpin law" in New York and thereby eligible for capital punishment. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>The government filed <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">a notice of intent to seek the death penalty against Cuff and Heatley on <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">January 8 <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and </span>August 11, 1998, respectively.<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></span></span></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span> </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On February 5, 1999, Heatley pleaded guilty to federal racketeering<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">, participation in 13 murders in aid o<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">f
racketeering, one attempted murder, participation in a continuing
criminal enterprise involving narcotics, robbery and extortion, using
and carry<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">ing fir<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">earms in relation to crimes of <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">violence, </span></span></span>assault with a deadly weapon. He a<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">lso admitted to ordering <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">associates to commit arson.</span></span></span></span> His plea deal <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">cal<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">led for</span></span> U.S. Attorney Mary Jo <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">White</span> to seek <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">life <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">in prison <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">a<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">s opposed to a death sentence.</span></span></span></span> He was represented by both Joel S. Cohen and David A. Ruhnke. The deal
allowed Heatley to avoid being the focus of the first federal death
penalty trial in Manhattan since the 1950s<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">O</span>n <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">March 22, Cuff pleaded guilty to participation in 11 murders in aid of a racketeering enterprise, conspiracy to murd<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">er in aid o<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">f a racketeering ent<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">erprise, participati<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">on in a continuing criminal ent<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">erprise involving narcotics</span></span></span></span></span> and using and carrying firearms in relation to crimes of violence. </span> </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">H<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">eatley'</span>s life plus 225 year-sentence was handed down on May 14 by Judge Michael B. Mukasey. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Related:</span><br />
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<img class="photo" data-pin-description="The Source Of Swag" data-pin-url="http://mistawaveybaby.tumblr.com/post/80747759610/mr-porter" height="196" src="https://40.media.tumblr.com/8a984b23f005957657fd2ff2a03318a8/tumblr_n30yqcdy2Z1s3nctvo1_500.jpg" width="200" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://theranreport.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-infamousrich-porter.html">The Infamous...Rich Porter</a></span><br /></span>
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-61341007307813964962018-06-28T18:54:00.000-04:002018-09-04T18:22:37.117-04:00The Infamous...Chambers Brothers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">by Ran Britt</span><br />
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<img alt="Related image" src="http://www.geocities.ws/jiggs2000_us/Cham_bj.jpg" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Larry Marlowe Chambers was born in 1950 in Marianna, Arkansas to Curtis and Hazel Chambers. Larry was the third-born son after Curtis Jr. and Willie Lee. Larry was </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">soon followed by Danny. Billy Joe, nicknamed "BJ", and his twin brother, Joe, was born in 1962 and followed by Otis Bernard Chambers. Curtis and Hazel, both of whom were Lee County, Arkansas natives, began dating when they were teens. They would have 16 children in all. The brothers grew up in a dilapidated trailer home on the family's 44-acre farm in the impoverished majority African-American town where their parents moved in 1948 -- the year that they married. Marianna is also the county seat of Lee County, which boasts the second-highest unemployment rate in the state and is the sixth poorest county in the U.S. The poverty-stricken siblings would, at times, wait outside the residences of their white neighbors in the evenings and ask for the leftovers of their dinner meals. In 1967, however, Curtis and Hazel opened The Tin Top Inn bar and restaurant on their property, which the boys frequented. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The first Chambers brother to run afoul of the law was Larry. On December 23, 1969, he was arrested and charged with auto theft after stealing a pair of cars in Marianna so that he and a childhood friend could use them for joyriding. Larry had moved in with his maternal grandparents in St. Louis years earlier with his brother Danny and was only in town for a holiday visit. On December 31, Larry escaped from the Lee County Jail after physically overpowering a guard who'd entered his cell in order to fix the toilet. After hiding in a church that night, Larry stole the pastor's car the following day and embarked on a two-day armed robbery spree. He was nearly apprehended by state troopers after a routine traffic stop in Arkansas' Ouachita County. However, Larry shot one of the patrolmen who approached the vehicle and ran off. He was finally caught the next morning and charged with assault with intent to kill. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After being convicted of shooting the Arkansas state trooper, Larry was sentenced to nine years in prison. Following five months of incarceration, he escaped and was subsequently apprehended in Phoenix, Arizona. Larry made yet another prison break -- from a chain-gang -- after bribing a guard to look the other way. During his time as a fugitive, he committed several gas station holdups and drove to Pittsburgh in a stolen car. Larry was arrested again in Wynn, Arkansas attempting to rob a jewelry store. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After serving six years and being released, he helped his brother, Danny Chambers, and their associate, James Cooper, to burglarize a post office in Helena, Arkansas. After the three were arrested, both Danny and James, both of whom's fingerprints were found at the scene, confessed. While Larry, who was still on parole, had refused to make a statement, the other two, who didn't have criminal records, told police that he'd been with them. The sheriff's office offered Danny and James suspended sentences in exchange for testifying against Larry. When the attorney Danny and Larry's father hired, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mike Etoch,</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> relayed the news, Larry decided to plead guilty to charges of burglary and theft along with his brother and James. Because Cooper couldn't afford his own lawyer Etoch was appointed to represented him as well. Larry made three jailbreaks from the police station in which he was held and ultimately received a three year prison sentence. However, the Arkansas State Supreme Court found his hand-written appeal so persuasive that they overturned his conviction in 1977. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Willie Lee Chambers served two years in the U.S. Army after graduating from Lee High School in 1972. In 1974, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where his brother Danny had relocated four years earlier. After arriving in Motown, Willie took a job as a mail-carrier for the U.S. Postal Service. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Billy Joe, nicknamed "BJ", who would stop growing at 5'5", followed in his brothers' footsteps and moved to Detroit in 1978, two years after his parents divorced. Having left Marianna during his junior year of high school, BJ enrolled in Detroit's Kettering High School. He got an after-school job as a janitor for the Eastown Shoes company to bring in some money. BJ also began selling marijuana for Lee County native L.C. "Big Terry" Colbert out of the latter's convenience store -- The T and T. BJ met Colbert through Danny, who worked with Big Terry at a Dearborn, Michigan automobile plant. Colbert, who'd already established a marijuana business to supplement his income, opened the store after losing his job at the auto plant. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That same year, Larry was found in possession of several weapons </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">stolen </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">from a Marianna gun store and sent back to prison. Following his release the following year, Larry embarked on yet another robbery spree that he himself has estimated to have exceeded 100 Arkansas jewelry stores. His preferred method was gaining entry by drilling a hole through the store's ceiling after hours and subsequently stealing the goods from the deserted shop throughout the night. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1980, after BJ's girlfriend Niece (pronounced Neesey) gave birth to his son, Billy Chambers Jr., he dropped out of school and quit his job at the shoe store in order to sell marijuana full-time. The following year, Niece gave birth to BJ's daughter. Though some of BJ's client base consisted of adults who resided in Grosse Pointe, Michigan due to his apartment's proximity to the predominately white city (which is located eight miles east of downtown Detroit), the majority of his customers were minority high school students from Detroit. He routinely generated between $200-$400 per day from marijuana sales. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Related image" src="http://www.geocities.ws/jiggs2000_us/Cham-0.jpg" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Otis Chambers</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In September of 1981, Larry and a fellow-parolee stole a money order machine from an Arkansas post office and proceeded to sell money orders themselves. The following month, he joined Willie and BJ in Detroit. Larry was arrested by an undercover U.S. Postal Inspector at a motel in Highland Park, Michigan at a would-be meeting to sell stolen money orders which actually turned out to be a sting set up by his accomplice. After being convicted of stealing government property, Larry received a four-year prison sentence and was sent to USP Leavenworth (United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth), a medium-security federal prison located 25 miles northwest of Kansas City, Kansas. Determined to be productive during his stay, the illegal businesses that Larry established in prison (including organized gambling and extortion) brought him about $50,000. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">During one of his many prison stints, Larry scored a 140 (which denotes an intelligence approaching genius levels) on an IQ test administered by a psychiatrist. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1982, BJ decided to apply what he'd learned under Colbert's mentorship and opened Willie's Retail Store with Willie on the corner of Detroit's Kerchival and St. Clair. Using the money he'd saved while working for the postal service, Willie also opened a car wash next to the store. For his part, BJ, who was supplied by Colbert, sold both marijuana and heroin out of both locations. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In January of 1983, Willie opened a convenience store on the Lower East Side of Detroit and employed BJ, who used it as a base for selling marijuana. Following a police raid of the store, renamed BJ's Party Store, BJ relocated his operation to low-priced houses that he'd purchased. BJ's operation soon expanded to include not only Willie but his brothers Danny, Joe and David as well as his best friend Jerry "J-Man" Gant and Terry "Little Terry" Colbert, Colbert's little brother and son, respectively. BJ paid Little Terry, a native of Hughes, Arkansas, who'd initially moved to Detroit in April in order to work for his father, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">approximately $400 per week to sell marijuana. BJ</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> also recruited Willie "Boogaloo" Driscoll and Perry "P-Boy" Coleman -- two of Niece's brothers. In 1984, BJ started selling crack cocaine, which Coleman (Niece's older brother) had introduced him to. Following the</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> switch to crack, Colbert worked his way up from making $1,000 weekly to $3,000.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">With the drug's explosion in popularity in Detroit, the Chambers quickly established a </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">large-scale </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">crack-cocaine operation on the city's lower east side. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That August, BJ was arrested and charged with assault after he and Joe, nicknamed "Yo-Yo", fought a pair of Detroit police officers who'd pulled BJ over in front of his home. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On September 1, Officer John Autrey, working undercover, purchased three bags of crack from Elayne Coleman Lucas at BJ and Danny Chambers' two-family Gray Street home.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On September 3, Labor Day, BJ, Danny, their cousin Alvin "Frog" Chambers and Lucas were arrested following a raid of BJ and Danny's Gray Street home during which 2,000 packages of crack were seized. On September 10, police conducted another raid of the home, though no arrests were made. Seeking a respite from the increasing police scrutiny, BJ soon moved back to the Marianna farm, where he remained for the following 10 months, leaving his brother David and Grant in charge of day-to-day operations. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Unable to ignore the fact that the business suffered in his absence, BJ moved back to Detroit in 1985 and fired almost all of his non-familial employees, including Driscoll and "Little Terry" Colbert. He recruited Detroit natives Anthonty "Tony the Tiger" Alexander and Eric "Fats" Wilkins and Marshall "Cadillac Mario" Glenn from Marianna. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Glenn, who subsequently enlisted other Marianna youth, including James McKinney, to work for the organization, oversaw crackhouses and conducted pick-ups and drop-offs.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The staff changes subsequently helped BJ to expand his operation from six crackhouses to 50.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That same year, Larry relocated to Detroit following his April 29 release from prison and in July founded the "Wrecking Crew", the enforcement arm of the organization. Larry recruited Arkansas-natives Roderick "Hot Rod" Byrd and William "Jack Frost" Jackson and the trio became the heart of the crew.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Known for their brutality, Larry and two members of the Wrecking Crew once attacked an employee with a lamp, two-by-four and a television set for fraudulently passing off plaster chips as $8 crack pieces to customers. Following the assault, the trio poured hot grease on the offender.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By contrast, BJ's management style was marked by lavish trips to Las Vegas and Florida for his employees, and more frequently, to Cincinnati, Ohio's Kings Island water park Sandusky, OH's Cedar Point amusement park. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Unsatisfied with limiting himself to physical pursuits, Larry enrolled at Wayne State University, Michigan's third-largest, where he studied music history and Spanish. He also began a relationship with Detroit teenager Belinda Lumpkin, whom he moved into the home he shared with David on the corner of Detroit's Gratiot Avenue and Knodell Street. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As the organization grew, the amount of product required to satisfy customer demand exceeded the quantity of cocaine that Terry Colbert was able to supply. As a consequence, BJ and Larry bypassed Colbert and began obtaining the coke, via an introduction by Perry Coleman, from the duo who provided the latter with his drugs in the first place - Sam "Doc" Curry and Art "AD" Derrick. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In March of 1986, the Chambers purchased the red-brick four-story, 52-unit Broadmoor apartment building located at 1350 East Grand Boulevard in Detroit for $75,000 and used it as a base of operations, overseen by Larry. The building's apartments were taken over for use as drug processing labs, sales centers and/or storage spaces by either muscling or paying off the residents. Patricia Middleton, building manager David Havard's girlfriend, was hired to do Larry's bookkeeping and to do the cooking in the bar and grill that the latter established on the Broadmoor's first floor.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The building itself was divided into different departments. Buyers were escorted to the appropriate floor upon entering the structure on the first floor, where aside from the bar and grill, a pawn shop was housed. Powdered cocaine was sold on the third and fourth floors. Prostitutes could be found on those floors as well. A lounge could be found on the second floor where buyers could consume their products. Free shots of tequila were offered to buyers on weekends. At its peak, the Broadmoor was estimated to have brought in $100,000 in profit per day. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The youngest brother, Otis, spent his summers working with his brothers in Detroit while still a high school student.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The organization attracted customers with buy-one-get-one-free sales and by issuing discount coupons. Quality control checks were performed by having workers make undercover buys at crack houses where they weren't familiar to that location's employees. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Employees, a large number of whom were high school students recruited from Marianna, were provided with photo ID cards. The typical pay was $100 per day and workers were expected to be on-call 24 hours a day. As a result, many cut school to work 12-hour shifts in crack houses with chains on the doors and barred windows. They were expected to adhere to a strict set of rules posted in the crack houses, which included prohibitions against various actions such as: driving over the speed limit; wearing gold chains and expensive sneakers when transporting cash or drugs; and carrying drugs and cash simultaneously. Fines were levied against workers for committing various infractions, including: $50 for playing loud music while collecting or dropping off drugs and/or money; $100 for neglecting one's duties and failing to follow instructions; $300 for stealing and for getting high on the job; and $500 for discussing organization business with outsiders, bringing outsiders to work and for lying. Much of the organizations' workforce, upwards of 150 employees, was recruited from the brothers' native Marianna. The teens were hired in various capacities, including couriers, enforcers, cooks and sellers. These and other labor practices helped the Chambers to amass $55 million a year. They were so wealthy that they were nicknamed the "Cash Money Brothers".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At their peak, the Chambers' crack sales totaled an estimated $3 million per day, they employed 500 workers and ran 50% of Detroit's crack houses -- approximately 200. They supplied another 500. The organization averaged $42 million in profit per year from 1983 to 1988. The foursome also had plans to branch out to Flint, Michigan and Toledo, Ohio. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Chambers used their vast wealth to purchase, among other things, vacation property in Jamaica. They even made video recordings parading examples of their fortune. One such recording features an exhibition of gold bathroom fixtures in one of the brothers' homes and huge stacks of cash. Another recorded scene features a high-ranking member of the organization saying, "Money, money, money. Fifty thousand here. Ain't no telling how much is up there. I'm going to buy me three cars tomorrow -- and a Jeep." Larry Chambers can also be seen commenting sarcastically about the cash, "I tell you what we can do. We can give it to the poor."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In February of 1986, Joe Chambers was released from federal prison after serving a two-year sentence stemming from a conviction for the theft of food stamps and postal order slips. On March 29, he was killed when a freight train collided with his vehicle in Marianna. Joe's funeral, attended by most of the organization's members, was held in Arkansas on April 4. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That May, his older brothers showed up in Marianna for Otis' high school graduation in three chauffered limousines. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Also in 1986, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) initiated "Operation: No Crack" in an effort to curb the popularity of the drug. A tip hotline, 1-800-NO-CRACK, was launched and fielded 1500 reports of crack sales in the first month alone. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In early August, Patricia Middleton began working as a confidential informant for the DEA. At 1:30 pm on August 25, police conducted two simultaneous raids on property connected to the Chambers. In October, "Little Terry" Colbert also began working as a confidential informant for the DEA and provided information that directly led to a police raid on Larry's two-story Albion Street residence. A subsequent raid of a Knodell Street crack house yielded the discovery by police of a list of the organization's rules for employee conduct, nicknamed "the crack commandments".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However, business continued to prove fruitful and Larry showed his appreciation by treating his associates to a luxury cruise in Jamaica on New Year's Eve.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On April 24, 1987, at about 4:00 p.m., Otis and his girlfriend, who was driving with no license, were pulled over by police after failing to stop at a stop sign in Hughes, Arkansas on the way to Marianna. Following a search of the blue Corvette, which Otis said he'd borrowed from a friend, a green plastic bag containing $59,624 in cash was found behind the passenger seat by Hughes Police Chief Herbert Neighbors and his partner, who'd made the stop. Both Otis and the driver were taken to the police station. Chief Neighbors drove the Corvette to the station as well. The cash was ultimately seized by the IRS. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In September of 1987, local television station WXYZ-TV ran a program about the organization entitled "All in the Family". The program's host, Chris Hansen, would go on to host the popular reality series "To Catch a Predator" from 2004 to 2007. A videotape </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(one of nine) </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">confiscated during a police raid of Larry's home and featuring he and associate M.C. Poole counting cash and discussing their wealth was aired during the week-long series. One videotape featured Larry's associate William "Jack" Jackson shaking a laundry basket filled with cash and declaring, "Fifty thousand here, ain't no telling how much up there. I'm going to buy me three cars tomorrow and a Jeep." Jackson asks Larry, who is off-camera, "Should we throw these ones away, man, since we've got $500,000?". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On September 12, David Chambers succumbed to AIDS-related complications. Members of the Wrecking Crew were arrested in mid-December following the unsealing of federal grand jury indictments. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Larry was arrested on December 19 when police executing a search warrant on an apartment on Detroit's East Outer Drive found him in the bathroom. They also discovered cocaine on the kitchen table and a gun in an open cabinet above the stove. He</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> was denied bail after being deemed a flight risk.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">BJ was arrested at his home on Detroit's Beaconsfield Street on January 31, 1988. He was found in possession of </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">a handgun and </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">seven ounces of cocaine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Following an 18-month long investigation, the brothers were taken into custody in February of 1988. During the arrest, Detroit police officers and DEA agents seized 250 weapons, 68 vehicles, six kilograms of cocaine and $1 million in cash and jewelry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Twenty-two members of the Chambers Organization were named in a 15-count indictment on February 29, 1988. The defendants named included: Larry Chambers; BJ Chambers; Willie Lee Chambers; Otis Chambers; Jerry Lee Gant; Eric Lamar Wilkins; Marshall Glenn; Belinda Lumpkin; and Elayne Coleman Lucas</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, who was arrested September 3, 1984</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. The charges included: running a continuing criminal enterprise; conspiracy with the intent to possess and distribute controlled substances; possession with the intent to distribute and distribution of controlled substances; possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime; and tax evasion. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Roy C. Hayes oversaw the prosecution of the group. By the time the trial proceedings began, four of the defendants had entered guilty pleas and four others remained at large. Though most of the defendants were tried by a jury, Willie Lee Chambers was tried by a judge. During the September trial, former Chambers employee, 19-year-old Felicia Gilchrist, who was given immunity by the government, testified that she worked 24-hour shifts selling crack through a hole cut into a wall. She explained that she sometimes shared shifts with her 14-year-old sister, Alicia, and took her newborn to work with her when the baby was a week old. "Little Terry" Colbert testified that he jumped out of a window after being beaten with a baseball bat and shot in the left leg on Otis' orders following a July 1987 argument between Colbert's uncle and Chambers. The attack ended Colbert's career as a crack dealer pulling in a $3,000-a-week income. After fleeing his assailants, Colbert was treated at Detroit Receiving Hospital. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Both Colbert and James McKinney testified to Glenn's involvement in the organization. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Perry Coleman testified on behalf of the government for a half-hour as part of a plea agreement that would reduce his conspiracy sentence from 25 years to 5. However, on his second day of testimony he recanted, which led to the dismissal of the indictment against two defendants. Coleman cited his fear for the safety of his own and his wife's safety as the reason for his retraction.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Later in 1988, one of the organization's lieutenants, Carl Young, was arrested in California and subsequently charged with conspiracy in Michigan.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The charges against four of the defendants were dismissed and another was acquitted. On October 28, all four brothers and five other members of their organization were convicted on conspiracy charges. In addition to the conspiracy charges, Otis was also convicted of cocaine possession and Larry and B.J. were also convicted of operating a continuing criminal enterprise. Wilkins and Lumpkin, both minors, were found guilty of conspiracy to distribute, and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, crack and marijuana.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The nine co-defendants were sentenced on March 25, 1989. Willie Chambers was given 21 years in prison and a $350,000 fine; Otis received a 27-year term and a $350,000 fine; Billie Joe was handed 45 years and a $500,000 fine; and Larry was sentenced to life in prison and a $250,000 fine. Eric Wilkins was sentenced to 34 years in prison to be served after the completion of a 13 1/2 to 20-year sentence for a state conviction; both Marshall Glen and Jerry Lee Gant received 30-year sentences; Belinda Lumpkin was given a 25-year prison term; and Elayne Lucas was sentenced to 10 years in prison. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 2006, BJ published his book "Prodigy Hustler" while still incarcerated. Willie was released from prison in August of 2007. BJ was released in December of 2010. In November of 2011, Otis was released as well. Larry remains incarcerated at USP Terre Haute, a high-security federal prison located in Terre Haute, Indiana. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Billy Joe Chambers</span></div>
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-17265682094662261212018-02-04T13:00:00.000-05:002020-02-11T17:33:34.981-05:00The Infamous...Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">by Ran Britt</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Orlando Tive Anderson was born in Compton, California to Harvey Lee Anderson and Charlotte Davis on August 13, 1974. After the couple separated, Charlotte moved the family to her mother's home on South Burris Avenue and earned a living as a bookkeeper. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At 11-years-old Anderson befriended future </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Nutty Blocc Compton Crip Al Hassan "BG Knocc Out" Naqiyy (then known as Arlandis Hinton), who went on to embark on a recording career under the auspices of rapper Eric "Eazy-E" Wright. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In his early teens, Anderson became affiliated with the Compton, California-based South Side Crips street gang and garnered the nickname, "Baby Lane", compiling a criminal record that includes arrests for assault and robbery along the way. Anderson served time in juvenile detention with Naqiyy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anderson attended Manuel Dominguez High School, which boasts famous alumni such as: rapper Lorenzo "MC Ren" Patterson; NBA players Tyson Chandler, Cedric Ceballos, Jordan Hamilton, Brandon Jennings, Tayshaun Prince, and Hall of Famer Dennis Johnson; NFL star Richard Sherman; and stand-up comic Paul Rodriguez. He transferred to the San Fernando Valley's William Howard Taft Charter High School, rapper/director/actor O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson's alma mater, before returning to Taft for his final year of high school. After graduating in 1992, Anderson attended Compton Community College before dropping out. Two years later, his daughter, Krystal, with girlfriend Rasheena Smith, a student nurse, was born. About a year later, their daughter, Courtney, was born. He then worked at a local hydraulic shop until August of 1996. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That same year, his other girlfriend, Taiece Lanier, gave birth to Anderson's third daughter, Ariel. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In April of 1996, Anderson and other South Side Crips reportedly beat and robbed Travon "Tray" Lane, an alleged member of the Mob Piru Bloods street gang, in the Foot Locker at Lakewood, California's Lakewood Center mall. They relieved Lane, who had ties to Los Angeles-based Death Row Records, of a gold chain bearing a charm molded into the shape of the company's logo during the attack.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On September 7, 1996, thousands convened on the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada to witness the heavyweight title fight between boxing legend Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon. Anderson, who'd checked into the nearby Excalibur Hotel with Rasheena, was in town to watch the bout too. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Following the 1 minute and 49-second fight, actor/rapper Tupac Shakur, Death Row Records CEO Marion "Suge" Knight and other individuals tied to the label were captured on security video assaulting Anderson in the lobby of the MGM Grand Hotel. The assault began after Travon Lane notified Shakur that he'd spotted Anderson near the hotel's elevator bank. After approaching Anderson, Shakur asked, "You from the South?", then punched him in the head. The scuffle, which lasted less than a minute, was broken up by hotel security. Though Las Vegas police suggested that he file a complaint, Anderson declined.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Afterwards, Anderson told his friend, fellow South Side Crip Corey Edwards, who was buying drinks at the bar during the fight, that he wanted a one-on-one rematch. Anderson </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">then reportedly met with at least 12 other Crips members at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino. The group then drove to Knight's club, 662, and waited in vain for at least an hour for the Death Row contingent to arrive. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At about 11:15 that night, according to witnesses, a 1996 white Cadillac containing four men, pulled alongside Knight's BMW 750 sedan, in which Shakur sat in the passenger seat, which was at a red light on the corner of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane. One of the Cadillac's occupants sitting in the back seat and wearing black gloves then pointed a handgun through the rear driver side window and opened fire. While witnesses reported hearing 12-14 shots, Shakur was struck four times, and Knight was grazed in the head. Knight's BMW actually headed a caravan of vehicles filled with Death Row artists and associates. Immediately following the shooting, the Cadillac pulled off, making a right on Koval Lane, and Knight's head of security, Alton "Buntry" MacDonald, pulled out of the caravan and gave chase, exchanging gunfire with the occupants of the drive-by vehicle, who hit MacDonald's vehicle as well. Meanwhile, Knight made a left U-turn across the median on Flamingo Road and headed in the opposite direction. Shakur was transported via ambulance, accompanied by Knight (Kading), to Las Vegas' University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, where surgeons removed his right lung and placed him on a ventilator. He was pronounced dead on September 13. No one has ever been charged in connection to Shakur's murder.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The day after the shooting, September 8, Anderson visited Naqiyy at his home in Compton. Anderson was treated at the UCLA Harbor Medical Center for a shoulder injury on September 9. That same day, a string of gang shootings began in Compton, leaving 12 people injured and three dead in what police describe as a gang war between Crips and Bloods sets -- a consequence of Shakur's murder. Anderson himself sustained gunshots from an AK-47 assault rifle to his knees during one such shooting. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the days following Shakur's shooting, then-Compton gang unit investigator Bobby Ladd conveyed his suspicion that Anderson was the triggerman to Las Vegas police after analyzing the hotel security footage. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On October 2, Anderson was arrested during a raid related to a Compton gang killing and released two days later without being charged. The raid was a joint effort conducted by the FBI, the Compton Police Department, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and two Las Vegas detectives, one of whom interviewed Anderson about Shakur's shooting. He was also the subject of a warrant issued in connection to the shooting death of Edward Webb at a party the previous April. The police affidavit submitted in order to secure the search warrants necessary for the raid, describe Shakur's murder as the result of a gang conflict between the South Side Crips and the Mob Piru Bloods, who were tied to Death Row Records. The affidavit also contends that days after Shakur's murder, Anderson was seen in possession of a .40-caliber Glock handgun and that his cousin, Jerry "Monk" Bonds, a fellow South Side Crip, was seen driving a white Cadillac matching the description of the drive-by vehicle into a Compton auto repair shop on September 11. The document goes on to mention that LVPD detectives seized a box of .40-caliber bullets from Anderson's cousin's residence. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Shortly after the raid, Anderson was subpoenaed to testify at a parole hearing for Knight, who faced jail time for participating in the assault at the MGM Grand. He testified in a November hearing that, contrary to popular opinion, Knight had attempted to break up the fight. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Czuleger, who oversaw the hearing, decided that Anderson was lying and sentenced Knight to nine years in prison. Many believed that Knight had paid Anderson for his testimony.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In February of 1997, Sergeant Kevin Manning of the Las Vegas Police Department named Anderson as a possible suspect in Shakur's murder. However, the LVPD only questioned him once. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On September 8, Anderson filed a suit against Shakur's estate, asserting that his attack at the hands of the rapper, Knight and various Death Row employees at the MGM Grand caused him mental suffering as well as physical injuries. The suit asked for $1 million in damages. On September 12, Shakur's mother, Afeni, filed a wrongful-death suit against Anderson, naming him as Shakur's killer. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On May 29, 1998, Anderson's grandmother, Utah Williams, died. At about 3:10 that afternoon, he and fellow-South Side Crip Michael Reed Dorrough, drove his black Chevy Blazer to Rob's Car Wash located at Alondra Boulevard and Oleander Avenue, near Compton High School. After Anderson argued with Gerry Stone of the rival Corner Pocket Crips, about a drug debt, Stone pulled out a gun. According to witnesses, Dorrough convinced Stone to put his weapon away before Anderson pulled out a gun of his own, triggering a shootout. Anderson reportedly shot Stone to death, before his uncle and fellow Corner Pocket Crip, Michael Stone, in turn shot Anderson to death. Dorrough, who had been shot as well, then killed Michael Stone and after attempting to flee the scene by driving Anderson's Blazer from the passenger side, crashed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Duane</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Keith "Keffe D" Davis and Orlando Anderson</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All four were transported to the Martin Luther King, Jr./Drew Medical Center. Anderson and the Stones were pronounced dead shortly after their arrival. (One of the men was listed in critical condition before finally succumbing to his injuries) Dorrough was treated and then arrested by local police. He was later convicted of first-degree murder and on October 6, 1999, sentenced to three life terms without the possibility of parole, plus 49 years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On May 30, a Glock matching the description of the weapon used to kill Shakur was discovered by the father of Edwards' girlfriend. After discovering the .40 caliber handgun in his backyard, the homeowner reported it to police. According to former Compton PD Gang Unit member Deputy Timothy "Blondie" Brennan, subsequent ballistic testing confirmed that the Glock was a match for the weapon used to murder Shakur. An LAPD memo unearthed in 2017 confirms Brennan's assertions yet also warns that the document itself should not be shared with Las Vegas PD. Brennan stated in 2017 that he came across the firearm in 2006 while sorting through records related to 3,800 guns, many of which had never been tested, and recognized the address where the pistol was found. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anderson's uncle, Duane Keith "Keffe D" Davis, who headed a PCP ring and was a ranking member of the South Side Crips, sat down with an unnamed federal agent and LAPD detectives Greg Kading and Daryn Dupree, during a recorded proffer session </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">on December 18, 2008</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, after agreeing to give information relating to Shakur's murder and Anderson's alleged involvement. Davis stated that his nephew shot Shakur four times with a .40 caliber Glock handgun from inside the car that pulled up alongside Knight's BMW. Davis also admitted to being in the car himself at the time of the shooting and stated that Knight, who'd known him since childhood, saw him after Anderson opened fire. According to Davis, Deandre Smith and Terrence "T-Brown" Brown rounded out the four occupants of the car. He stated that reputed New York drug-trafficker Eric "Von Zip" Martin supplied him with the Glock 40. But since Brown, the driver, pulled up on the right side of the BMW and he himself sat in the front passenger seat, he attempted to pass the weapon to Smith, who sat on the left side of the backseat. When Smith declined, Anderson, sitting behind Davis, took the handgun and shot across Smith. Davis went on to say that both Knight and Shakur failed to notice the Cadillac until the shooting started because they had been talking to the female occupants of a green Sebring convertible also parked to the right of the BMW.</span><br />
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-7579541993444110222018-01-01T08:12:00.002-05:002021-08-07T10:37:00.336-04:00The Infamous...Best Friends Gang<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">by Ran</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Updated 3/2/18<br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxePlK-gDpjZocPapskDIwl-wue9eiGA2pctI0F8xwGibQvv41jnaIAsKWYnxp6PDxqlW-5x03MdBnYtcdIM2S2NZGrwKxkfzcz_v6HztPL77JFHsAIZMHL8HVuDIFYsYOhpsU1V8m-VM/s1600/bestfriendsdetroit.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxePlK-gDpjZocPapskDIwl-wue9eiGA2pctI0F8xwGibQvv41jnaIAsKWYnxp6PDxqlW-5x03MdBnYtcdIM2S2NZGrwKxkfzcz_v6HztPL77JFHsAIZMHL8HVuDIFYsYOhpsU1V8m-VM/s320/bestfriendsdetroit.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ezra Brown was born in 1962. Gregory was born two years later. Reginald Brown was born on January 30, 1966. Terrance Brown came long in 1968. Their father, a factory worker, provided for the family while their mother, a housewife, maintained the home. Each of the</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> four Brown brothers, who grew up in East Detroit, eventually reached at least 6'2" and 230 pounds. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In April of 1982, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ezra, known by the street name "Wizard", pleaded guilty to attempted possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. He was subsequently sentenced to community service and one year of probation but after violating probation, he was sent to jail for six months. In August of 1983, he and a friend were arrested and charged with the theft of a Cadillac Eldorado. That case was dismissed. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In July of 1985, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gregory, known by the street name "Ghost", also pleaded gu</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">ilty to attempted possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. Not finding himself as fortunate his older brother, he was sentenced to two years of probation to Ezra's one.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> That same year, the brothers joined forces, under Terrance's leadership, and became a murder-for-hire organization, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">committing contract killings for local drug dealers. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Browns later moved on to committing contract murders local drug dealers and, eventually, East Side Detroit kingpin </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Richard "Maserati Rick" Carter</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">hired the brothers as a permanent enforcement arm for his and business partner </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Demetrius "Meech" Holloway's </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">drug operation. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Initially, Carter, who had a boxing background, was the enforcer for the organization but the duo sought further protection as the business grew. They eventually incorporated the Best Friends gang, formerly the Wrecking Crew, into the organization for added muscle. Aside from adding them to the payroll, Carter provided the Brown brothers with assault weapons, bulletproof vests and defense attorneys when legal aid was needed. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By 1986, a rift developed between Holloway and the Browns because the former objected to Carter introducing Terrance Brown to his Colombian cocaine supplier, "Mike". As the two spoke, at Carter's apartment, the Colombian national agreed to do business with Terrance for $150,000 up front. The new connection spurred the Browns to act on their ambition to enter the Detroit cocaine trade on their own and to encroach on Holloway's territory.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By 1986, the Best Friends had grown to between 25 to 50 members, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">including: Michael Williams; Stacey "The Machine" Culbert; Reginald "Little Reg" Moore; Thomas "K.O." Carr; Joe "Sticks" Moore; Jessie "Beck" Anderson; Leondre Patton; Michael Smith; Mario Brown; William Brown; Tyreese Washington; and </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">U.S. Army veteran Nathaniel "Boone" Craft</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. Craft's nickname was a reference to his prowess with knives. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Craft and other enforcers for the group would sometimes be paid in cocaine, which they'd sell, keeping all of the proceeds. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Craft was initially recruited into the organization as Carter's personal bodyguard after the two met at a local pizzeria. After Carter diffused an altercation between one of his associates and Craft -- Carter's friend had failed to apologize for bumping into Craft -- he asked to speak with him outside in his Mercedes. The 225-pound Craft declined, citing the car's size as being too small for him. Nevertheless, Craft took Carter up on his offer to pay him $600 just to hang out with him for the next couple of hours. Carter then took Craft to his car wash and offered him $2,000 cash on the spot to agree to be his personal muscle. The Browns and </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Best Friends member James Lee "Jimmie the Bruiser" Denard </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">later took notice of the big man's skills three months later after seeing him compete in a local Toughman Contest at Detroit's Cobo Hall (now Cobo Center). One of Craft's opponents in the contest, whom he defeated, was Eric "Butterbean" Esch, who would go on to become a professional boxer and win the super heavyweight title.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ezra "Wizard" Brown and Gregory "Ghost" Brown</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Best Friends</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> members were known for wearing large gold chains, driving Volvos and wearing bulletproof vests under jackets with "Best Friends" embroidered on the back. They frequently cruised Detroit's Belle Isle and partied at the city's Rado Lounge nightclub. Aware that they were under constant law enforcement surveillance, the group routinely spoke in code when communicating with each other by telephone. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Reginald, known by the street name "Rockin' Reg", who </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">acted as the organization's chief enforcer, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">was charged with the September 1986 fatal shooting of 19-year-old Carlton Journey and wounding of Pamela Robinson but was ultimately acquitted. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On December 20, 1986, Ezra and Terrance, known by the street name "Boogaloo", became the victims of a drive-by shooting while sitting in a Chevy Blazer parked near Detroit's Seventh police precinct. Terrance, who'd been shot in the head, managed to stagger to the nearby police station and throw a brick through a window in order to get the attention of officers inside. Both brothers were taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital, Michigan's first Level I Trauma Center, where Ezra was pronounced dead on arrival. Within a week, Terrance checked himself out of the hospital. It was widely believed that the perpetrator(s) acted on behalf of Holloway. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ezra's funeral was held on December 27. That same day, Gregory was shot to death during a drive-by while walking on Peter Hunt Street near Gratiot Avenue on Detroit's east side. Gregory, who was dressed in the tuxedo he'd worn to Ezra's funeral, was shot several times in the head. An associate, Andre Patrick, who was walking with Brown at the time, was struck as well. Patrick was listed in serious condition after being transported to Detroit Receiving Hospital. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Initially, the East Side was shared by local drug kingpins, with the lion's share going to Holloway and Carter. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Edward "Big Ed" Hanserd controlled Jefferson Boulevard [Avenue]; the 430 Crew, headed by Rob Boyd, dominated Conner and Warren; and the Brown's held sway over the Van Dyke/Harper area. B</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">ut f</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">ollowing Gregory's death, Reggie and Terrance set out to take over the entire region</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. What's more, Terrance, suspecting Holloway of being the culprit behind his brothers' deaths, reportedly placed him at the top of a hit list. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In May of 1987, Reggie was accused of fatally shooting Kirt Levy and wounding William Miles but the case was eventually dismissed. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Best Friends enforcer Darryl Hardy was also shot to death that year. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Another Best Friends enforcer, Patrick "Lunchmeat" Johnson, was shot to death on June 13, 1987. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In August of 1987, 17-year-old Detroit resident Mark Murray was murdered in Michigan's Genesee Township. Murray was believed to be skimming money off the top from his employers, Antonio and Willie Lee Smiley. The Smiley brothers, who hailed from Detroit, controlled that area's operations for the Best Friends. Antonio would later be convicted of first-degree murder. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On September 12, 1987 an associate of teen drug dealer and confidential informant Richard "White Boy Rick" Wershe, Steve "Freaky Steve" Roussell, was murdered when Reggie Brown shot him to death with an Uzi as he slept. Brown, who'd reportedly had a dispute with Roussell over a mutual female acquaintance, entered Roussell's residence in the 13600 block of Glenwood in the early morning hours and shot the latter as well as his cousin, Patrick "Little Pat" McCloud, who survived, who'd been sleeping in the living room and was awakened by gunfire. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Terrance "Boogaloo" Brown</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That same year, Wershe was targeted in an unsuccessful drive-by while riding in the passenger seat of a friend's convertible. While the two were stopped at a red light, a van pulled up beside them. The sliding door opened and the two were only saved from the gunfire that followed because they ran the light. Nate "Boone" Craft, who'd eventually have </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">30 murders to his credit, later admitted to being the trigger-man. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Reggie</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">was convicted of carrying or possessing a firearm when committing or attempting to commit a felony, assault with intent to commit murder and second-degree murder in connection with the Steve Roussell shooting. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On May 20, 1988, he was sentenced to two years for the weapons violation, 20 to 40 years for the assault with intent to commit murder and life for the murder conviction. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Though Brown was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, partly due to McCloud's testimony, he was released after the conviction was overturned on appeal fifteen months after the shooting. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In June, alleged Best Friends member James Lee "Jimmie the Bruiser" Denard led Michigan state police on a high-speed chase for eight miles heading east on I-96 near Ionia, MI. After Denard's turbo-charged 1987 Volvo was stopped and searched, police found $8,000 in cash that he claimed was earned mowing lawns. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On September 12, 1988, Carter was murdered in his bed at Detroit's Mt. Carmel Mercy Hospital, where he was recuperating from gunshot wounds sustained in a shootout two days earlier. The next day, Holloway testified in Recorder's Court, which had exclusive jurisdiction over all felony cases committed in the City of Detroit, on behalf of James "Red" Freeman at the latter's weapons and drug trial. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Investigators estimated that at his peak, 80% of the cocaine distributed in Detroit could be attributed to Holloway.</span></span></span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Following Nate Craft's October arrest for drug possession, the seasoned hitman's sister informed him that their younger brother had been killed on Terrance Brown's orders for failing to pay a drug debt. Seeking revenge, Craft agreed to become a confidential informant for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In November, Holloway was seemingly abducted from Top Hat Hamburgers, located on the corner of McClellan and Gratiot, by four masked men who forced him into the trunk of their car after firing shots into the air. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By 1989, the Best Friends organization had expanded beyond Detroit to other Michigan cities, including Lansing, Grand Rapids and Flint. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">According to then-head of the Grand Rapids DEA office, Jeffrey Kildow, absorbed smaller organizations in the area, forcing them to work for them. According to the FBI, much of the gang's leadership fell to Denard, since Reginald Brown was serving a life sentence and his brother, Terrance, was awaiting trial for a murder charge. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Special Agent William Coonce, then-head of the DEA's (Drug Enforcement Administration) Detroit office, estimated that the gang was behind at least 15 Detroit homicides by that year. Not satisfied with Michigan, the organization also extended its reach to Lexington, Kentucky and the Ohio cities of Lima and Toledo. This expansion was facilitated by the group's use of the I-75 corridor, a major Interstate Highway which stretches from northern Michigan to southern Florida. At their peak, the Best Friends sold what amounted to approximately 100 kilograms of cocaine per week, generating $2 million in that time span. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Three months after Demetrius Holloway's disappearance, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">he resurfaced and </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">his "kidnapping" was revealed to have been staged so that he could avoid his enemies. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On March 16, 1989, Terrance allegedly fatally shot rival Detroit drug trafficker James "Mr. Big" Lamont as he sat in his Suzuki Sidekick outside of the St. Regis Hotel in uptown Detroit's New Center section. He was charged with first-degree murder and eventually acquitted. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In August of 1990, members of Richard "Maserati Rick" Carter's organization attended a meeting near Detroit's 7 Mile Road and Runyon Street to determine how the group would proceed in the wake of the tensions that arose following Carter's September 12, 1988 murder. Since his death, a schism developed within the organization with a coalition led by Carter's older brother Clyde on one side and the Best Friends on the other. Not only did the talks fail to ease the rift, they ushered in a wave of violence.</span><br /></span>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Reginald "Rockin' Reg" Brown</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On August 24, 19-year-old Dexter "Def Jam Dex" Washington, one of Clyde's followers, was murdered on the 7000 block of Eastside Detroit's Nagle Street. Exactly one week later, Best Friends-member Mark Patrick was shot to death by assailants who pulled alongside his red convertible BMW in northwest Inkster, MI. According to witnesses, Patrick and Clyde Carter loyalist Sterling Williamson had argued at a party prior to Patrick's murder. </span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>On September 17, Clyde, and his</span><span> girlfriend, Patricia Scott, were </span><span>shot to death by an assailant using a 9mm handgun upon exiting his pickup truck with their 1-year-old son. The baby was unharmed. Sterling Williamson was shot to death outside of his residence on the 19400 block of Runyon Street by an Uzi-wielding triggerman wearing a bulletproof vest. Williamson's friend, Roosevelt Atkins, was hit by the gunfire as well. Mark Patrick's older brother Andre, who blamed Williamson for Mark's death, was subsequently charged with first-degree murder and assault with intent to murder for the shooting. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Monday, October 8, 1990, while shopping at the Broadway clothing store, located at 1247 Broadway in downtown Detroit, two blocks from Detroit Police headquarters, Demetrius Holloway was fatally shot twice in the back of the head at about 4 p.m. His body was found minutes after the shooting with the handgun and $17,000 cash he was carrying. An attendant working at the parking lot just north of the Broadway told police that two young men driving a black, late-model BMW had pulled up 45 minutes prior to the shooting and ordered him not to park the car, before handing him the keys and walking off. When they returned, they paid the attendant $10 and drove away. Lodrick Parker was charged and acquitted of the killing.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In July of 1991, Terrance Brown, suspecting that Craft was cooperating with the federal government, offered the latter $20,000 to kill an individual who'd murdered a Best Friends member. Unbeknownst to Craft, the true plan was for both he and the rival to be killed. When Craft, Charles "Chuckie Do" Wilkes and other members of the gang tracked the target down days later, the group opened fire on the taxi in which he was riding. However, Craft was also shot by his fellow enforcers and left for dead. He was subsequently found, taken to a local hospital and treated for gunshot wounds from a .357 handgun -- one of the weapons provided to the hit squad by Reggie Moore. Because Craft's participation in the shooting constituted a violation of his parole, he was consequently sentenced to 12-30 years in prison. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In August of 1991, Best Friends-associates, Charles "Chuckie Do" Wilkes and Lonnie "Lucky" O'Bryant shot Bernard Lamar to death on orders from Terrance. Wilkes eventually pleaded guilty. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In February of 1992, Reggie was released on bond after Recorder's Court Judge George Crockett III ordered a new trial for his firearms and murder charges. His bond was, however, revoked by the Michigan Court of Appeals the following month. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On March 9, according to witnesses, Reggie murdered four people on the porch of a home on [the east side of] Detroit's Buckingham Street. After casually strolling up to the house, Reggie initially shot Alfred "Chip" Austin, who'd previously informed the Browns that following his weapons violation charge in Kentucky, he'd been approached by federal agents who wanted him to cooperate in their investigation of Terrance. Following Austin's shooting, Reggie shot Lawrence Gainey and Harry Roper to death. The fourth victim, three-year-old Lori Roper, Harry's niece and Austin's cousin, is believed to have been shot accidentally. On March 14, witnesses picked Brown out of a photo array, leading 36th District Court Magistrate Richard Halloran, Jr. to sign a warrant charging him with using a firearm during the commission of a felony and first-degree murder. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On June 17, 1993, federal agents, who'd been tracking the Browns' phones, spotted Reggie, Terrance and William Wilkes at a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Manhattan, New York. Reggie was apprehended attempting to get into a car and subsequently charged with second-degree murder. Wilkes, who was wanted in Detroit on federal narcotics charges, was caught on a motorcycle a block away from the dealership. Terrance, who was also wanted on federal drug charges, fled on a motorcycle before hitting a bystander and escaping into a subway station. By that time, the Browns had established operations in Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York City, New York. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">June saw the indictment of 29 members and associates of the Best Friends organization in all, for 56 counts, with charges ranging from weapons violations and cocaine sales up to conspiracy and murder. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">According to prosecutors, Terrance's attorney, Paul D. Curtis, gave him the identities of two informants and he subsequently had them killed. Months later, Curtis sent $600,000 to Terrance in Atlanta, Georgia for a cocaine deal that went wrong and ended in Brown's murder. </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Rockin' Reg</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On August 9, Terrance's corpse was discovered at about 1 a.m. in the rear of a GMC Yukon</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">, which had been stolen in Michigan, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">in the parking lot of the Ramada Renaissance Hotel in College Park, Georgia. Brown, who hadn't checked into the hotel, was killed by a single gunshot to the head. He was found wrapped in a Polo bed sheet and a plastic bag and wearing only a black T-shirt and underwear. Brown's body wasn't identified until August 12. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Best Friends members Stacey "The Machine" Culbert and Charles "Chuckie Do" Wilkes are believed to have preemptively had Terrance murdered out of fear that he'd been planning to have the two of them killed. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On June 6, 1994, Best Friends member Stacey "The Machine" Culbert was apprehended when federal agents and Pennsylvania police broke into his motel room in Robinson Township, about 12 miles west of Pittsburgh. When agents broke down the door to his room, Culbert was wearing nothing but his underwear. Initially escaping through a connecting door, he punched a police officer and unsuccessfully attempted to take his gun. Officers in two police cars and 12 more on foot then chased Culbert across the parking lot of a shopping mall and into an office building, where he took a 71-year-old man hostage. With his hands around his throat, Culbert threatened to strangle the man to death if police didn't stop pursuing him. After police put a gun to his head, prompting him to release his hostage, Culbert was taken to the ground and arrested. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On December 27, 1994, Assistant U.S. Attorneys F. William Soisson and E. James King filed a six-page motion in U.S. District Court to have Reggie's defense counsel, Paul D. Curtis, removed from the case amid accusations that he'd revealed the identities, via 33 pages of federal documents, of informants, including Alfred Austin and Sidney Edwards, who were later murdered, to Terrance Brown -- whom he'd defended in the past. Curtis was also accused of providing Terrance with $600,000, for use in his Atlanta drug deal. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Stacey Culbert pleaded guilty to murder and weapons charges on September 6, 1995. His deal with federal prosecutors removed the risk of a potential death sentence following a trial involving eight other defendants that began the following day. Culbert accepted responsibility for killing </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michael Mitchell and </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Frank Maxwell and two counts of using firearms. He was subsequently transported to USP Terre Haute (United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute) in Indiana to serve his sentence.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1999, federal investigators alleged that Holloway's murder nine years earlier was carried out by hired gunman Lester Milton, who was accompanied by his younger brother, Thomas, who drove the getaway car. Though Lester Milton was convicted of the murder in 2005, t</span>he Browns have long been suspected of ordering Holloway's shooting. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">After being released from prison in 2008, Nate "Boone" Craft moved back to East side Detroit.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Stacey Culbert was from federal prison in February of 2018 after serving close to 25 years. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Reggie is currently serving his time at the medium-security Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater, Michigan. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Investigators estimate the Best Friends organization to be responsible for upwards of 80 murders. </span><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyNdkbbaNQ7YIKOnsMH-V2q-6wC59vCIPXPnrwau1WjtQqp64TdzZpUpn9KkjxnlddRdBb9bauUUXKLYLzEDf4OLyrLYvPWS0gjX1faw1GjlM76pWLMyADEQC3Wzjz-WLu5G4HNaZx90/s1600/nateboonecraft.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="734" data-original-width="558" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyNdkbbaNQ7YIKOnsMH-V2q-6wC59vCIPXPnrwau1WjtQqp64TdzZpUpn9KkjxnlddRdBb9bauUUXKLYLzEDf4OLyrLYvPWS0gjX1faw1GjlM76pWLMyADEQC3Wzjz-WLu5G4HNaZx90/s400/nateboonecraft.png" width="303" /></a></div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Nate "Boone" Craft</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4468534161420667509" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Branden Hunter on Twitter: "Three of the Brown brothers, Ezra ..." border="0" height="269" 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" 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Stacey Culbert</div>
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-63223657153345428042017-12-01T06:23:00.002-05:002023-04-16T15:07:10.428-04:00The Infamous...John Gotti <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">John Joseph Gotti, Jr. was born on October 27, 1940 in the South Bronx, New York. He was the fifth of his parents', John, a sanitation worker and Fannie, 13 children. John often wore ragged clothes to school due to the family's poverty. When he was 12-years-old, the family moved to the East New York section of Brooklyn, NY. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">At 14, Gotti lost two toes following the attempted theft of a cement mixer from a construction site with friends, after it rolled over his left foot. The injury had a permanent effect on the way that he walked. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Later, Gotti, who idolized Murder Inc. leader Albert Anastasia, headed a neighborhood gang known as the Fulton-Rockaway Boys, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">which also included his older brother, Peter, and younger brother, Richard</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">During this time, he forged friendships with fellow teenage trouble-makers Wilfred "Willie Boy" Johnson and</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Angelo "Quack Quack" Ruggiero, nephew of Gambino crime family member Aniello "Neil" Dellacroce. Gotti attended Queens, NY's Franklin K. Lane High School but dropped out at 16. The Fulton-Rockaway Boys often engaged in turf battles with local African-American gangs and in 1957 one such scuffle resulted in a Rockaway Boy being stabbed and thrown out of a window. Gotti's first arrest, in 1958, for disorderly conduct, was a result of another gang fight. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Over the next two years, he became an associate of Gambino family caporegime or capodecina (captain) Carmine "Charlie Wagons" Fatico's mafia crew -- though he did manage to hold legitimate jobs as a trucker's helper and a garment presser during this time as well. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gotti met Victoria DiGiorgio in a local bar in 1958 and married her in 1962. That same year, the couple's second child, Victoria, was born. Their first, Angela, was born in the spring of 1961. Gotti served 20 days in jail that year for a joyriding charge. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1963, Gotti was drafted and ordered to report to a Brooklyn Selective Service bureau for induction on November 22 of that year. When he failed to show, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) began a search for him </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and were told by each of his parents that they had no idea where he was since falling out with him over the fact that he'd gotten married</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1964, Gotti's son, John Angelo Gotti, was born. O</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">n October 12, 1965, he was arrested and charged with grand theft auto. When he appeared for his November 10 hearing at the Kings County Court House, the FBI confronted him about his earlier disappearance. The explanation Gotti provided was that he believed that his status as a husband, father and convicted criminal disqualified him from serving in the military. The following day, he reported to the appointed Selective Service board and was denied induction into the armed forces. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By the time he was 26, the 5'10" Gotti had been arrested nine times for offenses including gun possession, burglary, assault and auto theft. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">In November of 1967, John, his younger brother Eugene, and Ruggiero were arrested and charged with the theft of clothing and electronics from cargo trucks that they hijacked near John F. Kennedy International Airport (then known as Idlewild Airport). All three entered guilty pleas. In December, John was convicted for another truck hijacking at JFK. John was sentenced to seven years and another four years in prison, to run concurrently. [John was sentenced to three years in prison] He did his time in the Lewisburg, Pennsylvania federal facility, where he met, and impressed, Bonanno crime family underboss Carmine Galante, who was serving a 20-year sentence for a narcotics conviction. During her husband's time away, Victoria received public assistance in order to care for the family, which had grown to include four children. Her parents helped out by purchasing a home for the clan in Queens' Howard Beach community. Upon his release in 1972, Gotti was named acting head of the Fatico crew by Fatico himself, who'd decided to lower his profile after being indicted for loan-sharking. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On May 18, 1972, Emanuel "Manny" Gambino, the nephew of Gambino family head, Carlo Gambino, was shot to death after being kidnapped and held for $350,000 ransom, only $23,000 of which was paid. Gotti was ordered to murder one of the perpetrators, Irish-American mobster James McBratney. On May 22, 1973 Gotti, Ruggiero, and Ralph "Ralphie Wigs" Galione confronted McBratney in a Staten Island bar, Snoopes, claiming to be police detectives, where he was later found shot to death. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Though McBratney was unarmed during the confrontation, detectives later found a submachine gun in his car, which was parked outside of the bar.</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gotti, who'd been picked from a photo array by witnesses, was arrested in June of 1974 and charged with murder. After attorney Roy M. Cohn, retained by Gambino, struck a deal with prosecutors, both Gotti and Ruggiero's murder charges were reduced to attempted manslaughter in exchange for guilty pleas. Each was sentenced to four years in prison. According to Joseph "Big Joey" Massino's witness 2011 testimony, Gotti was also responsible for the 1975 shooting death of Vito Borelli, boyfriend of then-Gambino family caporegime Paul "Big Paul" Castellano's daughter, Constance, on behalf of the capo, because Borelli had reportedly insulted him by comparing his looks to that of Frank Perdue, president, CEO and spokesman for Perdue Farms. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">According to investigators, during Gotti's stay at upstate New York's Green Haven Correctional Facility in Stormville, NY, correctional officers, who'd accepted bribes, allowed Gotti to leave prison in order to meet with associates at New York City restaurants and to spend time at his blue and white split level Howard Beach home at 160-11 85th Street. The officers claimed the trips were necessary for medical examinations. Gotti was so popular during his time at Green Haven, that a group of inmates presented him with a plaque before his release, that read, "To a great guy, John Gotti. From the boys at Green Haven." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">By the time Gotti was paroled, on July 28, 1977, Paul Castellano had succeeded Carlo Gambino as leader of the Gambino family. Gambino had named Castellano, his brother-in-law, his heir, before his death, by natural causes, in 1976. Gotti, who'd fathered five children (John, Frank, Peter, Victoria and Angel) with his wife Victoria by this time, was made -- officially inducted into the organization -- and received a promotion as well. However, he took a construction job in order to meet the conditions of his parole.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gotti reportedly took part in the notorious Lufthansa heist at JFK Airport on December 11, 1978. Gotti met with Lucchese crime family associates James "Jimmy the Gent" Burke, the robbery's mastermind, and Henry Hill at the Long Island City, Queens restaurant Prudenti's Vicin' O Mare to discuss the plans prior to the theft. Gotti offered to provide a warehouse in which the goods in the getaway van could be transferred to another vehicle. He was also responsible for having the van destroyed after it was taken to a Brooklyn scrap yard under his control. Though the van was never demolished as planned, through no fault of Gotti, he took home $200,00 of the $5, 875,000 in cash and jewelry stolen. </span><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">In January of 1979, Gotti allegedly shot 28-year-old Lucchese family-associate Tommy DeSimone to death in the basement of an Italian restaurant, Don Vito's, on the Bronx's Arthur Avenue using a Colt .38 handgun equipped with a silencer. DeSimone, who inspired Joe Pesci's character Tommy DeVito in the 1990 film <i><b>Goodfellas</b></i>, was responsible for the 1970 murder of William "Billy Batts" Bentvena as well as the 1974 killing of Ronald "Foxy" Jerothe -- both made members of the Gambino crime family and personal friends of Gotti. After learning that DeSimone was to become a made man, Gotti secured permission to kill him from his boss, Lucchese family member Paul "Paulie" Vario. Gotti welcomed DeSimone as he arrived at what was to be his induction ceremony into the Lucchese family and shot him three times in the head. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gotti became a "made man", or full member, in 1979, and Dellacroce, now the family's underboss, named him the capo of Fatico's old crew (renamed the Bergin crew).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Gotti's 12-year-old son, Frank, known as "Frankie Boy" to family, was accidentally but fatally struck by a neighbor's car, while riding a mini-bike, on March 18, 1980. When the neighbor, John Favara, went to the Gotti's home to apologize, Victoria attacked him with a baseball bat. Favara's car was stolen from where it was parked in front of his home and was later recovered with the word "murderer" spray-painted on it. On July 28, the same month that he'd put his house on the market, Favara was abducted in New Hyde Park, Long Island, by eight men as he was leaving his job at the Castro Convertible furniture plant. While many speculated for years that Favara was killed, a 44-page motion in a 2009 racketeering case would reveal that Favara was shot in the legs after being ushered into a van. Investigators believe that he was then driven to Brooklyn, where he was shot to death by Gambino enforcer Charles Carneglia and his body dumped into a 55-gallon oil drum of acid with a cement bottom. The drum was then dropped into the ocean. Gotti and Victoria were vacationing in Florida at the time, where they'd driven on July 25.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1981, in order to further an investigation by the Queens district attorney's office, listening devices were planted in Gotti's headquarters, the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club, located at the corner of 101st Avenue and 98th Street in Ozone Park, Queens, for three months. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gotti, a chronic gambler, was captured on a November 11 wiretap complaining, "I bet the Buffalo Bills for six dimes, they're getting killed 10-0." </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ruggiero's telephone was tapped as well, resulting in FBI investigators' discovery that he was involved in heroin trafficking, specifically, moving 50 kilograms of the drug during a span of six months.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By all accounts, Gotti ran a tight ship. In 1982, he was captured on an audio recording threatening to kill a subordinate, Anthony Moscatiello, for failing to return his phone calls promptly. Gotti told Moscatiello: "Listen, I called your fuckin' house five times yesterday, now, if you're gonna disregard my motherfuckin' phone calls, I'll blow you and that fuckin' house up." He continued, "This is not a fuckin' game. My time is valuable. If I ever hear anybody else calls you and you respond within five days, I'll fuckin' kill you."</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1983, Ruggiero and Gene Gotti, both members of the Bergin crew, were indicted -- for trafficking heroin -- which was ostensibly prohibited, on penalty of death (though allegedly tolerated, providing the guilty parties were never charged by authorities).</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On September 11, 1984, Gotti allegedly slapped refrigerator repairman Romual Piecyk during a parking dispute in Maspeth, Queens and robbed him of cigarettes and $325. Gotti and an associate, Frank Colletta, were double-parked in a car that was blocking Piecyk's vehicle. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">When he blew his horn, Colletta got out and confronted him, hit him in the face and took cash from his pocket. Gotti then got out and confronted Piecyk as well. Afterwards, Piecyk reported the incident to NYPD Officer Raymond Doyle and Sergeant Thomas Donohue, who followed him to nearby restaurant, Cono the Fisherman , where he pointed Gotti and Colletta out. When the officers called them over, Gotti asked, "Do you know who I am?" and told them, "Let me talk to this guy." </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">After being arrested on the spot, Colletta and Gotti were charged with one count of assault and two counts of robbery.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In March of 1985, John and Gene Gotti; Aniello Dellacroce's son Armond; John "Johnny Carnegs"; Gotti's long-time friend, Gambino soldier Wilfred Johnson; Anthony "Tony Roach" Rampino</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">; Leonard "the Conductor" DiMaria; and Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo</span> were charged with violating the RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) and three murders, conspiracy to commit robbery, loan sharking and gambling. The indictments were handed down as the result of a three-year investigation into the Gambinos. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">At a March 28 arraignment, Judge Eugene H. Nickerson ordered the Gottis and Carneglia released on a $1 million personal recognizance bond each. Rampino was released on a $500,000 bond.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">John was released on $1 million bail, and arrested again in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in April. On June 15, Gotti reportedly had a physician visit him at Manhattan's Barbizon Plaza Hotel, where he was spending time with mistress Shannon "Sandy" Grillo, estranged wife of Gambino associate Ernesto Grillo and daughter of Dellacroce's mistress, Rosemary Connelly. Gotti had the doctor exam him because what he feared was an ulcer had interfered with the couple's tryst. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Apparently inheriting his father's rumored quick-temper, John Gotti Jr. and friends were involved in a brawl at Howard Beach's Blue Fountain Restaurant Diner on June 30, resulting in his being charged with assaulting off-duty probation officer, Daniel Bedillo. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">After learning about Ruggiero and Gene Gotti's drug charges, Castellano sought access to recorded telephone calls that the government insisted contained Ruggiero discussing drug deals. Ruggiero stalled and appealed to Dellacroce, at a June 5 meeting which John Gotti attended, to intervene on his behalf with the boss. Dellacroce, however, succumbed to lung cancer on December 2, 1985 before securing a "pardon" for Ruggiero and Gotti.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gotti, fellow Gambino family member Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano and three others subsequently formed a secret coalition, calling themselves "The Fist", and plotted a coup within the organization. Taking advantage of tensions within the family and resentment toward Castellano's leadership, white-collar pretensions </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and the fact that he'd failed to attend Dellacroce's funeral</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">, the conspirators secured approval from three of the other four New York crime families (they neglected to reach out to Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, head of the Genovese family) to murder "Big Paul". </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On December 16 at approximately 5:25 p.m., Castellano and Gambino underboss Tommy Billotti, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">who'd been promoted from Castellano's bodyguard and driver,</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> were shot to death shortly after arriving at Manhattan's Sparks Steak House on East 46th Street. Gotti and Gravano watched from a parked car as four men dressed in matching trenchcoats and papakha hats approached Castellano's vehicle and opened fire on both he</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> and Billotti</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">as they exited. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Each mobster was shot in the head six times.</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">With Dellacroce and now Billotti and Castellano dead, Gotti became the leader of the Gambino crime family -- the most powerful of the mafia families operating in the U.S. -- making him the capo di tutti capi, Italian for "boss of all bosses". Police detectives surveilling Dellacroce's former headquarters, the Ravenite Social Club, at 247 Mulberry Street in lower Manhattan, in an unmarked van on Christmas Eve, reported observing several suspected mafioso kissing Gotti -- signifying his ascension to the position of mafia don. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">His elevation in status was also corroborated to the NYPD (New York City Police Department), DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) and FBI by nine different confidential informants.</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gotti let the family's consigliere (Italian for counselor), Joseph N. Gallo, keep his position and astutely prevented potential family infighting by appointing a capo loyal to Castellano, Frank DeCicco, as his underboss.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">At the time, the Gambino organization was comprised of 20 capos (crew leaders), 300 made men (official members known as soldiers and wiseguys) and 2,000 associates and grossed an estimated half a billion dollars annually. The money was generated through a variety of revenue streams, including: gambling; loan-sharking; stock fraud; drug trafficking and extortion. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gotti routinely conducted mob business at the Bergin Club -- starting at noon, after being picked up at home in a limousine, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">black four-door Mercedes Benz, Cadillac or Lincoln</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. Hours later he'd be chauffered to his new base of operations, the Ravenite Club, where he was briefed by his lieutenants. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">In contrast to the most other mafia dons, of any era, Gotti seemed to relish public attention, frequenting Manhattan eateries, such as the upscale Sistina; the exclusive and celeb-filled Regine's; and P.J. Clarke's -- paying in cash. As Gotti's public profile rose, he became known for the $2,000 double-breasted Brioni suits, monogrammed Gucci socks (38) and $400 hand-painted silk ties that he was fond of wearing. He maintained a cigarette boat in Brooklyn's Sheepshead Bay and regularly visited his $300,000 home in the Poconos on weekends. While investigators estimated Gotti's yearly income at about $11 million, he asserted that he was employed as a plumbing supply salesman, earning a $100,000 annual salary. Sammy Gravano's testimony included the admission that he gave Gotti upwards of $1 million per year as his cut of the profits derived from extorting constuction companies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Gotti was well-loved in his community, owing partly to the annual block party that he hosted every summer near the Bergin Club in Queens. (4) Crime rates were low in Howard Beach (likely due to Gotti's presence) and on the Gotti family front, his son Peter was announced as the student of the month at P.S. 207 in January of 1986. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On March 24, 1986, during Gotti's and Frank Colletta's trial for assaulting and robbing Romual Piecyk in 1984, the latter, in contrast to his earlier grand jury testimony, testified on the stand in Queens State Supreme Court that he could neither identify the perpetrators nor remember details of the incident. Ironically, the defense attorneys claimed that Piecyk had, in fact, attacked Colletta and that Gotti was merely attempting to help his friend and co-defendant. At one point, Justice Ann B. Dufficy even declared Piecyk a hostile witness. Piecyk, who'd originally been scheduled to testify on the previous Thursday, failed to show and was finally located by police two days later and taken into custody as a material witness for the prosecution. Nearly a month before Piecyk testified, Queens District Attorney John J. Santucci's office asserted that someone had tampered with the brakes on his </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">work van, costing $450 to repair,</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and that he'd been threatened. Unsurprisingly, given Piecyk's testimony, Justice Dufficy dismissed all charges the following day. </span><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">At about 1:45 PM on April 13, Gambino family underboss Frank DeCicco was killed outside of a Bensonhurst social club by a car-bomb. The bomb had been intended for Gotti as well, who'd . According to federal investigators, Genovese crime family boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, angered by John Castellano's unsanctioned killing, reportedly ordered the hit in retaliation. Genovese family-associate Herbert "Blue Eyes" Pate, who'd been given the assignment alongside Lucchese crime family underboss Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, had attached C-4 to the undercarriage of DeCicco's 1985 Buick Electra and detonated it with a remote control appropriated from a toy car as he and Lucchese soldier Frank "Frankie Hearts" Bellino exited the club. According to witnesses, the sedan burst into flames and windows shattered in nearby buildings. Both DeCicco and Bellino, who survived, were transported to Brooklyn's Victory Memorial Hospital by NYPD officer Carmine Romeo, who'd witnessed the bombing, in his police van. Gotti, who was scheduled to meet with DeCicco, had never shown up. Pate was chosen to carry out the murder because, as a Genovese-associate, he was less likely to be recognized by the Gambinos. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">After his bail was revoked in May, Gotti was held at the 12-story Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in lower Manhattan. Following Judge Eugene H. Nickerson's months-long postponement, Gotti's federal racketeering trial began in August of 1986. Federal prosecutors presented 90 witnesses and 30 hours of audio recordings over a nearly seven-month trial. One of the revelations made by the government during the proceedings was that John's long-time friend, Wilfred Johnson, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">who'd never been granted bail during the trial, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">had been a confidential informant for almost two decades. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">At times during the proceedings, Gotti insulted co-prosecutor John Gleeson, telling him, "Your mother's a whore" and "You're a junkie." </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The stylish tailor-made suits that John wore during the trial earned him the nickname, "The Dapper Don", by the press. After a week of jury deliberations, all seven defendants, represented by former Brooklyn assistant district attorney Bruce Cutler, were acquitted on all counts on March 13, 1987. Gotti's Howard Beach neighbors responded by tying yellow ribbons around trees near his house at 160-11 85th Street. On June 5, John Jr. was also acquitted -- of the 2-year-old assault charge on Officer Bedillo. On trial in Queens State Supreme Court like his father a year earlier, the jury delivered a not guilty verdict after deliberating for eight hours following witness Bruce Timper's failure to point Gotti out.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Following the acquittals, Gotti decided to move his base of operations to the Ravenite Social Club, Neil Dellacroces's former headquarters. He'd often conduct business while taking walks in front of the club, for feat of being captured by any recording devices that may have been planted inside. He also made a habit of conducting business in the apartment upstairs from the club. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1987, Gotti was warned by FBI agents of a plot by six Genovese crime family members, including Louis Anthony "Bobby" Manna, to murder him and his brother Gene -- captured by audio surveillance. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Allegedly, the murder plot was conceived by Vincent Gigante, his brother Ralph, Lucchese crime family head Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo and Lucchese family consigliere Christopher "Christie Tick" Furnari at the latter's Staten Island home.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Following Joe Gallo's December 22, 1987 bribery conviction, Gotti replaced him with Gravano as consigliere. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On August 29, 1988, Gotti's old friend Wilfred "Willie Boy" Johnson was shot to death as he left his Flatlands, Brooklyn home. At about 6:20 a.m., a trio of gunmen, who'd waited for Johnson in a stolen car, opened fire, striking him 14 times. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Johnson, who managed to run a few feet after hearing the initial gunfire, suffered six gunshots to the head, one in each thigh and two to the back, from a .380 caliber handgun. He was attacked while walking to his 1988 black Mercury. The assailants left spikes in the street before fleeing the scene. None of Johnson's neighbors reported hearing gunfire when questioned by police. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In January of 1989, Gotti was swarmed by disguised police detectives and FBI agents as he left the Ravenite and arrested in lower Manhattan's Little Italy for ordering the 1986 shooting of a carpenter's union official. After spending the night at Riker's Island jail, he was released the very next day on $100,000 bail. On May 23, 1989, Gene Gotti and John Carneglia were convicted of possession with intent to distribute heroin, conspiracy with intent to distribute heroin and racketeering in Federal Court in Brooklyn. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In early 1990, Gotti, the g*dfather of the Gambino crime family, met Marlon Brando, the star and title character of the 1972 mafia film, <i><b>The G*dfather</b></i>. Gotti, who was dining with friends in the back room of a restaurant in Little Italy had an associate, Rocco "The Butcher" Musacchia, invite Brando, who was in the restaurant dining with two of his co-stars, to meet him. After Gotti agreed, via Musacchia, to Brando's request that his dinner companions, Matthew Broderick and Bruno Kirby, who appeared with Brando in the then-upcoming mob comedy, <i><b>The Freshman</b></i>, released July 20, accompany him, the mobster and the three actors were introduced. Musacchia, a reputed lieutenant in the Genovese crime family, happened to be familiar with the trio through his work as a technical advisor on the movie. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On January 20, 1990, Gotti went to trial alongside Gambino family soldier Anthony "Tony Lee" Guerrieri in New York state court for charges connected to the shooting of a carpenters' union president. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Each was charged with two counts of assault and a single count of conspiracy. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The victim, John F. O'Connor, CEO of Manhattan's Local 608 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, had been shot four times in the legs and buttocks, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">by members of the Irish-American organized crime group the Westies, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">on May 7, 1986.</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gotti was accused of ordering O'Connor shot, using Guerrieri as a go-between, in response to his trashing of a Gambino-controlled restaurant constructed with non-union workers. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Before his February 9 acquittal on all charges, and while Gotti was in court, the FBI broke into the Ravenite and planted listening devices in the apartment directly above the club. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Also, Gotti's penchant for meeting with fellow mobsters in front of the Ravenite yielded an enormous amount of photographic and video intelligence to investigators, who kept the club under constant surveillance.</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The press began calling Gotti "The Teflon Don" following his acquittal -- a reference to the notion that the government could never seem to get their charges to stick to him. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Upon realizing that Gotti routinely held meetings in the apartment above the club, unit# 10, belonging to Nettie Cirelli, widow of Gambino soldier Mike Cirelli, federal agents broke into the apartment while she was out of town for Thankskiving and installed more listening devices.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Gotti was subsequently arrested that December and charged with 13 counts of gambling, tax fraud, obstruction of justice, racketeering, conspiracy and murder (five in all). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gotti was arrested with Gravano, now Gambino family consigliere; Gambino family underboss Frank "Frankie Loc" Locascio; and Gambino family capo Thomas Gambino, son of Carlo Gambino, during a raid of the Ravenite at approximately 7 P.M. on December 11, 1990, the night before he'd planned to take his mistress, Lisa Gastineau, to Frank Sinatra's 75th birthday concert at the Meadowlands' Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The concert was to be a gift to Gastineau, whose own birthday was on the 11th. Gambino-associate John "Jackie Nose" D'Amico would often arrange for the couple to meet surreptitiously before dining at Midtown Manhattan restaurants the Rainbow Room and Da Noi. At the time, Gastineau was married to estranged-husband, former New York Jets defensive lineman Mark Gastineau. The five-time Pro Bowler was reportedly dating actress Brigitte Nielsen at the time. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gotti was charged with federal racketeering </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and the murders of Paul Castellano, Tommy Billotti, Robert DiBernardo, Louis Dibono and Liborio Milito. He was also charged with loansharking, tax evasion, bribery, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to murder Gaetano "Corky" Vastola. During pre-trial hearings, prosecutors successfully argued for Gotti to be held without bail </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">and denied the services of his regular counsel, Gerald Shargel and Bruce Cutler</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In early November 1991, Gravano reached out to the government via telephone from the Metropolitan Correctional Center and agreed to meet with prosecutors. On November 8, FBI agents took Gravano to a motel in a NYC suburb, where he first met with federal prosecutors John Gleeson and Andrew J. Maloney, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; and defense attorney William J. Cunningham. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Per his request, Gravano was played tapes which included Gotti calling him greedy and discussing murders that he committed.</span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">At the resulting trial, Gravano, the government's star witness, testified over nine days that, among other things, he participated in 19 murders and that he and Gotti were on hand to witness the murder of Paul Castellano and Tommy Bilotti. The prosecutions case was further bolstered by audio recordings captured by listening devices, including one made on December 12, 1989 in which Gotti was heard to say about Gambino capo Robert DiBernardo: "I was in jail when I whacked him. I knew why it was being done. I done it anyway."</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He continued, "I whacked him because he wouldn't come in. He didn't do nothin' else wrong." </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Fearing a repeat of previous trials, the government sequestered the jury. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The high-profile trial was attended by several celebrities, including: Mickey Rourke; John Amos; and Anthony Quinn, who was conducting research for his subsequent portrayal of Aniello Dellacroce in the 1996 HBO movie <i><b>Gotti</b></i>.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Following a 10-week trial and after 13 hours of jury deliberations, Gotti was convicted on all counts on April 2, 1992. Locascio was convicted of racketeering, including one murder charge and six other charges consisting of murder conspiracy, tax fraud, gambling and obstruction of justice. Both were sentenced by Judge I. Leo Glasser to life in prison without the possibility of parole and $250,000 fines. An estimated 800 demonstrators chanted support for Gotti for over two hours outside Brooklyn federal courthouse. Seven protesters were arrested following a scuffle with police in which eight officers were injured. Gravano was sentenced to five years in prison. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On February 24 ,1992, the jury foreman in Gotti's 1987 RICO trial, George H. Pape, was indicted on charges of obstruction-of-justice for requesting and receiving, through a long-time associate of Gravano, a $60,000 bribe to ensure that a guilty verdict wasn't reached. A jury found Pape guilty on November 6. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He subsequently served three years in prison.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On June 23, a jury sentenced Gotti to a life term in federal prison. Following his sentencing hearing, Gotti was transported via plane to the maximum-security federal prison in Marion, Illinois, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">becoming federal inmate# 182-053</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. Beginning in 1992, he was limited to his cell, with the exception of one hour of exercise each day. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In order to retain his control over the Gambino family, Gotti installed a ruling panel, composed of his son, John "Junior" Gotti; capo John "Jackie Nose" D'Amico; and Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On July 18, 1996, Gotti was assaulted in the prison recreation room by fellow-inmate Walter Johnson. Johnson, an African-American, punched Gotti in response to his use of a racial slur. Seeking retaliation, Gotti solicited Michael McElhiney and David Sahakian, high-ranking members of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang to murder Johnson for either $40,000 or $400,000. The following month, McElhiney ordered two members of the gang to carry out the hit. By March of 1997, Johnson, a convicted bank robber, had been transferred to the ADX federal supermax facility in Florence, Colorado. AB member and former inmate Jesse Van Meter subsequently visited gang leader Barry Mills, also incarcerated at ADX, at McElhiney's behest in order to work out the details of the plot. Mills allegedly delegated responsibility for the killing to two gang subordinates after prison guard Joseph Principe arranged for the three to be in the exercise yard together. Johnson was released from prison on May 15, 2000, alive and well. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gotti was diagnosed with throat cancer and underwent head and neck surgery to treat it in 1998. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">"Junior" Gotti was convicted of racketeering himself, in 1999. He'd entered a guilty plea in exchange for a reduced sentence of six years and five months. That February, a prison recording captured John Junior asking Gotti for permission to plead guilty. By that time, every member of the "Gambino panel" was facing serious federal charges, so John Gotti named his eldest brother, Peter, the acting boss.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On June 4, 2002, federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging 17 people, including John's brothers Peter and Richard (Gambino family captain), with racketeering. Four of the defendants, including brothers Vincent and Julius Nasso, were charged with extorting money from action star Steven Seagal. Seagal was allegedly pressured to hand over $150,000 for every movie that he made. One of the men charged allegedly showed up on the Canadian set of Seagal's 2001 movie Exit Wounds and later attended the film's March 13, 2001 premiere in Holllywood. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">John Gotti died of throat cancer on June 10, 2002, at the Springfield, Missouri federal prison hospital. He was interred next to his son, Frank, at St. Johns Cemetery in Queens. </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: verdana;">By the time Gotti died, the FBI had compiled over 1,580 pages of files related to him.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano and John Gotti</span><br /></span>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">by Ran</span><br />
<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLoEhQNPysIFYWhy19Hu_PTfpd4qYCnRAyDNsUNuTuwxLKcs6MXflT3YN5_7ka2EoDf-lNxthadk6UBIkpvVwqeDpCjtr28WnHpTj4QMCZHqv8Ry-_XZZRhp-g4vPtae6kxvBGMOfq1UA/s643/Curry-Brothers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="643" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLoEhQNPysIFYWhy19Hu_PTfpd4qYCnRAyDNsUNuTuwxLKcs6MXflT3YN5_7ka2EoDf-lNxthadk6UBIkpvVwqeDpCjtr28WnHpTj4QMCZHqv8Ry-_XZZRhp-g4vPtae6kxvBGMOfq1UA/w400-h283/Curry-Brothers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Johnny </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Curry and his </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">twin brother, Leonard, were born in 1959. Their younger brother, Rudell, was born a year later. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">They grew up in a </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">lower middle-class, predominately African-American eastside neighborhood, about seven miles from downtown Detroit.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By all accounts, Johnny was the more reserved and cerebral of the twins, while Leo, as Leonard was known, was a flashy extrovert. Johnny garnered the nickname "Little Man", while Leo got the name "Big Man". Rudell came to be known as "Boo".</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The twins began their drug careers in the late 1970s, selling marijuana. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The brothers' father, Samuel "Sammy Mack" Curry, reportedly provided the seed money for the business in 1978. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">After moving up to high volume dealing, they switched from marijuana to heroin and, finally, powdered cocaine and crack in the 1980s. They built and maintained a collection of 24 dope houses on the east side of Detroit offering marijuana, heroin, cocaine and crack and stored significant amounts of cash at Allen Hill, Sr.'s Hill's Marathon Station auto garage, located at 10901 East Warren in Detroit. One of the twins would routinely collect the cash from Hill's.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Currys' cocaine was supplied primarily by Sam "Doc" Curry and Detroit local, Art Derrick. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Derrick owned a fleet of four planes, two of which he purchased from the Rolling Stones, which he used to fly product in from Miami, netting $100,000 profit per day at his peak. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Derrick, who died in 2005, lived in a palatial home with a marble-floored basement and a pool bearing his initials on the bottom.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Each of the twins drove burgundy-colored Ford Broncos with Eddie Bauer leather interiors. Even Rudell drove a matching Bronco, except his was blue. Johnny also drove a customized Berlina. The entire organization would sometimes drive to the city's Belle Isle Park, located on the Detroit River, on warm days.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The twins made a habit of commandeering a local roller-skating rink, Royal Skateland, at night and essentially throwing impromptu parties. They frequented more mature parties at The Lady nightclub. Another favorite hangout was Stoke's, an establishment with strippers and topless waitresses. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Johnny dated, and later married, Cathy Germaine Volsan, the niece of then-mayor Coleman A. Young. Cathy's father, Willie Clyde Volsan Jr., who happened to be married to Mayor Young's sister, Juanita Clark, was a drug kingpin throughout the 1970s and 80s. After a career of illegal gambling, Volsan trafficked in heroin before moving on to cocaine. Before dating Johnny, Cathy had been involved with Detroit Pistons star Vinnie "The Microwave" Johnson. When Cathy became pregnant with Johnny's child, her baby shower was held at the Manoogian M</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">ansion, the </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">mayor's official residence.</span></span><br />
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Cathy and Willie Volsan</div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Young, Detroit's first African-American mayor, amassed considerable power during his five terms in office and Cathy, in turn, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">used her familial relationship to her uncle to gain access to information regarding police investigations involving herself and those in her circle -- including the Currys. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By 1984, the FBI and Detroit police had launched an investigation into the Curry organization. Federal agents even broke into Johnny's house and planted listening devices. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By that time, Rudell had started hanging out with neighborhood teenager, Richard "White Boy Rick" Wershe. They frequently rode around in Rudell's Ford Bronco, picking up girls. They also frequently spent time at Royal Skateland, enjoying Rudell's older brothers' get-togethers.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Unbeknownst to the Currys, at 14-years-old, Wershe was recruited by the FBI, who were conducting an investigation of the brothers, precisely because of his familiarity with them. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Johnny's marriage to Cathy Volsan in 1985 prompted Mayor Young to provide her with a security detail comprised of Detroit police officers, headed by Sergeant James Harris.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Johnny sometimes took Wershe along to watch the Detroit Tigers play. He even accompanied the Currys to </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the world middleweight championship boxing bout between undisputed champion "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler and Detroit-native Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns held on April 15, 1985 in Las Vegas, Nevada.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">During a drive-by shooting targeting the northwest Detroit home of Leon Lucas on April 29, his 13-year-old nephew, Damion Lucas, was inadvertently killed by two Curry triggermen after being shot in the chest. Damion and his younger brother, Frankie, both orphans since their mother's death the year before, lived with Leon. Lucas, a heroin dealer, along with his cousin, Robert Walton, both Curry-associates, had been given the responsibility of arranging the itinerary for the Currys' Vegas trip but were unable to purchase tickets to the fight ahead of time. The two already owed the Currys for cash and heroin seized during a police raid. The ticket fiasco only exacerbated the situation. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The shooting was intended as a message to Lucas, who wasn't home at the time.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">According to the FBI, Leo Curry ordered </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Curry-associate Wyman Jenkins to send </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Sidney "Wack" Goodwin and Walter "Waldo" Owens -- who they furnished with MAC-10 and MAC-11 machine pistols -- to do the job. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Kevin "Weasel" Colbert drove Goodwin and Owens to Walton's home where they shot up a car parked in the driveway and to Lucas' residence, where Damion was unintentionally shot while watching television with Frankie.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> A barrage of at least 10 shots entered the house. Following the driveby, Leon Lucas gave an interview in which he asserted that Leo and Jenkins had called him the morning of the shooting threatening to carry out the very driveby that took place. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Another man unrelated to the Curry organization, LaKeas Davis, was charged with the killing, however, FBI Agent Herman Groman, one of Richard Wershe's handlers, informed the judge and attorneys involved in the case that wiretap evidence indicated that Davis was not involved and the charges were dropped.</span></span><br /><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEcadHMtg5D435h-u6nDBaIgXubpMIyOconxcC_qPsUSe_w6eECgeolUC419-s8iVMHGVZH7hz2s6xV_uW4l314oAUNkGra3DHFOk57cl51TKqzvJAe9YJWxSuN-wNr9NxuV_rwaDKJDc/s1254/gil-hill-beverly-hills-cop.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="868" data-original-width="1254" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEcadHMtg5D435h-u6nDBaIgXubpMIyOconxcC_qPsUSe_w6eECgeolUC419-s8iVMHGVZH7hz2s6xV_uW4l314oAUNkGra3DHFOk57cl51TKqzvJAe9YJWxSuN-wNr9NxuV_rwaDKJDc/w400-h276/gil-hill-beverly-hills-cop.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Gil Hill with Eddie Murphy in </div></span>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Following Damion's killing, Johnny reportedly held an organization meeting in the basement of his home during which he offered to pay anyone in-the-know to keep quiet about the matter if questioned by police. According to FBI Agent Herbert Groman, Curry called Sergeant Harris and Commander Gilbert Roland "Gil" Hill of the Detroit Police Department the morning following the drive-by.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On September 19, Curry-associate Lamont "Bummy Lou" Davis assaulted an unidentified man who failed to pay a drug debt owed to the organization. Davis set him on fire after administering a beating. That same day, Curry-enforcer Lee Potts, acting on orders from Johnny, allegedly killed Eric Dunston to settle a turf dispute.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Currys are estimated to have made approximately $200 million by 1987. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On April 2, 1987, the Curry brothers; their father, Samuel; Wyman Jenkins; Lamont Davis; and Allen Hill, Sr. were indicted on multiple drug charges, including operating a continuing criminal enterprise, following a joint-investigation by the FBI, Detroit police and the IRS. Johnny, Sam, Rudell and Hill were formally charged in federal court that same day, while Leo, Jenkins and Davis remained at-large. Cathy and Willie Volsan, Roy Covington, Anthony "Zero" Johnson, Ruth Curry, Patricia Curry, Cassandra Curry and Carlene Knight were all named as unindicted co-conspirators. Eventually, 20 members of the Curry organization would be indicted. On September 8, 1987, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Johnny and Leo, represented by attorney Steve Fishman, accepted a deal and pleaded guilty to operating a continuing criminal enterprise and tax evasion. Ultimately, the other 18 defendants entered guilty pleas as well. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On January 13, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Suhrheinrich sentenced Johnny and Leo to 20 years without the possibility of parole and fined them $250,000. Rudell pleaded guilty to narcotics conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison on February 18. Jenkins was eventually sentenced to 15 years in prison. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1992, Cathy Volsan Curry testified that Commander Hill had informed Johnny that there was a wiretap on his telephone. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Following his convictions, Johnny admitted to FBI agents that he, accompanied by Cathy, personally paid then-Homicide Inspector Hill $10,000 in his office to redirect the investigation into Damion Lucas' murder away from his organization. When Curry and Hill spoke the morning after the murder, Hill allegedly requested that he and Cathy meet with him in his office. Sergeant Harris, who reported to Hill, picked the two up and drove them to police headquarters. Hill, who died in February of 2016, appeared as Inspector Todd in the </span><i>Beverly Hills Cop</i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> film trilogy, and was later elected president of Detroit's City Council in 1989.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Johnny and Leo served 11 years of their sentence in a federal facility located in Texarkana, Texas, before being released in 1999. </span></span><br />
<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDhLxWTMX62CYUIgcncf2Oh4-0t3cY3PRTNC2YctWC1aiG7w1_FXSReLSQuGONykcYywCkB1xnIxCsuMUorLOiju7_EVjgfEb9JZVQqdrDUElpB0R_yo5Nxc0pg3M0bzy_Zh3NdhEIQGk/s941/Johnny-Curry-Detroit+News.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="941" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDhLxWTMX62CYUIgcncf2Oh4-0t3cY3PRTNC2YctWC1aiG7w1_FXSReLSQuGONykcYywCkB1xnIxCsuMUorLOiju7_EVjgfEb9JZVQqdrDUElpB0R_yo5Nxc0pg3M0bzy_Zh3NdhEIQGk/w400-h238/Johnny-Curry-Detroit+News.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Johnny Curry</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCy2Nfr2PqcN9hOg1Nl8h4xjgYO0ynx8pe1IrgqtQMJLEACPMo4XBTPr5e5Y6jgws1MHcT4FJQ0pV8xMiHmZkFilfQ3A8aNGB8WTWsBmQJ_lefIc2aVaW0r8JnCpsEE78uU56_Uz20QQc/s300/Curry-Johnny-mug-shot-218x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="218" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCy2Nfr2PqcN9hOg1Nl8h4xjgYO0ynx8pe1IrgqtQMJLEACPMo4XBTPr5e5Y6jgws1MHcT4FJQ0pV8xMiHmZkFilfQ3A8aNGB8WTWsBmQJ_lefIc2aVaW0r8JnCpsEE78uU56_Uz20QQc/w291-h400/Curry-Johnny-mug-shot-218x300.jpg" width="291" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoy5p_Kpq7mjCVuG5c1SPtrVGIu-fUsh0jJtnF4gLxpzVMnML3OCf8UnEBHhDPKhzVNxKY6pzobuQrJKPqMn7N1ylTRZRA1H-Zw3tlKjUhwPrE2jCIYFhD0T9OyONGXyvTQ0U2lR4PthA/s1080/johnny+curry+and+cathy+volsan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoy5p_Kpq7mjCVuG5c1SPtrVGIu-fUsh0jJtnF4gLxpzVMnML3OCf8UnEBHhDPKhzVNxKY6pzobuQrJKPqMn7N1ylTRZRA1H-Zw3tlKjUhwPrE2jCIYFhD0T9OyONGXyvTQ0U2lR4PthA/w400-h400/johnny+curry+and+cathy+volsan.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Johnny Curry and Cathy Volsan</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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Damion Lucas</div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><a href="http://theranreport.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-infamouswhite-boy-rick.html">The Infamous...White Boy Rick</a></span><br />
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-30486116491581878052017-10-01T12:49:00.000-04:002020-05-25T06:11:20.019-04:00The Infamous...White Boy Rick <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">by Ran Britt</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Richard John Wershe, Jr. was born on July 18, 1969 to Richard Wershe and Darlene McCormick. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Wershe's lower middle-class family lived in a predominately African-American eastside neighborhood, about seven miles from downtown Detroit, that was also home to John and Leonard "Leo" Curry. The Wershe family lived in a brick house on Hampshire Street, across the street from Richard, Sr.'s parents' home. When Rick was six-years-old, Darlene left the family. Richard, Sr. made a living buying and selling firearms, including semi-automatic handguns and sub-machine guns. He would eventually manage Newman's, a gun store located in downtown Detroit. When Rick was eight-years-old, his father taught him how to fire a gun and started taking him to gun shows at Detroit's Light Guard Armory. He later gave him his own .22-caliber rifle. When Rick was 13, the neighborhood became one of several casualities of white-flight, owing to the decline of the city's auto industry and its accompanying layoffs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Around that time, Rick's parents gave in to his requests to move in with his mother in the suburb of Clinton Township. Though he clashed with his new stepfather, he enjoyed the new environment. However, he became involved in petty crime, breaking into homes with Terrence Bell, who was dating his older sister, Dawn, who had become a crack user. According to Rick, he himself had only snorted cocaine once. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At 14-years-old, Rick started hanging out with Rudell "Boo" Curry, Johnny and Leo's younger brother. They frequently rode around in Rudell's Ford Bronco, picking up girls. They also frequently spent time at a local roller-skating rink, Royal Skateland, at which Rudell's older brothers regularly held court and essentially threw impromptu parties.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rick's first arrest took place on March 24, 1984. After pulling into a gas station near the Wershse's home, the car Rick was driving, his grandmother's, was stolen while he was inside buying a soda. After being alerted by Dawn, who'd driven another car to the station and was blowing the horn, Rick got into Dawn's vehicle and the two pursued the thief on I-94. Rick fired two shots from the .22-caliber revolver Dawn kept in her purse and, unfortunately for him, an off-duty police officer was in the car next to them and subsequently pulled Dawn over. But as luck would have it, the officer failed to appear at trial, leading to the charges being dropped. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At 14-years-old, Wershe began his career as a confidential informant. He was recruited by the FBI because of his familiarity with members of the predominately African-American Curry brothers drug trafficking organization, who were under investigation by the bureau. To conceal the fact that they were using a juvenile to gather intel, the agents unofficially hired him in June of 1984 and used the same codename, "Gem", that they'd given to his father, who had already been an informant for some time. Initially, his role was limited to identifying the names of individuals in photos shown to him by the FBI. Rick would often attend clandestine meetings with FBI Agent James Dixon in the parking lot of a church near Livernois Avenue for debriefings. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In February of 1985, investigators used Rick's intel to secure a warrant to search a home in which they seized $200,000 in cash. His duties quickly escalated to making drug buys for the Detroit police, including Officer Billy Jasper. Wershe's handlers even provided him with buy-money and an ID that stated that he was 21-years-old. Rick's payment for helping the authorities would sometimes run as much as $2,000 per job -- in cash. According to Wershe, his assistance netted him a total of $30,000. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Johnny Curry sometimes took Rick along to watch the Detroit Tigers play. He even accompanied the Currys to </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">the world middleweight championship boxing bout between undisputed champion "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler and Detroit-native Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns held on April 15, 1985 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The FBI gave him $1,500 to pay for expenses during the trip. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">During a drive-by shooting targeting the home of Leon Lucas, is 13-year-old nephew, Damion Lucas, was inadvertently killed by three Curry triggermen after being shot in the chest. Lucas, a Curry-associate, had been given the responsibility of arranging the itinerary but was unable to purchase tickets to the fight ahead of time. The shooting was intended to be a message to Lucas, who wasn't home at the time. Following Damion's killing, Johnny reportedly held an organization meeting in the basement of his home, during which he offered to pay anyone in-the-know to keep quiet about the matter if questioned by police. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Wershe reported that he'd personally attended the meeting. He also informed the FBI of Detroit Police Homicide Inspector Gilbert Roland "Gill" Hill's successful efforts to direct the investigation of Damion's murder away from the Curry brothers. Wershe was a passenger in Johnny Curry's Bronco when he heard Hill and Curry discussing the matter during a speakerphone conversation on the car phone. Hill, who appeared as Inspector Todd in the Beverly Hills Cop film trilogy, and was later elected president of Detroit's City Council,</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> died in February of 2016</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rick eventually started selling cocaine himself, buying eight balls and crack from the Currys to be resold. He began amassing a circle of 15 or so drug dealing friends as well. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When he was 15, another Curry-associate accidentally shot Rick in the stomach, in his home, with a .357-caliber handgun. The wound required hospitalization and the use of a colostomy bag for a time even after his release. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In June of 1986, law enforcement dropped Wershe, who'd dropped out of school in the 9th grade following his shooting, as a CI and he resumed selling cocaine without their oversight. He was supplied by local Arthur "Art" Derrick, whom he met through the Curry brothers. Derrick owned a fleet of four planes, two of which he purchased from the Rolling Stones, which he used to fly product in from Miami, netting $100,000 profit per day at his peak. Rick would sometimes accompany Derrick to Miami where he'd reserve half of a floor at the Hilton and procure the services of escorts. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Wershe was given the nickname, "White Boy Rick", by Derrick so that he could easily distinguish between Wershe and fellow-Detroit cocaine dealer Richard "Maserati Rick" Carter. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Derrick, who died in 2005, lived in a palatial home with a marble-floored basement and a pool bearing his initials on the bottom. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rick made connections of his own in Miami and began receiving 50-kilogram shipments from his new supplier. Wershe hardly went unnoticed, often wearing mink coats, gold chains, Adidas tracksuits, a diamond-encrusted Rolex and gold belt. He also had a preference for Guess and Calvin Klein brand jeans and Gucci luggage. Despite his lack of a driver's license, Wershe drove a white Jeep that read, "THE SNOWMAN", on the back. The Jeep, however, was only one of Rick's eight vehicles. He also purchased a Chevrolet Camaro Z28 and a Ford Bronco like the one each of the Curry brothers drove -- Rick's was painted green and tan. He and Rudell also had matching 750cc Honda Interceptor motorcycles. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Around that time, Rick followed in his father's footsteps and became a small-time arms dealer as well. He'd buy guns in Toledo from Ohio state troopers he met at a gun show and resell them back in Detroit. That September, Rick made a $1,600 cocaine sale to an undercover DEA agent at his childhood home. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rick moved out of his father's home again when the elder Wershe discovered and confiscated a shoebox containing $50,000 in cash under his bed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1987, he began a romantic relationship with Johnny Curry's </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(who was in federal prison awaiting trial)</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">wife, Cathy, who was seven years his senior. She even gave Rick a five-karat diamond ring for his birthday. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cathy's father, Willie Volsan, had himself been a gambling racketeer-turned-heroin distributor in the 1970s. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cathy used her familial relationship to her uncle, Detroit mayor Coleman A. Young, to gain access to information regarding police investigations involving herself and those in her circle -- including Wershe. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In fact, Wershe was on hand when federal agents conducted a raid on her townhouse in June of 1987 and discovered reports prepared by Detroit narcotics officers and a list of unlisted telephone numbers belonging to several high-ranking members of Detroit police personnel.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That same year, Rick was targeted in an unsuccessful drive-by while riding in the passenger seat of a friend's convertible. While the two were stopped at a red light, a van pulled up beside them. The sliding door opened and the two were only saved from the gunfire that followed because they ran the light. Nathaniel "Boone" Craft, an enforcer for the Best Friends drug trafficking organization with 30 murders to his credit, later admitted to being the triggerman. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On May 22, 1987, at about 9 pm, Wershe was arrested when police found him in possession of eight kilograms of cocaine and thousands of dollars in cash. He was stopped by police, including Officer Rodney Grandison, whom he recognized, in a friend's Thunderbird in front of his childhood home. When the officers spotted a Kroger grocery bag full of cash on the floor of the car, Wershe, who had been riding in the passenger seat, initiated a scuffle with one of the cops. After both Richard, Sr. and Dawn came outside and joined the small crowd of onlookers, Rick's father grabbed the bag and gave it to Dawn, who ran to her grandparents' home across the street. The officers, who'd pursued Dawn, discovered the bag of cash in a linen closet. Though the police reported the amount as $30,000, Wershe later testified that the arresting officers seized $34,000. That same night, police also located a cardboard box containing eight kilograms of cocaine that, according to an anonymous tip, Rick had hidden under a neighbor's porch. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rick was charged with possession of intent to deliver less than 50 grams of cocaine and </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">possession with intent to deliver more than 650 grams of cocaine.</span> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">H</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">e was </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">granted bail in the amount of $250,000 for the first charge and $750,000 for the second. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After he posted a $100,000 bond and was released, Wershe attended a Detroit Pistons home game at the Pontiac Silverdome, during which the Jumbotron cameras captured his face on the big screen. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On September 12, an associate of Rick's, Steve "Freaky Steve" Roussell, was murdered when notorious Best Friends gang enforcer Reginald "Rockin' Reggie" Brown shot him to death as he slept. Brown, who'd reportedly had a dispute with Roussell over a mutual female acquaintance, entered Roussell's residence in the 13600 block of Glenwood in the early morning hours and shot the latter as well as his cousin, Patrick "Little Pat" McCloud, who survived, who'd been sleeping in the living room and was awakened by gunfire. Though Brown was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, he was released after the conviction was overturned on appeal fifteen months after the shooting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In October, Rick was arrested again near the Royal Skateland rink and charged with possession of five kilograms of cocaine. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He was arraigned on October 14, 1987 and again granted bail. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On October 27, federal agents and members of the Detroit Police Department executed a search warrant on Richard Sr.'s 77-year-old mother Vera's home at 13059 Hampshire Street, where they seized weapons, ammunition, $2,000 in cash from a safe belonging to Wershe and parts for 23 gun silencers. Law enforcement then proceeded to execute a search warrant on Wershe's home</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, which was located across the street from his mother's,</span> at 13028 Hampshire. It was there that five gun barrels that fit the silencer parts were found on a bed and seized. Wershe's fingerprints were later matched to those found on seven of the silencers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Cathy Volsan Curry and Willie Curry</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Prior to his trial, Agent Groman met with the Wershes at a hotel and offered assistance on behalf of the government in exchange for Rick's testimony against prominent drug traffickers. Fearing for his life, Rick declined the offer. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rick's trial at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in downtown Detroit began in January of 1988. He eschewed his usual Fila sneakers for alligator loafers. Though he initially hired attorney William E. Bufalino II as his legal counsel, Cathy advised Wershe to replace him with Ed Bell and Sam Gardner -- both African-American attorneys with ties to Mayor Young. The pair's first act as Wershe's legal team was to withdraw Bufalino's pretrial motion challenging the admission of the drugs found on Wershe, which did not contain his fingerprints, into evidence. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Witnesses testified that Wershe had been pistol-whipped by the officers during his scuffle with the police. Richard, Sr. allegedly told a cop in the hallway, "You better not sleep too well," and was arrested and charged with threatening an officer. The jury deliberated for four days and deadlocked twice before agreeing to a guilty verdict. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On January 15, 1988, Rick was convicted of one count of possession with intent to deliver more than 650 grams of a substance containing cocaine. (It would be his third criminal conviction.) </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By the time he was convicted, Wershe was the father of two young girls.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Richard, Sr. granted interviews to journalists, in which he revealed his family's informant history, while incarcerated in the Wayne County Jail. Bufalino, however, disputed the claim that his former client had cooperated with the government. The FBI refused to corroborate Wershe's assertions, citing agency confidentiality policy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On February 4, Rick was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, which was the mandatory sentence for the conviction under Michigan law at the time. Only one other state at the time, Alabama, mandated life sentences without parole for first-time drug convictions. However, Alabama law stipulated that the accused possess at least 10 kilograms of cocaine to be eligible for the mandatory sentence. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On April 22, 1988, Richard, Sr. was convicted of possession of 23 silencers. He was given a seven and a half year sentence and charged a $50 fine. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In an attempt to gain leniency, Wershe cooperated with a 1990 FBI investigation of Detroit police officers participating in the shipment of drugs to Detroit City Airport (now Coleman A. Young Municipal Airport). He had been approached by his former FBI handler Agent Groman in July while incarcerated at Marquette Branch Prison, largely due to the bureau's suspicions that leaks within the Detroit Police Department, which had compromised FBI investigations, were attributable to Cathy Curry and Sergeant James Harris. Wershe's involvement in the eight-month sting, nicknamed Operation Backbone, included introducing Miami drug supplier Mike Diaz to Cathy Volsan Curry (who often visited him) via Dawn, who had dinner with the two of them on July 26. Cathy in turn introduced Diaz to her father, Willie Clyde Volsan, Jr., who happened to be married to Mayor Young's sister. Unbeknownst to the Volsans, Diaz was actually undercover FBI Agent Mike Castro and he'd recorded his conversations with them. Castro's fellow agents even stole Volsan's Cadillac from a mall parking lot in order to plant listening devices inside before returning it. Volsan connected Castro with police officers, who agreed to provide security for "Diaz's" cash and 100 kilogram cocaine shipments, which they did on at least five occasions. One of the officers even smuggled a machine gun into the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, while in uniform. Willie Volsan, Cathy Curry and four others were arrested on May 21, 1991, on charges of accepting money for protecting narcotics trafficking. The following day, 11 police officers, including Harris, Angela Canoy-Simmons and Julandra Young, were arraigned on federal charges of illegally providing protection for narcotics trafficking and released on bail. Harris had accepted $50,000, while most of the other cops took $3,000 per flight. In June, however, the charges against Cathy and the 11 police officers were dropped to allow the government more time to investigate. Eventually, Harris was sentenced to 30 years in prison; Willie Volsan was sentenced to 19 years and five months; Canoy-Simmons received a three-year term; and Young was given two years and six months. Wershe's assistance resulted in his admittance into the federal witness protection program by the Justice Department and he was transferred to a medium-security prison in Marianna, Florida. Cathy's charges were subsequently dropped. Harris received a presidential pardon from George W. Bush in 2008. </span><br />
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Richard Wershe Jr., left, stands with his attorney, William </div>
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Bufalino II, in Recorder's <span style="text-align: left;">Court in Detroit on </span><span style="text-align: left;">January 14, </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">1988. </span><span style="text-align: left;">(Photo: William Dekay, Detroit Free Press)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In August of 1991, Richard, Sr. was paroled after serving three years in prison for his weapons conviction. On March 11, 1992, he was arrested outside of his home by U.S. marshals for violating parole by not filing monthly activity reports, a condition of his parole. A month earlier, Dawn Wershe, who lived with him along with her three children, had accused her father of assaulting her. She told police that he'd struck her following her return home after a three-day absence in which he was left to care for her four-year-old, two-year-old and two-month-old with no knowledge of her whereabouts. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1998, the mandatory life without parole sentence for simple possession was ruled unconstitutional for violating the Michigan Supreme Court</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. Consequently, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Wershe was granted his first parole hearing on March 27, 2003. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bufalino testified at Wershe's parole hearing that he believed that the legal team that replaced him secretly intended to have their client convicted. He further asserted that Bell and Gardner's withdrawal of his motion to suppress the drug evidence left Wershe with no basis for any future appeals. Bufalino's testimony also included the allegation that Mayor Young personally told him not to interfere with Wershe's case. He testified that Young said, "Stay out of this. This is bigger than you think it is." </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Parole was subsequently denied.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 2006, Wershe was convicted for racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering involving a car-theft ring while in prison in Florida. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After a good deal in Auto Trader Magazine caught his eye, Wershe gave the Miami car-dealer's contact information to his sister, Dawn, who was raising his daughter, and urged her to call. The idea was that she'd re-sell the car in Detroit for a profit -- since, ironically, auto prices are higher in the Motor City. Wershe also passed the dealer's information on to fellow inmate, who's son in Virginia needed a car. Dawn earned a profit of at least $6,000 from the sale of four cars. However, the vehicles turned out to be stolen, with altered VIN numbers used to defraud Florida officials into issuing new titles. Wershe's role was discovered during a two-year criminal investigation nicknamed Operation Road Runner. Wershe's plea agreement included the provision that charges not be filed against Dawn nor his mother. After pleading guilty to racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering, Wershe received a five-year prison sentence, though he received credit for 488 days. Wershe was expelled from the witness protection program as a result of his conviction. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Convicted Queens, New York drug kingpin Lorenzo "Fat Cat" Nichols pleaded guilty to racketeering for his role in the car-theft scheme in December of 2006. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Nichols, who was also incarcerated in Florida and in the witness protection program, received a 10-year sentence after confessing to heading the auto-theft ring, which sold over 250 Florida vehicles to 14 other states from 1999 - 2005, grossing $8 million in the process.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Wershe's father, Richard, Sr., died in 2014. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On August 6, 2015, Wershe filed a second motion for relief from judgement (the first motion, filed in 2001, was denied in 2003) and on September 4, the motion was granted by Judge Dana M. Hathaway. Two weeks later she ordered that his sentence be vacated and that he be re-sentenced due to his status as a minor at the time of his conviction. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Wershe was given a parole hearing in June of 2017, which took place at the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson, Michigan. During the proceedings, Wershe, wearing a blue and orange prison-issue uniform, was questioned by Assistant State Attorney General Scott Rothermel for over four hours. On July 14, 2017, the Michigan Parole Board's 10 members voted unanimously to release Wershe. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On August 22, Wershe was released from the Oaks Correctional Facility in Manistee, Michigan into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service for transport to a Florida Department of Corrections facility in order to serve three years and eight months (of a five-year sentence) for his 2006 felony convictions tied to the car-theft conspiracy. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After first being transferred to FCI Milan (Federal Correctional Institure, Milan) in Michigan, he was taken to the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma before being transported to the RMC (Reception and Medical Center) in Lake Butler, Florida. His official release date is April 20, 2021.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He now has three children and six grandchildren.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><img alt="Related image" class="irc_mi" height="225" src="https://media.clickondetroit.com/photo/2015/11/30/White-Boy-Rick-s-plea-for-release-continues_842271_ver1.0_640_360.jpg" style="margin-top: 17px;" width="400" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><img alt="Image result for white boy rick" class="irc_mi" height="393" src="https://assets.vice.com/content-images/contentimage/174106/white-boy-rick-2.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="283" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><img alt="Image result for white boy rick" class="irc_mi" height="393" src="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/82232dee90f39b094d090b929c0d3277f558edcc/c=423-304-2794-2086&r=x408&c=540x405/local/-/media/2017/03/26/DetroitFreePress/DetroitFreePress/636261356325175107-IMG-white-boy-rick-1-1-SLHO.JPG" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="524" /></div>
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<img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTMKvkCZSQaIICvdzvpGto5RM_ECYwTllVUEbDDnWLRuaq1f1UY8OOiZt7jbkbqb9M86HAugISJthwAA84M8oAS3iUXcL-XAEtI1zTBmPVXh-JIbRap66CNqyCxh5RYb3S1Mu-7014FCz-/s400/Wershe+and+his+art+work.jpg" width="397" /></div>
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<img alt="636261358560854100-090405-white-boy-rick-01-bk-1-.jpg" class="expand-img-horiz" data-mycapture-sm-src="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/4044b1e7645488621f157de466cf1a990870caa2/r=500x333/local/-/media/2017/03/26/DetroitFreePress/DetroitFreePress/636261358560854100-090405-white-boy-rick-01-bk-1-.jpg" data-mycapture-src="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/2017/03/26/DetroitFreePress/DetroitFreePress/636261358560854100-090405-white-boy-rick-01-bk-1-.jpg" height="300" itemprop="url" src="https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/583e7571f0a7428e09b290cc47568a7cbe27e5de/c=197-263-1976-1600&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2017/03/26/DetroitFreePress/DetroitFreePress/636261358560854100-090405-white-boy-rick-01-bk-1-.jpg" width="400" /></div>
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src="data:image/jpeg;base64,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" 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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-23223805179284239392017-09-01T21:08:00.001-04:002018-02-04T13:07:56.763-05:00The Infamous...Pablo Escobar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">by Ran Britt</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was born to farmer Abel de Jesus Dari Escobar and elementary school teacher Hermilda Gaviria on December 1, 1949, on a small farm in Rionegro, Colombia. He was the third of Abel and Hermilda's seven children. Two years later, Pablo and his older brother Roberto were sent to live with their grandmother, who lived 25 miles away in Envigado, a suburb of Colombia's second-largest city, Medellin. Escobar majored in political science at the Universidad de Antioquia before dropping out due to his inability to pay tuition.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">His first foray into crime was stealing gravestones. He'd sell them to the families of the recently deceased after sanding them down. Escobar's grandfather was reportedly a Colombian bootlegger, illegally transporting tapetusa in empty caskets and hollowed-out eggs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He also spent time as a car thief and small-time marijuana dealer before working as a bodyguard for Colombian drug traffickers during his early 20s. For a time, Escobar worked for electronics smuggler Alvaro Prieto. During that same period, he kidnapped a Medellin businessman before setting him free in exchange for a $100,000 ransom. He eventually went into business for himself smuggling cigarettes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1974, Escobar was arrested for car theft. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1975, he reportedly murdered Medellin cocaine trafficker Fabio Restrepo, from whom he’d bought 14 kilograms of powder, and assumed his narcotics operation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That same year, Escobar started buying Bolivian coca paste, which he and his brother, Roberto, would process inside a two-story home in Medellin. They would then transport the cocaine, hidden in aircraft tires, to Panama by plane once a week. Offering bribes to airport managers, upwards of $300,000 round trip, assured that the narcotics were allowed into the country.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In May of 1976, Escobar and a number of his associates were arrested for possession in Medellin upon returning from Ecuador with 18 kilograms of cocaine. Following an unsuccessful attempt to bribe a Medellin judge, he allegedly ordered the murders of the two officers who made the arrest and the charges were subsequently dropped. As a result, he was released from jail a mere three months after his arrest. During this time Escobar’s organization was known as “Los Pablos”.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The 5'6" Escobar reportedly made a habit of offering those he found uncooperative: "Plata o plomo?", which translates to "Silver or lead?" -- meaning, he offered the choice of money (silver) or bullets (lead).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He eventually partnered with brothers Jorge Luis, Juan David and Fabio Ochoa, who ran their own cocaine business, creating the organization that would come to be known as the Medellin Cartel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Roberto headed a team of 10 accountants for the organization, while Pablo was effectively the CEO.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In March of 1976, Escobar married Maria Victoria Henao, with whom he fathered his children, Juan Pablo and Manuela.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Within two years, the cartel was exporting 35 kilograms of cocaine per month. The organization imported Bolivian and Peruvian coca leaves, processed them into cocaine in Colombia and Venezuela, and finally exported the product to the U.S. by way of the Caribbean and Central America. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The cocaine would routinely be airdropped over the Atlantic Ocean and retrieved by speedboat. Sometimes pilots would simply drop it over the Florida mainland.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some of the cocaine made its way into destination countries hidden in other prodcts. Chemists employed by the cartel developed methods of liquefying cocaine and mixing it with items as diverse as plastic and Chilean wine. Some products such as flowers, jeans and Colombian lumber were soaked with the substance. The cocaine would be separated by the intended recipients.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The cartel built enormous self-sustaining labs in the Colombian jungle for processing the cocaine. One such lab, near the border of Venezuela, had its own airstrip, employed 200 workers and turned out 10,000 kilograms every two weeks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Escobar purchased a mansion in Miami Beach in 1980 and the following year </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">he bought an $8.3 million apartment complex in Florida.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Escobar financed the construction of 1,000 homes for Medellin residents - who were only responsible for paying the utilities. The neighborhood became known as "Barrio Pablo Escobar".</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Escobar moved to Puerto Triunfo and settled into a 7,000-acre, $60 million estate, which he named Hacienda Napoles. The property boasted 24 lakes, a garden containing 100,000 fruit trees and a private zoo. Atop the front gate sat a plane, which Escobar said was used to ferry his first shipment of cocaine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1982, Escobar was elected to Colombia's Congress as an alternate Liberal Party MP. He resigned in 1984 when Justice Minister Rodgrigo Lara Bonilla made his drug trafficking activities public knowledge.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Escobar allegedly ordered the April 30, 1984 killing of Bonilla. Escobar's chief sicario (assassin), David Ricardo Prisco Lopera, was suspected of carrying out the order, armed with a MAC-10 machine pistol. Following Bonilla's death, both Escobar and fellow Medellin cartel decision-makers Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha and Jorge Ochoa fled to Panama until the heat died down. That May, Escobar and Ochoa</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">attempted to negotiate with </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">then Colombian President Belisario Betancur </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">for amnesty</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">via former Colombian President Alfonso Lopes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By 1985, the Medellin Cartel was making $60 million per day. The organization spent $2,500 per month on rubber bands used to hold stacks of cash together.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Escobar's personal fortune grew so vast that he was forced to store much of the cash in warehouses, the walls of homes belonging to the homes of cartel members and Colombian fields. Some of the money would routinely be eaten by rats. The cash would have to be moved periodically in order to prevent it from molding. Each year, he'd expect a 10% loss, which amounted to billions annually, due to these issues.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In July of 1985, he allegedly ordered the murder of Superior Court Judge Tulio Castro Gil.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In November, Pro-Cuba leftist guerilla group M-19 stormed Colombia's Supreme Court headquarters in Bogota and killed 11 justices. The raid is widely believed to have been sponsored by the Medellin cartel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1986, Escobar and four other high-ranking members of the Medellin cartel were indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami. They were all accused of smuggling more than 58 tons of cocaine into the U.S. between 1978-1986.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In November of 1986, Escobar allegedly ordered the killing of former anti-narcotics police Colonel Jaime Ramirez.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On the night of December 17, Guillermo Cano, editor-in-chief of Colombia's second-largest newspaper, El Espectador, was shot to death while driving away from the paper's offices by two assailants on a motorcycle. It was widely speculated that Escobar, who had been the subject of critical articles published by the paper, had ordered Cano's killing. In the days following the murder, local police killed a woman and four men they believed to be connected after a 90-minute shootout with the suspects in a luxury apartment. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Following a three-year DEA investigation, nicknamed Operation Pisces, Escobar, Fabio Ochoa-Restrepo and 113 others were indicted on drug-trafficking charges on May 6, 1987. Operation Pisces also culminated in the seizure of 19,000 pounds of the Medellin cartel's cocaine and cash and assets estimated at $49 million. The investigation also led to 54 bank accounts in Panama tied to the cartel being frozen. Over the span of the op, undercover DEA agents laundered $116 million of the cartel's money. In July, convicted Cuban-American racketeer Ramon Milian-Rodriguez testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on terrorism and narcotics that the Medellin cartel owned majority interests in seven Panamanian banks. He further testified that in 1979 he'd negotiated for Panama's de facto leader, General Manuel Antonio Noriega, head of the Panama Defense Forces since 1983, to receive a 1.5% cut of the narcotics traffic and related fund transfers, upwards of $200 million per month, that moved through the country in exchange for allowing the cartel to conduct business there. According to Milian-Rodriguez, who was sentenced to a 35-year prison term in 1985, Noriega also allowed the Colombians to set up cocaine-processing plants in Panama.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In January of 1988, Escobar allegedly ordered the death of Attorney General Carlos Mauro Hoyos.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1989, Forbes magazine placed Escobar at #7 on their list of the world's richest men, citing his estimated net worth at $3 billion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On August 18, 1989, presidential candidate Senator Luis Carlos Galan, running on a platform promise to extradite drug traffickers if elected, was shot to death by an Uzi-wielding gunman while giving a campaign speech. Four judges were also killed by a cartel hit squad, led by Alfredo Vaquero, who was charged for the murders on August 20. The government responded to the murders by declaring that suspects charged with drug trafficking would be extradited to the U.S. and their property seized.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Colombia's Administrative Security Department, headed by General Miguel A. Maza Marquez, discovered that Escobar and Gacha had commissioned the formation of paramilitary units trained in assassination techniques by four Israeli commandos, including Colonel Yair Klein. During a raid on the home of alleged sicario (assassin)-recruiter Henry Perez, the DAS (Colombian police's primary intelligence agency) recovered a 48-minute long videotape of Klein training 50 recruits. The training included recruits detonating bombs and simulating drive-by shootings, assaults on towns and ambushes using Israeli Uzi sub-machine guns, Soviet AK-47 assault rifles and American AR-15 assault rifles. Aside from assassinations, the squads were also tasked with protecting the cartel's crops and labs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In late August, the Bush Administration announced that it would send $65 million in military equipment, including 20 helicopters, to aid in the continued effort to dismantle the cartel's operations. By the time of the announcement, at least 100 planes tied to the cartel had already been seized.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In September and October, Escobar and Gacha reportedly ordered over 150 dynamite attacks that led to the deaths of 10 people. On October 16, four employees of Vanguardia Liberal newspaper were killed in Bucaramanga when over 100 pounds of dynamite in a parked car was detonated. The paper was especially critical of both Escobar and Gacha and supported the Colombian government's efforts to apprehend them. The government, in fact, distributed wanted posters for each, offering a $250,000 reward for information leading to their capture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Due to the subsequent government crackdown, marked by widespread property seizures, the Medellin cartel reduced its imports, resulting in increased cocaine prices in the U.S.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That November, flight 203, of the Colombian airline Avianca, crashed following the detonation of an on-board bomb, killing 111 people. The flight, which took off from El Dorado International Airport in Bogota was headed for Cali, Colombia, located 190 miles southwest. One of Escobar's enforcers, Dandeny Munoz Mosquera, would later be charged with placing the bomb on the plane at the former's behest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Following the December 15 death of Gacha during a shootout with police. Escobar became the most-wanted man in Colombia.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On December 20, men who'd been hired by Escobar kidnapped Alvaro Diego Montoya as he was leaving his Bogota office. Montoya, the president of a financial services company, happened to the the son of German Montoya, Colombian president Virgilio Barca's secretary general.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Also in December, the DAS (Department of Administrative Security) headquarters was bombed -- an attack that killed 50 and injured 200.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That same year, Escobar was accused of ordering the murder of the head of Colombia's National Police Anti-Narcotics Unit, Jaime Gomez Ramirez.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1990, police initiated "Operation Apocalypse", a manhunt aimed at capturing Escobar. Meanwhile, Escobar reportedly offered a $4,000 bounty for every police officer killed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On March 22, Colombian presidential candidate Bernardo Jaramillo was killed, allegedly by Escobar's order. That same month, Cesar Gaviria Trujillo was elected president. On April 3, police tracked Escobar to a residence in La Miel. However, he'd vacated the premises one day earlier. On April 26, another presidential candidate, Carlos Pizzaro, was killed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In early May, the Colombian army dealt Escobar a blow when they conducted a series of jungle raids that culminated in a seizure of 18 tons of cocaine. Around the same time, two Colombians tied to Escobar were arrested in Florida for reportedly attempting to buy 120 surface-to-air Stinger missiles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the spring of 1990, Escobar was rumored to have adopted the habit of smoking basuco, coca paste mixed with marijuana, and began traveling with six bodyguards led by his chief of security, John "Pinina" Jairo Arias Tascon. No longer displaying his wealth, for fear of attracting too much attention, Escobar often moved throughout the country riding in the trunk of taxis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In August of 1990, Escobar's cousin, Gustavo de Jesus Gaviria, was shot to death during a police raid. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On August 30, six reporters were kidnapped at Escobar's behest. Two more were kidnapped on September 19, though four of the eight were released one-at-a-time in November and December. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In September, Colombia's President Cesar Gaviria, who had worked as Luis Carlos Galan's campaign manager and had taken office himself in August, offered leniency and a promise not to extradite any cartel members who turned themselves in to authorities, with the condition that the individual confess to every crime he committed. On November 23, the Medellin cartel proposed a truce to the Colombian government, offering to release several kidnapped hostages in exchange for an official ban on extradition to the U.S. Justice Minister Jaime Giraldo in turn conceded that cartel members who surrendered would only be required to confess to a single crime. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On December 18, Fabio Ochoa turned himself in. By the end of 1990, Colombia's homicide rate had reached 24, 267 killings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1991, Colombia's President Cesar Gaviria, who'd won the election on May 27 of the previous year, announced a policy of non-extradition to the U.S. for drug traffickers who turned themselves in and confessed to their crimes and Colombia's congress amended the country's constitution to bar the extradition of Colombian citizens.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On January 15, Jorge Luis Ochoa surrendered to the Colombian National Police. That same month, David Ricardo Prisco Lopera and his younger brother, Armando Alberto Prisco, were killed by police. On February 16, Juan David Ochoa turned himself in as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1991 also marked another appearance by Escobar in Forbe's magazine. The publication listed him as the 62nd richest person in the world and estimated his net worth at $2.5 billion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In March, Escobar ordered the bombing of Fantasia nightclub in La Dorada, Colombia that left one dead and several people injured. The hit squad members who carried out the attack were paid $17,000.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On April 30, former Justice Minister Enrique Low Murtra was shot to death.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That same month, Escobar sent a messenger to 82-year-old Roman Catholic priest Father Rafael Garcia Herreros with his proposal to meet in the interest of negotiating the release of the two remaining hostages of the 10 that the cartel kidnapped in 1990. On May 12, Garcia was picked up and delivered to a Medellin ranch after being driven for three hours in three separate cars. On May 25, the two remaining hostages were set free. Five days later, Escobar announced through Garcia Herreros that he would surrender to authorities.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A bearded Escobar, wearing jeans and a white leather jacket, surrendered to Colombian police, accompanied by Father Garcia, on June 19, 1991 -- the same day that Colombian legislators, who'd formed the Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution, voted to outlaw extradition. Three members of his hit squads -- John "Popeye"Jairo Velazquez, Otniel "Otto" Gonzalez and Carlos Aguilar -- gave themselves up as well. Escobar was flown by helicopter from the Antioquian jungle, where he'd been hiding, to a specially-built prison of his own design. During transit, he told a reporter, "To these seven years of persecution, I wish to add all the years of imprisonment necessary to contribute to the peace of my family and the peace of Colombia." </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">His 22-hour testimony while in custody included the assertion that his participation in drug smuggling was limited to obtaining a plane and locating an airstrip in 1987 so that Gaviria and five accomplices could transport 400 kilograms of cocaine into France. He also suggested that the Avianca bombing was intended to kill then-presidential candidate Cesar Gaviria Trujillo, who had ultimately changed his flight plans and never boarded the plane.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Colombian government came to an agreement with Escobar that required him to confess to one crime and serve fifteen years in prison (half of Colombia's maximum sentence), with the caveats that he be allowed to construct the facility, choose his fellow inmates, select the 40 guards who would supervise him and be allowed to conduct business via telephone. Escobar also stipulated that Colombian police weren't permitted within a 3-mile radius of the compound and that the Colombian government provide protection for his family. He was subsequently incarcerated at a newly-built prison, a renovated ranch house, 12 miles south of Medellin and on a hill in the Andes 8,000 feet up, in his hometown of Envigado, nicknamed La Catedral, that boasted a gym, a 50-yard soccer field, Jacuzzis, bars, gourmet food, a barbecue pit, a 60-inch television, a waterbed, billiards and Ping-Pong tables, a cell-phone and a computer for his personal use. Escobar's "cell" was a 380-square foot room with a private bathroom and bars on the door. The facility was ringed by three rows of 5,000-volt electric fencing and sat on 10 acres of land. One-hundred fifty soldiers remained stationed outside the facility.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The day after Escobar's surrender, cartel member Valentin de Jesus Taborda was brought to the prison. That same day, Escobar wrote to a reporter that he'd convinced at least 12 other cartel members to turn themselves in as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Two days after Pablo surrendered, his older brother Roberto and cartel bodyguard Gustavo Gonzalez joined him at the prison, having turned themselves in. The two arrived in a seven-vehicle caravan, flanked by armed bodyguards donning bulletproof vests and government representatives. That same day, the Colombian government announced that flights over Medellin would be restricted in the interest of Escobar's safety in light of threats from rival cartels.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Escobar reportedly had 208 visitors, 20 of whom were fugitives, including one with 13 outstanding warrants, during the first month of his prison stay. Meanwhile, his surrender left an estimated 1,500 of his trained sicarios jobless, many of whom applied their skill-sets to kidnapping and robbery to create income.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After hearing reports that Escobar had burned two business associates, William and Gerardo Moncada, to death inside the prison, the Colombian government decided to transfer him to a military facility in Bogota. In addition to the Moncadas, Escobar was also alleged to have ordered the deaths of Mauricio and Fernando Galeano along with 18 of their associates. All 22 were reputed members of the Itaqui cartel, which gave Escobar a percentage of their profits. On July 21, 1992, Escobar took the warden of La Catedral, Jose Rodriguez, and two high-ranking government officials, Deputy Justice Minister Eduardo Mendoza, and Lieutenant Colonel Hernando Navas, hostage after they informed him of their intention to move him. Escobar and associate John Jairo Velazquez held the three at gunpoint. Reportedly, the prison guards voluntarily provided Escobar and his associates with their firearms. During the standoff, Escobar sent a fax to local radio stations requesting President Gaviria's guarantee that neither he nor his 14 fellow inmates would be kidnapped and transported to the U.S. At 4 am the following morning, soldiers stormed the prison, located in Envigado, freed the hostages and detained the majority of the inmates. Escobar, his brother Roberto, Jose Avendano and seven other inmates escaped through a subterranean tunnel and drove away in an army truck. Members of the group were dressed as guards, locals, and one as a woman when they slipped through the 1,600 soldiers surrounding the compound. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Escobar reportedly secured his escape by promising $1.4 million in bribes to Sergeant Filiberto Joya and four other members of the army's 4th Brigade.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Six individuals, including two guards, were killed during the raid. Ultimately, 28 of the prison’s guards were charged with aiding and abetting Escobar’s escape. Jose Rodriguez and Hernando Navas were fired in the days following the escape as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On July 23, Escobar issued a tape recorded message in which he offered to turn himself in, providing the U.N. supervised his surrender. The following day, Escobar's lawyers relayed to Gaviria that their client would turn himself in providing he was returned to La Catedral; the fired guards resumed their jobs; Escobar's family be allowed to visit; and that the CNP have no involvement in his surrender nor his detention. However, Gaviria declined the offer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Following Escobar's escape, Colombia established the Search Bloc, which consisted of 2,000 U.S.-trained Special Forces members of the police, singularly dedicated to capturing the fugitive. The DEA, CIA and Navy SEALs reportedly joined the manhunt as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">During his time as a fugitive, an $8.7 million reward was offered for Escobar's capture by the Colombian and U.S. governments. His time on the run and the government crackdown took a toll on cartel business. While the Medellin cartel was responsible for an estimated 70% of cocaine exports from Colombia in 1989, that number dropped to an estimated 40% in 1991.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">According Juan Pablo, his father once started a fire with $2 million in cash when Manuela developed hypothermia while the family was hiding in a safe house in the Colombian mountains.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Following an 11-month investigation by the DEA, U.S. Attorney Andrew J. Maloney filed a 14-count indictment against Escobar and his enforcer, Dandeny Munoz-Mosquera, o</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">n August 13, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">charging the two with conspiring to plant the bomb on Avianca flight 203, murder, racketeering, conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. and engaging in continuing criminal enterprises. The drug charges carried minimum sentences of 10 years to life, while convictions for the Avianca bombing made the death penalty a possibility for the two.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On September 10, Escobar re-ignited what Colombian officials described as a war with authorities that resulted in the deaths of 19 police investigators. Colombia's chief prosecutor, Gustavo de Greiff, responded by freezing a number of accounts tied to the cartel held in Bogota banks in early October. Jose Avendano re-surrendered on September 15. Three days later, Miriam Rocio Velez, the judge who presided over Escobar's murder case for the death of Guillermo Cano, was shot to death by four unidentified assailants.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On October 8, Roberto Escobar, Otoniel Gonzalez and Jhon Jairo Velasquez turned themselves in to police in Itagui, a suburb of Medellin. By this time, the U.S. and Colombian governments had offered a $3.9 million reward for information leading to Escobar's arrest. Additionally, Rafael Galeano, of the Itagui cartel and brother to Mauricio and Fernando, offered a $1.5 million reward for the fugitive. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1993 would mark the seventh year in a row that Forbes magazine placed him on its list of the world's wealthiest people.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On February 16, 10 members of vigilante group Los Pepes torched Escobar's classic car collection. After forcing their way into a south Medellin warehouse where the cartel leader stored his vehicles, they poured gasoline on a Mercedes-Benz, a Porsche, six Rolls-Royces and 20 motorcycles -- all of which was set on fire. The group also dynamited his mother's ranch. Los Pepes was widely believed to be comprised of former members of the Medellin cartel -- including members of the Moncado and Galeano families, Colombian police and members of the Cali drug cartel. Los Pepes murdered 37 people with ties to the Medellin cartel in February alone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On February 19, 1993, Escobar's wife Maria Victoria, 17-year-old son Juan Pablo and 8-year-old daughter Manuela were stopped at the Medellin airport and blocked from catching a flight to Miami because Escobar had failed to sign papers granting his minor children permission to exit the country. The U.S. Embassy in Colombia revoked Juan Pablo and Manuela's U.S. tourist visas the following day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On March 3, Escobar, through his attorney, Roberto Uribe Escobar, via faxes of a handwritten statement containing his thumbprint, offered to surrender again providing the U.S. Embassy in Bogota would guarantee his family's safety. The offer, however, was declined. By that time, police and military forces had conducted almost 10,000 raids on labs, homes and businesses tied tothe Medellin cartel and had killed 80 of the organization's members. Escobar also sent a letter to Morris Busby, the U.S.' ambassador in Bogota, denying involvement in the February 26 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City. On March 5, a car bomb injured 27 people and destroyed six buildings in downtown Bogota.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On April 15, a car bomb detonation in Bogota, Colombia's capital, resulted in the deaths of 11 people and injured 200 others. The following day, Los Pepes (the People Persecuted by Pablo Escobar), attributing the bombing to Escobar, killed one of his attorneys, Guido Parro, and Parro's 16-year-old son. Fifteen men abducted the two from their Medellin apartment and left their corpses in the trunk of a taxi with a sign that translates to, "What do you think of the trade for the bombing in Bogota, Pablo?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In May, Escobar made his fifth offer to surrender again via a 2 1/2-page handwritten letter that was slipped under the door of the Medellin offices of the RCN radio network. The letter, signed by Escobar and addressed to Colombia's Prosecutor General Gustavo de Greiff, read, in part: "I'm willing to present myself if I'm given certain written and public guarantees."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In July, former Escobar attorney Salomon Lozano was shot to death by two assailants, believed to be tied to Los Pepes, leaving his Medellin office with his brother, who was injured but survived. Lozano, who'd stopped representing Escobar because of death threats, was shot 25 times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That November, Gustavo de Greiff informed Escobar's family that he'd recall the bodyguards provided for their protection. On the 28th, Maria Victoria flew to Frankfurt, Germany with Juan Pablo, Manuela, and Juan Pablo's girlfriend seeking refuge but were not allowed to enter the country. They returned to Colombia the following day on a Lufthansa jetliner, after first stopping in Caracas, Venezuela, where they were met at the airport by Colombian police and placed under guard in Bogota's upscale hotel, Tequendama.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On December 2, 1993, the day after his 44th birthday, Escobar and his bodyguard Alvaro "Lemon" de Jesus Agudelo were shot to death, in the Medellin neighborhood Olivos, by the Colombian National Police, who'd located the safe house where he'd been living. Government forces had traced a telephone call that Escobar had made to his son, Juan Pablo. Both men were killed on the rooftop of the two-story house during a raid. Approximately 500 members of the Search Bloc surrounded the residence after tracing a phone call Escobar made to a local radio station on November 28 to complain about Germany's refusal to grant asylum to his family. Escobar and Agudelo, apparently caught off-guard as Escobar was shoeless, exchanged gunfire with the authorities for 20 minutes before they were killed. Escobar, who was armed with two 9-millimeter handguns, sustained three gunshots from rooftop snipers - to the leg, torso and in the ear.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Over 1,000 people showed to view the spot where Escobar was killed. An hour after the shootout, Escobar's mother screamed at police officers stationed at the Medellin city morgue, calling them murderers, when she arrived to identify his body.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Following the announcement of Escobar's death, his teen-aged son Juan Pablo declared on a television news broadcast that, "I'm going to murder one-by-one those sons of bitches who killed my dad." However, he subsequently apologized for his comments on a separate newscast.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">U.S. President Bill Clinton sent Colombian President Cesar Gaviria a telegram that read, "Hundreds of Colombians -- brave police officers and innocent people -- lost their lives as a result of Escobar's terrorism. Your work honors the memory of all of these victims."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A mariachi band played the popular Colombian song, "But I keep on Being King" at Escobar's wake, held that night. His funeral, held in Medellin the following day, was attended by thousands, many of whom shouted, "Viva Pablo!". His body was displayed in an open silver casket before members of the crowd carried the coffin in the rain to the burial site at the Montesacro Cemetery.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On October 28, 2006, two days after the death of Escobar's mother, his nephew, Nicholas Escobar, had his uncle's body exhumed in order to collect a DNA sample needed for a paternity test and to confirm that the corpse was actually Pablo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">During his life, Escobar was linked to over 4,000 killings, including 457 policement, 30 judges and three presidential candidates. During his prime, he was estimated to have employed 70,000 workers and to have routinely transported in excess of 11 tons of cocaine per flight to the U.S. via jetliners. </span><br />
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-67302332764870010112017-08-01T06:00:00.001-04:002023-11-16T18:25:26.707-05:00The Infamous...Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9DKd4fKpYIPyy1I9GCDwa6ul27uOpp_YeeSX6oB4UoR_PiI1lfdJSuTYcdTK1V6vy0IqtDfLZlqw0XHSEuwRl5zSrOhCO9D6IC-jVXeb4OzowT-dzJKvw_q-tYP3hhNYzI2mINCb1lY8hHzZN8KNolXc4pRdrl4MwxhOIbgYlP5-1V0hksHjpuFA1OVo/s700/gilberto%20&%20miguel%20b&w.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="700" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9DKd4fKpYIPyy1I9GCDwa6ul27uOpp_YeeSX6oB4UoR_PiI1lfdJSuTYcdTK1V6vy0IqtDfLZlqw0XHSEuwRl5zSrOhCO9D6IC-jVXeb4OzowT-dzJKvw_q-tYP3hhNYzI2mINCb1lY8hHzZN8KNolXc4pRdrl4MwxhOIbgYlP5-1V0hksHjpuFA1OVo/w400-h203/gilberto%20&%20miguel%20b&w.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela was born on January 30, 1939 in the Mariquita municipality in Colombia's </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Tolima department, to a </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">painter father, Carlos Rodriguez and housewife mother, Ana Rita Orejuela</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. His brother Miguel Angel Rodriguez Orejuela was born four years later. The pair also had another brother and three sisters. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">At 15-years-old, Gilberto began </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">working as a clerk in a Mariquita pharmacy. The high school drop-out worked his way up to manager within five years. At the age of 25, he quit to open his own drugstore. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gilberto and Miguel's criminal careers began in their teens. They were both charged with counterfeiting but the statute of limitations ran out before the two could be convicted -- allegedly owing to the judge presiding over the case receiving death threats. The brothers were also suspected of kidnapping, for which Gilberto spent a day in jail. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1969, Gilberto co-founded the Los Chemas gang with Jose "Chepe" Santacruz-Londono, with whom he and Miguel attended high school. That same year, h</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">e was suspected of leading the seven-member gang in the kidnapping of two Swiss citizens -- a student, Werner Jose Straessel and diplomat Herman Buff -- for $700,000 ransom. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Initially engaging in counterfeiting kidnapping-for-ransom and marijuana trafficking, Los Chemas eventually became involved in drug trafficking, smuggling Bolivian and Peruvian coca paste into Colombia for processing into cocaine. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In the early 1970s, Helmer "Pacho" Herrera was dispatched to New York City to establish a distribution network. He created nearly-independent cells, each overseen by a "celeno" (cell manager). Each celeno reported to cartel-associate Jorge Alberto Rodriguez, who answered to the cartel leaders. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1975, Gilberto was arrested in Peru in possession of 180 kilograms of coca paste aboard a plane. He</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> was arrested in New York two years later. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Initially sending his childhood friend Giraldo Soto to New York City in 1975 in order to strengthen the distribution networks, Santacruz-Londono took over New York operations when Soto was arrested in 1978. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Miguel made his mistress, Miss Colombia 1974, Martha Lucia Echeverry, his third wife.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The group later recruited other organizations and marshaled them under one umbrella, which became known as the Cali drug cartel --- named for the Colombian city in which it was based. The cartel, an alliance of five separate and distinct drug trafficking organizations, was comprised of: the Rodriguez-Orejuela brothers organization; the Jose Santacruz-Londono organization; the </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Helmer "Pacho" Herrera Buitrago organization; the Urdinola-Grajales brothers organization; and the </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Grajales-Lemos and Grajales-Posso organization.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eventually, Miguel took over as head of the daily operations of the organization while Santacruz-Londono managed the international transportation networks. </span><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The cartel used thousands of telephone calls and faxes each month to conduct business and</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> routinely concealed cocaine in shipments of items as diverse as hollow lumber, chlorine cylinders, lye and frozen foods such as broccoli and okra. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By 1981, the Cali cartel and their biggest competitors the Medellin cartel had agreed to divvy up distribution points in the U.S. Where the former chose New York City, the latter agreed to utilize Miami, leaving Los Angeles free for either organization.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Cali's transport methods contrasted sharply with the rival Medellin cartel's preference for light planes and speedboats, instead opting for hidden shipments aboard ocean-freighters. The Cali cartel also enlisted Mexican criminal organizations to transport the cocaine from Central America into the U.S. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Cali cartel also differed from their Medellin competitors in that they employed the use of cells, which served to prevent potential informants from identifying many cartel members because they were only aware of the few with whom they interacted. This policy also served to diminish the leaders' vulnerability to prosecution for the group's illegal activities.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Using their cocaine proceeds, the Rodriguez Orejuelas established <i>Drogas La Rebaja</i>, a<i> c</i>hain of 400 discount pharmacies in 28 cities and employing 4200 people, valued at $216 million. They also </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">owned several Colombian banks,</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> a Colombian soccer team, <i>Club America</i>, run by Miguel, and a fleet of taxis.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gilberto served as the Banco de Trabajadores' Chairman of the Board. Gilberto later established the First InterAmericias Bank in Panama, which primarily functioned as a laundry for both the Cali and Medellin cartel's drug money. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Miguel is alleged to have paid for a law degree from San Buenaventura University in Cali. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gilberto garnered the nickname, "The Chess Player" for his shrewd business tactics. For instance, his security measures included the requirement that would-be buyers post an insurance bond after traveling to the cartel's base of operations to be vetted in person. Potential employees were also required to divulge the names and addresses of Colombian family members -- family members who'd be killed if the employee became an informant. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Both Gilberto and his childhood friend, high-ranking Medellin cartel leader Jorge Ochoa, who was travelling with him, were arrested in Spain in November of 1984. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That same year, both Gilberto and Santacruz were indicted in Brooklyn for importing cocaine into the U.S. for distribution in New York between 1978 and 1984. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">While both the U.S. and Colombian governments requested to have both men extradited, Colombia won out, amidst suspicions that the Spanish judge who approved the extradition had accepted a bribe. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">While Ochoa was released without being tried by the Colombian court, Gilberto, who'd been caught with a Venezuelan passport in Spain, was put on trial with Santacruz Londono in Cali. However, the presiding judge refused to admit evidence submitted by the DEA in connection with U.S. indictments in LA and New York City and the two were acquitted due to insufficient evidence.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1985, the U.S. government pressured Panamanian leader General Manuel Antonio Noriega to shutter the First InterAmericas Bank. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1987, the Rodriguez brothers were indicted in New Orleans, based on wiretapped phone calls, on charges of importing 1,200 pounds of cocaine in the summer of 1982.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In April of 1988, Customs officials seized 3,270 kilograms of the cartel's cocaine hidden in lumber planks, in Tarpon Springs, FL. That same year, Customs agents discovered 2,270 kilograms of cocaine concealed in blocks of chocolate exported from Ecuador. In 1989, Customs agents police in New York uncovered 5,000 kilograms of coke belonging to Santacruz-Londono-associate Luis "Leto" Delio Lopez in 252 drums of powdered lye. That same year, the FBI and New York police unearthed hundreds of vehicles tied to the cartel with false registrations obtained from Department of Motor Vehicles workers. DMV employees were paid $100 for each registration for vehicles equipped with hidden compartments used to ship cocaine and cash. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">While the Cali cartel's main rival, the Medellin cartel, routinely engaged in narco-terrorism, the Rodriguez Orejuelas preferred bribing government officials to killing them. The two organizations also dominated different markets in the U.S. While the Medellin cartel controlled Miami, Cali held sway over New York and Washington, D.C. as distribution hubs. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">However, in June of 1989, the two cartels began to war with one another to determine which would rule New York as a cocaine distrubution point. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That same year, Gilberto's chief of security was shot to death on a street in downtown Cali. At least 47 of the Drogas La Rebaja drugstores were dynamited by Medellin cartel operatives and six of the Rodriguez Orejuela's radio stations were bombed, after which they sold the entire 30-station chain of "Grupo Radial Colombiano".</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /></span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In January of 1990, Gilberto sent a letter to Bogota's El Tiempo newspaper declaring his willingness to surrender to the authorities, provided any U.S. extradition request be reviewed by Colombian legal standards. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On May 2, a bomb in a car parked outside of a Cali supermarket reportedly owned by Gilberto, detonated and killed four people. Four days later, 220 pounds of explosives inside </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">a fruit truck</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> went off near Cali. This time no one was killed. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In September of 1990, Medellin sicarios (assassins) killed 19 Cali cartel workers at a Cali ranch.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That same year, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Herrera, who initially managed cocaine distribution and money laundering for the Rodriguez-Orejuelas in New York, branched out and established his own organization.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Also in 1990, Dutch authorities seized 2,658 kilograms of the Cali cartel's cocaine hidden in drums of passion-fruit juice. That same year</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">, Miguel would be indicted in Tampa, Florida on charges that he served as "supervisor and manager" of cocaine importation from Colombia and Costa Rica.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1991, the DEA's Miami branch seized a 15-ton shipment of cocaine hidden in concrete fence posts after a drug-sniffing dog detected the narcotics at the Port of Miami. On June 18, police seized 4,444 pounds of cocaine from a lab in Cali. By this time, the cartel had labs, with more than 20 employees each, producing over 250 kilograms of cocaine each week. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That same year, Colombia implemented measures to better ensure the safety of judges for fear of reprisals and pre-emptive attacks by cartel triggermen. The courts began employing two-way mirrors, screens and devices to distort the voices of judges during trial proceedings in order to conceal their identities.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In June of 1991, Gilberto wrote to DEA Director Robert Bonner, "it is unfair to point to the Cauca Valley as the epicenter of drug trafficking in Colombia, and it is even more unfair when you pick out, without proof, Gilbert and Miguel Rodriguez as heads of the Cali cartel." The letter, published in Colombia's El Tiempo newspaper, also read, "It would be ingenuous on my part to deny there is <i>narcotrafico</i> in this region..." "I am absolutely sure that your anti-drug department does not have one single piece of evidence (against me) different from what the American government already put forward..." Gilberto once directed a group of armed cartel-associates to purchase every copy of a local paper than named him as a drug trafficker. By mid-1991, the cartel had grown to 5,000 employees. </span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAb08nQt8ugQr0lBJWiI-GzpincD0IIYUqjgisUmrSGxAVxjOPqv9L6xAdzQjLdHzSW8MkDJHcEo_hUhI68wxf9w4WA-A4Y6_MSM7D9b4EugAD78GOhEOvy6bF9Ij1T6jHksoVPhbZSn7__kIq0hpOkr6vCWsA1J4CGLhyS1dhKJblbEB58xkVRAwYSBs/s825/gilberto%20&%20miguel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="825" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAb08nQt8ugQr0lBJWiI-GzpincD0IIYUqjgisUmrSGxAVxjOPqv9L6xAdzQjLdHzSW8MkDJHcEo_hUhI68wxf9w4WA-A4Y6_MSM7D9b4EugAD78GOhEOvy6bF9Ij1T6jHksoVPhbZSn7__kIq0hpOkr6vCWsA1J4CGLhyS1dhKJblbEB58xkVRAwYSBs/w400-h230/gilberto%20&%20miguel.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On July 12, Colombia's President Cesar Gaviria stated during an interview conducted in Bogota, "We have the same policy toward the Cali cartel as toward the Medellin cartel." "Simply because the Medellin cartel bore the greatest responsibility for narco-terrorism, we concentrated the largest amount of our efforts there. But our policy is the same. "</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But while the Colombian government's war against the Medellin cartel dealt a tremendous blow to its business, the Cali cartel saw its own share of Colombia's cocaine exports to the U.S. rise from 30 to 60% from mid-1989 to mid-1991. During this time the Cali cartel made significant inroads into the European market -- specifically, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">England, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands -- </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">via ports in Spain and the Netherlands. The group also encroached on the Medellin cartel-controlled distribution centers of Los Angeles and Miami.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Not satisfied with simply horning in on the Medellin cartel's territory, the Cali bosses also made plans to eliminate its leader, Pablo Escobar. Miguel Rodriguez ordered former Colombian military operative Jorge Salcedo to bomb Escobar's prison, La Catedral, from above. The plan was to drop four 500-pound bombs, bought for $500,000 in El Salvador, from a private jet. However, authorities learned of the plot before it could be carried out. Shortly afterward, Salcedo became the Rodriguez's new security chief. Salcedo, who was recruited by the Cali decision-makers in January of 1989, earned degrees in industrial economics and mechanical engineering long before his dealings with the cartel. He'd also followed in his father's footsteps, a retired Colombian army general, and joined Colombia's army reserves as an officer, eventually specializing in electronic surveillance. After the Cali leaders learned of his involvement in a cancelled operation to take down mountain guerrillas, Salcedo was called to Miguel Rodriguez's home in Cali and tasked with killing Escobar. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The proposed bombing, however, was the cartel's third Salcedo-led scheme to take out Escobar. The first involved an attack that was aborted when one of the two Hughes 500 helicopters carrying part of the 12-member mercenary team to the kingpin's compound crashed into a mountain. Salcedo's second attempt on Don Pablo's life was called off when the mercenaries he'd recruited for the mission drew too much attention to the Panamanian hotels in which they resided during the two-month planning stage.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">While the Cali cartel generally eschewed the narco-terrorism employed by their Medellin rivals, the Cali leaders did initiate a campaign of murder aimed at ridding their hometown of those they labeled "desechables" (Spanish for "disposables") -- the homeless, prostitutes and homosexuals. The cartel's "grupos de limpieza social" ("social-cleansing groups") left signs on the corpses of some of their victims reading: "Cali limpia, Cali linda" ("Clean Cali, beautiful Cali"). But most of the corpses were thrown into the central Cauca River, which consequently came to be known as "The River of Death" by locals.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In April of 1992, the DEA seized $1.6 million and nearly 15,000 pounds of the cartel's cocaine that had been concealed in a shipment of frozen broccoli to Miami. Ten cartel associates were arrested for smuggling as a result, including Luis Fernando Murcillo, one of Miguel's chief lieutenants. Murcillo was taken into custody as he attempted to board a flight bound for Cali. DEA agents learned of the shipment via wiretaps used during the government's far-reaching Operation Cornerstone investigation. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In late 1992, at the conclusion of the DEA's three-year investigation, Operation Green Ice, the Cali cartel's global network was so thoroughly infiltrated that investigators arrested 165 members of a drug trafficking and money-laundering conspiracy and seized $47 million from associated bank accounts. In an uncharacteristic show of violence, cartel leaders ordered suspected informants immersed in barrels filled with acid. In order to shield itself from money-laundering prosecutions, the cartel resorted to transporting the vast amounts of cash generated from cocaine sales back to Colombia via container ships and cargo planes. Some of the cash was converted into money orders and travelers checks. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That same year, Miguel Rodriguez was indicted in Miami following the seizure of 21 tons of cocaine. The following year, Colombian native Harold Ackerman, who allegedly oversaw the cartel's south Florida cell, was convicted on charges related to the importation of the 21 tons of cocaine into the U.S. and eventually received six life sentences. Ackerman, who used the alias Mario Robertson to operate various Florida businesses, lived in a $650,000 home, in which he kept $400,000 in cash. The seizure of his two home computers, containing data related to cartel personnel and bookkeeping, provided investigators with insight into the organization's inner-workings.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">During this time, Gilberto spent the bulk of his time in his fortified mansion in Ciudad Jardin, home of Colombia's wealthiest citizens. By this time he'd </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">developed a reputation for having a passion for poetry and Colombian football (soccer). </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In keeping with his upper-class lifestyle, Gilberto sent his seven children to schools in Europe and the U.S. to obtain secondary educations. Notably, his son Jaime Fernando earned a degree in international commerce from France's Grenoble Alps </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">University</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. </span><br /></span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela's 2004 extradition</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In light of what the U.S. viewed as a passive response to the Cali cartel's activities by the Colombian government, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jesse Helms urged ending economic aid to Colombia until the country's government took more steps to stifle narcotics trafficking.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1994, the Rodriguez brothers were indicted in Miami on charges of overseeing a continuing criminal enterprise that imported over 16,000 pounds of cocaine hidden in coffee shipments.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Miguel also reportedly sent $40 million in cash to Mexico in the spring and summer of 1994 in two shipments. It has been speculated that the money was a contribution to the campaign of Mexican presidential candidate Ernesto Zedillo.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That same year, Jorge Salcedo called the CIA's main switchboard from a public telephone after witnessing a cartel assassin strangle four cartel-associates, three Panamanian men and a woman, deemed security risks, to death. He offered his assisstance in capturing his bosses but wasn't taken seriously, initially.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In February of 1995, Miguel was tried on drug trafficking charges in absentia by an anonymous judge in Colombia. He faced a potential sentence of 24 years if convicted. By that year, the cartel's annual profits were estimated at $2 billion to $6 billion. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That April, Colombian authorities offered rewards totaling $1.25 million for information leading to the arrests of Gilberto and Miguel. In May, President Samper bolstered police and military forces dedicated to eradicating drug trafficking by hiring 1,600 new officers and troops.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michael Abbell, former head of the international affairs office of the Justice Department's criminal division, who took Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela on as a client after leaving his government post, was one of three U.S. attorneys indicted as part of a narcotics conspiracy on June 5, 1995. He was accused of intimidating witnesses and fabricating evidence for the Cali cartel. Another defendant, attorney William Moran, was charged with revealing the identity of a confidential informant, who was subsequently murdered, to the cartel. The indictments were a result of a widespread investigation, nicknamed Operation Cornerstone, into the cartel. Ironically, Abbell was charged with extraditing drug traffickers to the U.S. when he worked for the Justice Department. Operation Cornerstone resulted in over 60 indictments, including charges for the Rodriguez-Orejuela brothers, Jose Santacruz-Londono and the cartel's fourth-in-command, Helmer "Pacho" Herrera Buitrago. The investigation concluded that since 1983, the cartel had shipped 200,000 kilograms of cocaine to the U.S. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">June 9, 1995, Gilberto</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> was once again arrested on drug trafficking charges after female narcotics agents posing as joggers tracked one of his associates to his boss' apartment. Gilberto was apprehended at about 3:30 p.m. by police in his Santa Monica apartment in northern Cali, who found him in a hidden compartment in a bedroom. According to police, he told them, "Easy boys. Don't kill me. I am a man of peace." Police, led by General Rosso Jose Serrano, leader of the Colombia National Police Force, discovered Rodriguez Orequela guarded by four armed bodyguards who were also arrested. He was subsequently flown to Bogota on a military plane and taken to National Police headquarters. The day after Gilberto's arrest, a bombing at a street festival killed 29 people. On June 12, police conducted more raids in search of Miguel.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">After the Rodriguez brothers had gone into hiding, Jorge Salcedo was ordered to kill the organization's Chilean head of accounting, Guillermo Pallomari, whose nationality put him at risk of being extradited to the U.S. if arrested. Unwilling to murder Pallomari, Salcedo used a public telephone to contact a Miami attorney, who put him in touch with DEA agent Edward J. Kacerosky. About a week later, Salcedo notified the Colombian National Police of Miguel's whereabouts.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Miguel was nowhere to be found when police conducted a raid on his house with two DEA agents. A secret compartment was even discovered under a bathroom sink. A search also yielded a record of payoffs to police, journalists and 150 politicians. Though he was advised to enter protective custody immediately afterward, Salcedo insisted on continuing to work as an informant from July to August, meeting DEA agents in wooded areas far from urban centers so as not to be discovered. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">During a second raid executed by 500 police officers working with CIA and Naval intelligence agents on August 6, investigators caught Miguel heading to a vault hidden in a wall in the master bedroom closet of his 10th-floor apartment. They found that it contained food, water, an oxygen tank and a copy of Colombia's penal code. Investigators realized that Miguel had been home during the first raid when they discovered a bloody towel in the secret compartment and surmised that he must have been struck when police drilled into it in an attempt to gain entry. Like his brother, Miguel was flown to Bogota following his arrest.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In January of 1996, Santacruz Londono, aided by seven guards, casually walked out of the maximum-security prison in which he was held.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"> </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gilberto and Miguel were convicted and given 15 and 17-year sentences, respectively. While the two continued to run the cartel from prison, Gilberto's son, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">William Rodriguez Abadia, stepped in to oversee the organization's daily operations. The DEA estimated that the cartel directed 80% of the global cocaine trade in the 1990s and earned profits in excess of $8 billion in 1995.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On February 20, 1996, Colombia's Committee of Accusations of the House of Representatives announced that it had reopened an investigation into claims that </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">President Ernesto Stamper's 1994 presidential campaign had received $6 million from the Cali cartel.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> The 15-member committee, the only group authorized to hear evidence against the chief of state, had initially opened the investigation in December of 1995, following the arrests of Stamper's campaign manager, campaign administrator and campaign treasurer, Santiago Medina, who alleged that Stamper secretly met with cartel associates in Spain to secure funding.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The cartel's bribery initiative was so extensive that upwards of 5,000 taxi drivers were on the payroll acting as the organization's eyes and ears, reporting on the arrivals, departures and places of residence of nearly every VIP, law enforcement official, politician and rival cartel member in Cali.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On March 5, Santacruz Londono was shot to death by police. While his death was initially reported as the result of a shootout, it was later revealed that he was re-apprehended, tortured and killed while in custody. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Juan Carlos "Chupeta" Ramirez, who'd assumed a leadership position in the cartel, directing 200 of the organization's members, since the convictions of the Rodriguez Orequelas, surrendered to Colombian police on March 15, 1996. Ramirez turned himself in following a two-day campaign of 54 raids carried out by 500 members of the police and military on cartel homes and businesses.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On May 3, Colombia's Attorney General Orlando Vasquez turned himself in to Metropolitan Police commander at a church outside of Bogota. A day earlier, Colombia's chief prosecutor had announced that the Supreme Court had issued a warrant for his arrest on charges that he'd accepted thousands of dollars from the Cali cartel. That same month, the congressional committee investigating President Stamper, comprised of 10 members of his own political party, voted 10 to 3 against recommending that the president be accused of criminal conduct before the Chamber of Representatives. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On May 26, eight men opened fire on Miguel's son, William Rodriguez, as he was dining in Cali's Rio de Enero restaurant. Rodriguez suffered gunshots to an arm, a leg and the throat. Though the 32-year-old managed to survive, five of his bodyguards and his uncle, Oscar Echeverry, were killed. After the shooters fled the scene by car, Rodriguez, an attorney and vice president of the Club America soccer team, was taken to the hospital.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1998, Colombia's constitutional court voted 5-4 to uphold a law enacted in December of 1997 which lifted the 1991 ban on extradition, with the stipulation that crimes committed prior to the '97 law couldn't be applied to extradition cases.</span><br /></span>
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<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipVtARduRRO_6PrlTRzeEl7hyphenhyphenVyr9TyfKCxC107L_bLO8N2hE1KrBtH307Rt7EZhlYdVBxBmu7NRKjCF8sd8IaztSv-7gDIGp43ITATt8pcx_VFE6BbvXu7BybnlFqLOvxbrua0MkxuhHju5NgzuviTlzmqzP5s8KGpDMpWBHjEj_C-SkGJUh9u1iaMuc/s1920/william%20rodriguez%20abadia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipVtARduRRO_6PrlTRzeEl7hyphenhyphenVyr9TyfKCxC107L_bLO8N2hE1KrBtH307Rt7EZhlYdVBxBmu7NRKjCF8sd8IaztSv-7gDIGp43ITATt8pcx_VFE6BbvXu7BybnlFqLOvxbrua0MkxuhHju5NgzuviTlzmqzP5s8KGpDMpWBHjEj_C-SkGJUh9u1iaMuc/w400-h225/william%20rodriguez%20abadia.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Miguel's son William Rodriguez Abadia</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In October of 2002, both Gilberto and Miguel were transferred to a detention facility in Bocayo, Colombia. Gilberto was released for good behavior a little after 10 p.m. on November 7 amid tremendous controversy. After Judge Pedro Jose Suarez approved both Gilberto and Miguel for early release, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe ordered an investigation into the ruling and attempted to have it overturned. Four luxury cars were reportedly parked in front of the prison on November 1 in anticipation of the duo's release. Miguel, however, was sentenced to an additional four years in prison that same week following a bribery conviction. Gilberto was re-arrested in Cali in March of 2003 when both he and Miguel were charged with shipping 150 kilograms of cocaine to the U.S. by way of Costa Rica in 1995. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On December 3, 2004, Gilberto was transported from Bogota's La Picota prison and placed in the custody of U.S. Marshals </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">wearing a bulletproof vest </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">in the hangar used by police at the Catam airbase in Bogota in preparation for his extradition to the U.S. Gilberto's extradition, initially approved on November 8, was delayed pending an appeal filed by his attorneys. The order was signed by both Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe Velez and Minister of the Interior and Justice Sabas Pretelt De la Vega. Miguel's conviction for bribery prevented his extradition. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Arriving in Miami via U.S. government plane early the following day, Gilberto was taken to a downtown jail in the city. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He was represented by Jose Quinon during his trial in Miami where he faced charges of conspiring to import drugs into the U.S., conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and money-laundering -- all filed on January 22, 2004 by the Southern District Court of Miami and the Southern District Court of New York. In accordance with the extradition agreement, Rodriguez Orejuela was barred from being tried in the U.S. for any criminal acts dating back to before December 17, 1997 -- the date that the extradition treaty between the U.S. and Colombia was reinstated. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Miguel was extradited to the U.S. in March of 2005. The following year, Gilberto's son, William Rodriguez Abadia, was given a 20-year prison term following his plea of guilty to a single cocaine-smuggling charge. His plea deal included his agreement to cooperate against Miguel and Gilberto and to forfeit $300 million. Abadia had been a fugitive since 2001 until he turned himself in to U.S. federal agents in Panama early 2006.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The brothers were held in solitary confinement in the Miami Federal Detention Center while awaiting trial. In September of 2006, both Gilberto and Miguel entered guilty pleas in a Miami federal court to charges of conspiring to import 441,000 pounds of cocaine into the U.S. The brothers pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal that required them to forfeit $2.1 billion in exchange for the government dropping obstruction and money-laundering charges on six other Rodriguez-Orejuela family members and allowing another 28 relatives to retain their assets. Judge Federico A.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Moreno </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida sentenced each of the them, dressed in pin-striped suits and wearing ankle shackles, to 360 months in federal prison.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On November 16, the brothers pleaded guilty to money-laundering before Judge Moreno</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. The government charged that the pair had removed their names from their various corporate holdings since October 21, 1995 in an attempt to conceal the true ownership of the businesses. Among other things, they acknowledged transferring upwards of $1.5 million controlled by pharmaceutical drug companies through New York City bank accounts between March of 2002 and January of 2003 -- for most of which time the two were imprisoned. That same day, Judge Moreno sentenced both to 87-month prison terms to run concurrently with their previous sentences for drug-trafficking. The investigation into the brothers' money-laundering activities was a joint effort involving the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the DEA, OFAC (the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control)</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">, the </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">CNP (</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Colombian National Police), and the Colombian Fiscalia Money Laundering Section.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Jorge Salcedo eventually pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering before U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler in court in Miami and after the Rodriguez brothers were apprehended, collected $1.7 million in reward money. Salcedo, who has been in the federal witness protection program since 1995, now lives under an assumed name in a small town in the U.S. working as an engineer.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Cali cartel is estimated to have shipped in excess of 250 tons to the U.S. between the 1970s and 2002. </span><br /></span>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">Related:</span><br />
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<a href="http://theranreport.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-infamousjose-santacruz-londono-and.html"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">J<span style="font-family: verdana;">ose Santacruz Londono and the Cali Cartel</span></span></a><br />
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<img height="200" src="https://www.who2.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/pablo-escobar-mug-shot-272x390.jpg" width="139" /><br />
<br />
<a href="http://theranreport.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-infamouspablo-escobar.html"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">The Infamous...Pablo Escobar</span></a><br />
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-87177098072238309392017-07-01T05:53:00.002-04:002022-04-11T13:34:27.312-04:00The Infamous...Barry Seal <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">by Ran</span><br />
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<img alt="" class="irc_mi is0rw7gu8Xls-pQOPx8XEepE" height="640" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Barry_Seal.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="486" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Adler
Berriman "Barry" Seal was born to Mary Lou Seal and Benjamin Curtis
Seal (reportedly, a member of the Ku Klux Klan), a candy wholesaler, on
July 16, 1939 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Barry was one of three
brothers, including Benjy and Wendell. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On July 16, 1955, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">he
earned his pilot's license. Within weeks, he joined the Baton Rouge branch of the Civil Air Patrol -- the federally
supported civilian auxillary of the United States Air Force. While on a
joint training exercise with the New Orleans branch, he met Lee Harvey
Oswald. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1957, Seal graduated from Baton Rouge High School and </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">attended Louisiana State University for one semester before dropping out. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On
August 10, 1958, Seal crashed the rented Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer he was
piloting onto the grounds of Baton Rouge's Pike Burden Plantation. He
sustained injuries that necessitated a week-long hospital stay, lost
five teeth and had to have his jaw wired shut for a month. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Seal's
father, Benjamin, filed a suit against the owner of the plane, LSU
chemistry professor Dr. Philip West, seeking $115, 855 in damages. </span></span><br /><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Seal's suit against Dr. West was dismissed in April of 1960.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On
August 31, 1961, Seal enlisted in the Louisiana Army National Guard. He
was assigned to Company B, 21st Special Forces. His basic training with
Company C, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Training Regiment began on July 3, 1962,
at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. On September 14, he was assigned to
Company B, 1st Battalion, 1st Training Regiment, Engineers and was
trained as a radio telephone operator. On November 11, he was
transferred to Fort Benning near Columbus, Georgia, where he </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">received
paratrooper training at the U.S. Army Airborne School. On January 3,
1963, Seal was promoted to promoted to private first class and
reassigned to Company D, 2nd Operation Detachment, 20th Special Forces
before ultimately being assigned to the </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">245th Engineer Batttalion.</span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In March of 1963, Seal married Barbara Bottoms. They had two children: a boy and a girl. </span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Seal was given an honorable discharge on July 31, 1967 and s</span></span>hortly afterwards, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">he was hired as a commercial pilot for TWA (Trans World Airlines).</span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Seal filed for divorce in November of 1968 but he and Barbara reunited until she filed for divorce in March of 1970. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Seal and seven others were arrested by U.S. Customs agents in New Orleans on
July 1, 1972 for attempting to smuggle 1,350 pounds of C-4 into
Mexico. The DC-4 aircraft that he intended to fly was seized at the
Shreveport Regional Airport in Louisiana. The explosives were
intended for CIA-trained Cubans seeking to unseat Fidel Castro. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The arrest took place while Seal was on a medical leave of absence from TWA. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Seal's second wife, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Linda, filed for divorce </span></span>on November 17, 1972</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span></span></span> </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">TWA
fired Seal two years later. His June 1974 trial for the smuggling
incident ended in a mistrial.</span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In November of 1974, Seal married Deborah Ann DuBois. The couple eventually had three children: Aaron, Dean and Christina.</span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1977, Seal began to transport marijuana to the U.S. </span><br /></span>
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<img alt="Related image" class="irc_mi" height="393" src="http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/theadvocate.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/d/5f/d5ff683a-e2cd-5d36-bff3-597925585a05/5751829eb38f8.image.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="496" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On
December 10, 1979, Seal was arrested in Honduras in possession of a
machine gun and 17 kilograms of cocaine. However, he was never
formally charged with any criminal misconduct. During Seal's
incarceration, he befriended another American pilot who smuggled
narcotics for a living, Emile Harold Camp, Jr. Camp would eventually become Seal's
co-pilot. Seal also met William Roger Reeves, who was employed by
the Medellin drug cartel -- named after the Colombian city in which it was based -- and managed their
operations in New Orleans, during his detention in Honduras. The cartel, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">headed by Pablo Escobar,</span> reportedly controlled over 70% of the cocaine transported to the U.S. After reportedly bribing several Guatemalan officials, Seal was
released in September of 1980. In 1981, after being introduced to Miami
drug-trafficker Felix Dixon Bates by Reeves, Seal began transporting
shipments of cocaine into the U.S., </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">unloading the cargo by making airdrops.</span> He gave the cartel the alias
Ellis McKenzie and made upwards of $500,000 per trip, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">usually charging $5,000 for each kilogram he delivered</span>. In April
of 1982, he moved his base of operations </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">from Opelousas, Louisiana </span>to the Mena Intermountain
Regional Airport in western Arkansas. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By that time, the 5'9" Seal had grown to 240 pounds.</span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In
1983, one of Seal's smuggling associates was arrested after his network
was infiltrated by undercover DEA agent Randy Beasley, as a part of the
DEA's "Operation Screamer" -- an 18-month undercover probe that
targeted southern Florida drug-traffickers. The smuggler gave the DEA
information on Seal as part of a deal he made with the government. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In
March of 1983, Seal was arrested again -- this time in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida. He was charged with money laundering and smuggling Quaaludes. Seal attempted to negotiate a deal with assistant U.S. Attorney
Bruce Zimet, promising to give information on high-ranking Medellin
cartel members Jorge Luis Ochoa Vasquez and his brothers Juan David
Ochoa Vasquez and Fabio Ochoa Vasquez. When Zimet refused, Seal
contacted the office of Baton Rouge U.S. Attorney Stanford O. Bardwell,
Jr., who attended Baton Rouge High during the same time as Seal, but Bardwell refused to meet with him. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On February 14, 1984, Seal's Florida trial began and ended in a guilty verdict on March 17. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">His sentencing hearing was scheduled for May 23 by Judge Norman Roettger and he faced a potential 10-year prison term.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">According to Seal's later
testimony, he piloted his Lear jet to Washington, D.C. on March 25, where he met
with two members of then-Vice President George H.W. Bush's drug task
force, on a street in D.C., who in turn introduced him to DEA </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">agent Kenneth R. Kennedy. Kennedy introduced Seal to </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">agents Robert Joura and Ernest "Jake" Jacobsen </span></span>of
the Miami branch of the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency). </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On March 28, appeared before Judge Jose A. Gonzalez, Jr., where he pleaded guilty. </span>As part of
a plea deal he arranged with the DEA, Seal agreed to testify that
the Sandinista government was involved in cocaine-trafficking with the
Medellin cartel. Because the deal also required him to participate in a
DEA sting operation targeting the cartel, Seal resumed his career as a
drug-smuggler, under the supervision of the DEA and
ultimately, Miami's chief assistant U.S. attorney, Richard Gregorie.</span><br /></span>
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<img alt="Related image" class="irc_mi" height="285" src="http://media.nola.com/entertainment_impact_tvfilm/photo/18977950-standard.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="400" /></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Seal flew to Medellin, Colombia on
April 8, with Felix Bates serving as his co-pilot, and met with Escobar
and the Ochoa brothers to make plans to ship a 1,500-kilogram load to
the U.S. During the meet, Jorge Ochoa divulged to Seal that the
Sandinistas had sold him a 6,000-foot landing strip in Nicaragua and had
agreed to allow him use the location as a refueling stop during trips
from Colombia to the states. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On
May 23, Judge Norman Roettger sentenced Seal to two consecutive
five-year terms in prison. After Judge Roettger denied bond, Seal was
taken into custody by U.S. Marshals before the DEA informed the judge
that he part of an ongoing operation. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On
May 28, Seal and Camp made a run to Colombia where Medellin cartel co-founder Carlos Ledher
supervised the loading of 3,500 kilograms of cocaine onto their </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">twin-engine Lockheed Lodestar. However, the overloaded plane crashed shortly after takeoff. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Part
of the cargo, 660 kilograms, was transferred to a smaller plane, a
twin-engine Cessna Titan 404, provided by Jorge Ochoa, on June 4. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">They
were later shot down by anti-aircraft fire while attempting to fly out
of Nicaragua. They'd landed at Nicaragua's Los Brasiles air base on their way back from
Colombia in order to refuel before continuing the journey to the U.S. The cocaine was seized by
local authorities, who also arrested the two pilots and their mechanic, Peter Everson. When the trio was released the next day,
they rented another plane and flew back to the states.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Upon
his return, Seal purchased </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">a surplus U.S. Air Force </span>Fairchild C-123K Provider cargo plane that
he named "The Fat Lady", and gave a camouflage paint-scheme. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">After
realizing Seal's potential for intelligence-gathering regarding drug-trafficking activity in Nicaragua, and thus reinforcing
President Reagan's anti-Sandinista agenda, the CIA appealed to the DEA
to take part in the operation.</span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On
June 24, the trio returned to Managua, Nicaragua's capital, to retrieve
the cocaine, and Seal procured photos of Escobar overseeing
Nicaraguan soldiers loading 1,200 kilograms of cocaine onto the
plane for transport. The craft had been outfitted with two hidden
35-millimeter cameras </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">by the CIA</span> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">at Ohio's Rickenbacker Air Force Base in Ohio </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">on June 23</span>.</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">A
subsequent trip to Nicaragua to purchase cocaine for $1,000,000 was
cancelled when the DEA learned of the Washington Times' plan to publish a
story about Seal's smuggling. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In
July of 1984, high-ranking cartel members Escobar and Jorge Ochoa were
indicted, in part, as a result of Seal's information. Ochoa was
subsequently arrested in Spain. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That
November, investigative reporter John Camp's documentary, "Uncle Sam
Wants You", which detailed Seal's activities as a drug runner and
federal informant, was broadcast on American television.</span></span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><img alt="Image result for barry seal" class="irc_mi" height="263" src="https://www.1776channel.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/c-123.jpg" style="margin-top: 65px;" width="400" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In
December, Medellin cartel associate and former Miami shoe importer Max Mermelstein attended a meeting at the Miami residence of cartel
member Raphael Cardona-Salazar, where the two viewed a video of Camp's
documentary. Mermelstein was subsequently ordered to either murder Seal,
for which he'd be paid $500,000, or kidnap him and transport him to
Colombia, for which he'd be paid $1,000,000. Mermelstein, however, was
subsequently arrested for drug smuggling and became a federal informant
himself. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That
same month, Seal was arrested for smuggling marijuana into Louisiana. He was released after posting a $250,000 bond. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In February of 1985, Emile Camp died when the one-man plane he was piloting crashed into Arkansas' Fourche Mountain. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On July 30, Seal was the first witness called in the narcotics conspiracy trial of former Venezuelan navy officer Lazardo Marquz Perez, Colombian national Carlos Bustamante, Colombian-born Paul Elzel and Seal's former associate Felix Dixon Bates. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In
August of 1985, Seal testified before U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben that Norman Saunders, the prime minister of Turks and Caicos, had
accepted a $20,000 bribe in exchange for permitting Seal to use South Caicos' Salt Cay as a
stop during drug runs. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On October 24, Seal appeared in a hearing in Miami before </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Judge Norman C. Roettger. After Agent Joura spoke on Seal's behalf, the judge </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">reduced his 10-year sentence to four months time served</span>. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On December 20, Seal appeared before </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">United
States District Judge Frank Polozola in Baton Rouge for a hearing
following his guilty plea to conspiracy to possess cocaine. On January
24, Judge Polozola sentenced Seal to five years probation and fined him
$35,000. </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The terms of his probation </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">required
him to report to the Baton Rouge Salvation Army Community Treatment
Center -- a halfway house -- every day from 6 PM until 6 the
following morning. He was also barred from carrying firearms or
employing anyone else to do so.</span> He was restricted to the Baton Rouge area and ordered to carry </span>a
pager so he'd be accessible to probation officials at all times. Seal refused to enter the Federal Witness Protection Program. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Seal
began his sentence on January 24, 1986. On February 19, he was
killed in the parking lot of the halfway house. He was found
shot to death, seated in his white Cadillac Fleetwood. Seal was
struck six times with .45-caliber rounds fired from a Mac-10 machine gun equipped with a silencer -- in his chest, neck and head. He
was interred in a sky-blue casket at the Greenoaks Memorial Park in
Baton Rouge. </span><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Ochoa,
who was scheduled to be extradited to Miami in January to face
federal drug charges pending Seal's testimony, was instead
transported to Colombia and released following the latter's murder. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On
March 26, then-President Ronald Reagan displayed one of the photographs
captured by Seal's hidden camera during a televised address. He cited
the photo as evidence of the Nicaraguan government's particiaption in
the international drug trade, stating, "</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I
know that every American parent concerned about the
drug problem will be outraged to learn that top Nicaraguan
government officials are deeply involved in drug
trafficking. This picture, secretly taken
at a military airfield outside Managua, shows Federico
Vaughan, a top aide to one of the nine commandants who rule
Nicaragua, loading an aircraft with illegal narcotics bound
for the United States." However, subsequent investigations have cast
doubt on Vaughan's purported position as a top aide to Nicaraguan
leadership. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In
October of 1986, "The Fat Lady" crashed in Nicaragua during a trip to
provide supplies to the nation's Sandista-opposed Contras. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On
May 13, 1987, following a five week trial, Colombian nationals
Miguel Velez, 37; Luis Carlos Quintero-Cruz, 34; and Bernardo Vasquez,
33, were each found guilty of first degree murder in connection
to Seal's death. Velez's attorney, Richard Sharpstein, alleged in court
that Seal was in the employ of the CIA and smuggling guns to Nicaraguan
rebels during the same time that he worked as a DEA informant. Later that month, all three were sentenced to life in prison without
the possibility of parole. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's
estimated that during his smuggling career, Barry Seal maintained a
fleet of four planes, flew over $3 billion worth of cocaine into
the U.S. for the Medellin cartel and personally made in excess of
$60 million. The government reportedly allowed Seal to keep monies
in excess of $600,000 made during his time as an informant -- to cover
expenses.</span></span><br />
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<img alt="Related image" class="irc_mi" height="300" src="http://fringearts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/IMG_5247.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="400" /></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">Seal's Airport in Mena, Arkansas</span></div>
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-7360626392938238902017-06-01T23:56:00.002-04:002023-11-16T18:26:32.923-05:00The Infamous...Jose "El Chepe" Santacruz Londono<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">by Ran</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-nkvNUNps9iwLJICowEOagGoGUKD8YF6rCKzaOrfe3I2jXNcfdQB5YrARKq4_RrjLdory5Rd-vrcApXVQ7hRo4yokVyC9mfocXkR-f32PCO7qzl6g10XntRCupqwjfrbTf1vCFZKwZuE0JAxopKNnDNaGDTxecoEuT-bFjzjAQv_q2dDKZ4QbF9_u97E/s1160/Chepe_1977.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1160" data-original-width="791" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-nkvNUNps9iwLJICowEOagGoGUKD8YF6rCKzaOrfe3I2jXNcfdQB5YrARKq4_RrjLdory5Rd-vrcApXVQ7hRo4yokVyC9mfocXkR-f32PCO7qzl6g10XntRCupqwjfrbTf1vCFZKwZuE0JAxopKNnDNaGDTxecoEuT-bFjzjAQv_q2dDKZ4QbF9_u97E/w436-h640/Chepe_1977.jpg" width="436" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">Jose Santacruz-Londono was born on October 1, 1943 in Cali, Colombia. As a teen he attended high school with Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez-Orejuela. He eventually completed four years of engineering studies at Bogota's De Valle University of the Andes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1969, Santacruz co-founded the Los Chemas gang with Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela. That same year, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">the seven-member gang </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">was suspected of the kidnapping of two Swiss citizens -- a student, Werner Jose Straessel and</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> diplomat Herman Buff -- for $700,000 ransom. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By 1969, he'd bought paid three taxicabs, which he'd paid for in cash. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Initially engaging in counterfeiting kidnapping-for-ransom and marijuana trafficking, Los Chemas eventually became involved in drug trafficking, smuggling Bolivian and Peruvian coca paste into Colombia for processing into cocaine. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The group later recruited other organizations under one umbrella, which became known as the Cali drug cartel --- named for the Colombian city in which it was based. The cartel, an alliance of five separate and distinct drug trafficking organizations, was comprised of: the Rodriguez-Orejuela brothers organization; the Jose Santacruz-Londono organization; the </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Helmer "Pacho" Herrera Buitrago organization; the Urdinola-Grajales brothers organization; and the </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Grajales-Lemos and Grajales-Posso organization.</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Eventually, Miguel took over as head of the daily operations of the organization while Santacruz-Londono managed the international transportation networks. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In the early 1970s, Helmer "Pacho" Herrera was dispatched to New York City to establish a distribution network. He created nearly-independent cells, each overseen by a "celeno" (cell manager). Each celeno reported to cartel-associate Jorge Alberto Rodriguez, who answered to the cartel leaders. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Santacruz was arrested in 1976 and again -- this time on a weapons violation -- on February 20 of the following year in Queens, New York. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gilberto Rodriguez i</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">nitially sent his childhood friend Giraldo Soto to New York City in 1975 in order to help with the distribution networks but Santacruz took over New York operations when Soto was arrested in 1978. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">By 1980, Santacruz and his wife, Amparo Castro de Santacruz, were living in a lavish home in the upscale Ciudad Jardin neighborhood with 15 marble-covered bathrooms. He gave his interior decorators buy-money and payments in a Gucci bag full of cash -- upwards of $1 million at a time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Santacruz also owned a cattle ranch, restaurants and hundreds of pieces of Cali real estate. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">After being denied the use of Cali's prestigious Club Colombia for his daughter's quinceanera, Santacruz reportedly had a mansion constructed to resemble the facility that houses the exclusive club. He also ordered the construction of a 30,000 square foot mansion called Casa Blanco, designed to look like the White House. He also sent his </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">daughter Ana Milena Santacruz to the U.S. to attend Boston's Pine Manor Girl's School. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Santacruz established a collection of stash houses, used for storing cocaine and cash, throughout Brooklyn and Queens. He oversaw cocaine production, processing, and distribution. Besides New York, he also established distribution centers in Miami, Houston and Los Angeles. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">1980 also marked Santacruz's indictment for operating a continuing criminal enterprise in Brooklyn, NY. The charges were brought following investigators uncovering a cartel safe house used for storing cocaine and machine guns equipped with silencers. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">By 1981, the Cali cartel and their biggest competitors the Medellin cartel had agreed to divvy up distribution points in the U.S. Where the former chose New York City, the latter agreed to utilize Miami, leaving Los Angeles free for either organization. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Cali's transport methods contrasted sharply with the rival Medellin cartel's preference for light planes and speedboats, instead opting for hidden shipments aboard ocean-freighters. The Cali cartel also enlisted Mexican criminal organizations to transport the cocaine from Central America into the U.S. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The Cali cartel also differed from their Medellin competitors in that they employed the use of cells, which served to prevent potential informants from identifying many cartel members because they were only aware of the few with whom they interacted.</span><br /></span>
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Cali, Colombia</div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">In 1981, Santacruz was stopped by narcotics agents in a JFK Airport parking lot. However, since they were tracking the alias he used for his U.S. dealings, Victor Crespo, they allowed him to leave upon seeing the name Jose Santacruz Londono on his passport. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">By 1984, Santacruz had begun to establish a distribution network in Houston, TX, using private planes. Both he and Gilberto Rodriguez were indicted in Brooklyn that year for importing cocaine into the U.S. for distribution in New York between 1978 and 1984. By that time, had an apartment in Bogota that boasted $75,000 worth of remodeling. That same year, he financed the renovation of the home of his mistress, Marley, and the three children they shared. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Gilberto Rodriguez, who'd been caught with a Venezuelan passport in Spain, was put on trial with Santacruz in Cali. However, the presiding judge refused to admit evidence submitted by the DEA in connection with U.S. indictments in LA and New York City and the two were acquitted in 1986. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Santacruz routinely wore disguises, so as to conceal his identity from law enforcement, and surrounded himself with armed bodyguards. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The cartel used thousands of telephone calls and faxes each month to conduct business. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The organization routinely concealed cocaine in shipments of items as diverse as hollow lumber, chlorine cylinders, lye and frozen foods such as broccoli and okra. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In April of 1988, Customs officials seized 3,270 kilograms of the cartel's cocaine hidden in lumber planks, in Tarpon Springs, FL. That same year, Customs agents discovered 2,270 kilograms of cocaine concealed in blocks of chocolate exported from Ecuador. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Back in Colombia, Santacruz ordered the bombing of Pablo Escobar's home, which resulted in his daughter losing her hearing. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">That same year, one of Santacruz's workers, Luis Ramos, was arrested at a Queens stash house by the DEA, who seized $7.8 million. Within weeks, another of Santacruz's employees was arrested in possession of $2.2 million in cash and 2,000 kilograms of cocaine. In 1989, Customs agents police in New York uncovered 5,000 kilograms of coke belonging to Santacruz-associate Luis "Leto" Delio Lopez in 252 drums of powdered lye. That same year, the FBI and New York police unearthed hundreds of vehicles tied to the cartel with false registrations obtained from Department of Motor Vehicles workers. DMV employees were paid $100 for each registration for vehicles equipped with hidden compartments used to ship cocaine and cash. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">While the Cali cartel's main rival, the Medellin cartel, routinely engaged in narco-terrorism, the Cali bosses preferred bribing government officials to killing them. The two organizations also dominated different markets in the U.S. While the Medellin cartel controlled Miami, Cali held sway over New York and Washington, D.C. as distribution hubs. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">However, in June of 1989, the two cartels began to war with one another to determine which would rule New York as a cocaine distribution point.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Santacruz was suspected of orchestrating the 1989 murder of Antonio Roldan Betancur, the former Governor of Antoquia. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">That same year, his mistress, Marley, died under mysterious circumstances and Santacruz and his wife moved Marley's four children in with them. Around the same time, he had his ranch house outfitted with a five-sink kitchen, leather carpets, palm trees and a fountain. He also rented an apartment on Manhattan's West 57th Street for $8,365 per month. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1990, the DEA unsuccessfully attempted to apprehend Santacruz in Italy during the World </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Football Cup. They did, however, manage to have over $60 million of his fortune in bank accounts frozen -- $12 million in New York City alone and a warrant was issued for his arrest in Brooklyn. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On May 2, a bomb in a car parked outside of a Cali supermarket reportedly owned by Gilberto Rodriguez, detonated and killed four people. Four days later, 220 pounds of explosives inside </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">a fruit truck</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> went off near Cali. This time no one was killed. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In September of 1990, Medellin sicarios (assassins) killed 19 Cali cartel workers at a Cali ranch. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On October 14, 1990, Colombian physician Rafael Lambrano was shot to death on the orders of Guillermo L. Restrepo Gaviria, Santacruz's chief lieutenant and a New York cell manager for the cartel. Lambrano, who had become an informant for the DEA, was approached by cartel worker John Harold Mena and two associates in the parking lot of a Miami restaurant at which he'd been dining. Mena, who was paid $20,000 for the job, and the others had deflated Lambrano's tires and one of them shot him with a silenced automatic handgun when he came out to the car. Restrepo was also the brother of Mena's girlfriend. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In November of 1990, Santacruz allegedly ordered the shooting death, through Restrepo, of shipping executive John R. Shotto in Baltimore in response to Shotto's testimony in a 1989 civil suit regarding the Cali cartel's clandestine $3.6 million investment in a 248-foot cargo freighter, the M.V. Liberty,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">with which they'd planned to use to smuggle drugs into the city. On September 14, 1991, John Harold Mena drove triggerman Juan Carlos Velasco, who shot Shotto and fellow executive Raymond B. Nicholson Jr., with whom he'd had a business meeting, from the car. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That same year, Santacruz was placed on the U.S.' list of the 12 most wanted Colombian drug traffickers. Meanwhile, Mena was promoted to business manager, a job that came with a $60,000 annual salary. Mena later testified that he supervised the distribution of 3,000 kilograms of cocaine during his first year in his new position. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1991, the DEA's Miami branch seized a 15-ton shipment of cocaine hidden in concrete fence posts after a drug-sniffing dog detected the narcotics at the Port of Miami. On June 18, police seized 4,444 pounds of cocaine from a lab in Cali. By this time, the cartel had labs, with more than 20 employees each, producing over 250 kilograms of cocaine each week. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Meanwhile, Colombia implemented measures to better ensure the safety of judges for fear of reprisals and pre-emptive attacks by cartel triggermen. The courts began employing two-way mirrors, screens and devices to distort the voices of judges during trial proceedings in order to conceal their identities. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The same year, Santacruz's Parkinson's-addled father-in-law Heriberto Castro Meza deposited $36 million in various bank accounts throughout Europe for him during a trip on which he was accompanied by his daughter, Amparo.</span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">By mid-1991, the Cali cartel had grown to 5,000 employees and o</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">n July 12, Colombia's President Cesar Gaviria stated during an interview conducted in Bogota, "We have the same policy toward the Cali cartel as toward the Medellin cartel." "Simply because the Medellin cartel bore the greatest responsibility for narco-terrorism, we concentrated the largest amount of our efforts there. But our policy is the same."</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But while the Colombian government's war against the Medellin cartel dealt a tremendous blow to its business, the Cali cartel saw its own share of Colombia's cocaine exports to the U.S. rise from 30 to 60% from mid-1989 to mid-1991. During this time the Cali cartel made significant inroads into the European market -- specifically, </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">England, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands -- </span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: verdana;">via ports in Spain and the Netherlands. The group also encroached on the Medellin cartel-controlled distribution centers of Los Angeles and Miami.</span> </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHsizoLjZU-NcB1RTroG3w9vOvAluOyfjTrHUhTg-Pi1T2mYS7sWVkSvw9-JUWCf7PhFm2OlRbOG-9-WokF-GCJaF1Mw_-5s8c2V4-wF98o14ZH0SXajLk3R3pLVYkHOZNOVQI3ULSGov5lqNuoV60p7DzlJI3OaEM1QtChn7vvdW5KWJc5fGShl24Tko/s260/jose%20santacruz%20londono.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="260" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHsizoLjZU-NcB1RTroG3w9vOvAluOyfjTrHUhTg-Pi1T2mYS7sWVkSvw9-JUWCf7PhFm2OlRbOG-9-WokF-GCJaF1Mw_-5s8c2V4-wF98o14ZH0SXajLk3R3pLVYkHOZNOVQI3ULSGov5lqNuoV60p7DzlJI3OaEM1QtChn7vvdW5KWJc5fGShl24Tko/w400-h298/jose%20santacruz%20londono.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;">Also in 1991, Santacruz allegedly ordered the murder of New York-based, Cuban American journalist Manuel de Dios Unanue in Queens, NY. De Dio was fatally shot at the Meson Asturias restaurant in Jackson Heights on March 11, 1992. Seventeen-year-old Colombian Wilson Alejandro Mejia Velez, who was paid $4,500 the following day, shot De Dios twice in the back of the head with a 9mm Baretta handgun. The former editor-in-chief of the El Diario-La Prensa newspaper had regularly reported on Santacruz's activities for the cartel. Mena testified on behalf of the government at Mejia's February 1993 trial. While Mena's mother was placed in protective custody and moved out of Colombia, his father, uncle and aunt were all subsequently murdered. Mejia was given a life sentence for De Dios' killing in March of 1993. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">While the Cali cartel generally eschewed the narco-terrorism employed by their Medellin rivals, the Cali leaders did initiate a campaign of murder aimed at ridding their hometown of those they labeled "desechables" (Spanish for "disposables") -- the homeless, prostitutes and homosexuals. The cartel's "grupos de limpieza social" ("social-cleansing groups") left signs on the corpses of some of their victims reading: "Cali limpia, Cali linda" ("Clean Cali, beautiful Cali"). But most of the corpses were thrown into the central Cauca River, which consequently came to be known as "The River of Death" by locals. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In late 1992, at the conclusion of the DEA's three-year investigation, Operation Green Ice, the Cali cartel's global network was so thoroughly infiltrated that investigators arrested 165 members of a drug trafficking and money-laundering conspiracy and seized $47 million from associated bank accounts. In an uncharacteristic show of violence, cartel leaders ordered suspected informants immersed in barrels filled with acid. In order to shield itself from money-laundering prosecutions, the cartel resorted to transporting the vast amounts of cash generated from cocaine sales back to Colombia via container ships and cargo planes. Some of the cash was converted into money orders and travelers checks. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In light of what the U.S. viewed as a passive response to the Cali cartel's activities by the Colombian government, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jesse Helms urged ending economic aid to Colombia until the country's government took more steps to stifle narcotics trafficking. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In April of 1995, the Colombian government offered a reward of $625,000 for information leading to Santacruz's arrest. On June 7, a federal indictment charging Santacruz with one count of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine and another count of conspiracy to conceal the proceeds, was unsealed in Brooklyn, NY. Authorities subsequently froze over $30 million of Santacruz's money he'd deposited in various European bank accounts under the names of close friends and family. Santacruz had accounts in England, France, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Austria, Luxembourg, Monaco and the Netherlands -- all supervised by Harvard-educated money manager Jose Franklin Jurado Rodriguez. Jurado, who'd also been named in the indictment, had himself been arrested in 1990 in Luxembourg and extradited to the U.S. on money laundering charges in 1994. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michael Abbell, former head of the international affairs office of the Justice Department's criminal division, who took Gilberto Rodriguez on as a client after leaving his government post, was one of three U.S. attorneys indicted as part of a narcotics conspiracy on June 5, 1995. He was accused of intimidating witnesses and fabricating evidence for the Cali cartel. Another defendant, attorney William Moran, was charged with revealing the identity of a confidential informant, who was subsequently murdered, to the cartel. The indictments were a result of a widespread investigation, nicknamed Operation Cornerstone, into the cartel. Ironically, Abbell was charged with extraditing drug traffickers to the U.S. when he worked for the Justice Department. Operation Cornerstone resulted in over 60 indictments, including charges for the Rodriguez brothers, Santacruz and the cartel's fourth-in-command, Helmer "Pacho" Herrera Buitrago. The investigation concluded that since 1983, the cartel had shipped 200,000 kilograms of cocaine to the U.S. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Following raids on cartel residences and places of business in 1995, DEA agents discovered a laptop equipped with advanced software from Israeli intelligence that enabled Santacruz to monitor nearly every telephone call placed in Cali and Bogota as well as to identify any wiretaps placed on his own telephone lines. Santacruz, who supervised the cartel's counter-surveillance operations, also placed a cartel operative inside the area telephone company. The cartel's routine surveillance even included telephone calls made from the Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Embassy. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Santacruz also reportedly underwent several cosmetic surgical procedures in an effort to conceal his true identity. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On July 4, 1995, Santacruz was arrested, while drinking rum and vodka with friends in a Bogota barbecue restaurant, by Colombian authorities. He told the arresting officers, "Take it easy. It's me.", and paid his bill before being escorted out of the restaurant. Santacruz was eventually taken to Bogota's La Picota Prison, from which he escaped on January 11, 1996 after bribing several guards. Subsequently, a $2 million reward was offered for information leading to his capture. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Santacruz was shot to death by police near Medellin on March 5, 1996. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">While his death was initially reported as the result of a shootout, it was later revealed that he was re-apprehended, tortured and killed while in custody. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">His body was flown back to Cali two days later. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">From the 1980s to the mid-1990s, Santacruz regularly shipped 8,000 kilograms per week to New York. At the time of his shooting, his personal net worth was estimated to be $250 million.</span></span></div>
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4468534161420667509.post-117530492805849362017-05-01T06:14:00.006-04:002024-03-16T09:37:20.518-04:00The Infamous...Michael "Harry O" Harris<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">by Ran </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Updated 1/21/21</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSPV42s0M2O-xyXJloXRr5T34Mb5oob-UbqzeQMFQlvvSiuQvTuCuvjj0HkM8h6Pp2yxBWfEHv4RGZoTQ1b_NsjO4fKCLRVIOFQAWolMx9j01zmAyERd6boOtaitfiPIqxd0tbN-tmg6Aj6U_JQOIXzbNC_a9PugZEWZIYXQPrpXp4_A2AnAJvkdY0KE/s400/harryo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="400" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSPV42s0M2O-xyXJloXRr5T34Mb5oob-UbqzeQMFQlvvSiuQvTuCuvjj0HkM8h6Pp2yxBWfEHv4RGZoTQ1b_NsjO4fKCLRVIOFQAWolMx9j01zmAyERd6boOtaitfiPIqxd0tbN-tmg6Aj6U_JQOIXzbNC_a9PugZEWZIYXQPrpXp4_A2AnAJvkdY0KE/w400-h266/harryo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michael
Harris was born in 1962 and grew up on the east side of South Central,
Los Angeles, in a neighborhood known locally as the "Low Bottoms". Harris lived on 46th Street and worked as a shoe-shine during his
youth. He later attended West Los Angeles Community College where he
studied business before dropping out<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Harris
and his younger brother David became affiliated with the Bounty Hunter
Bloods street-gang at some point and began selling crack-cocaine in
his early twenties, after quitting his job selling electrical supplies.
They also forged significant contacts with members of the Rolling 60s
Crips street-gang as well. As their profits grew, they opened
multiple crack-houses in their native South-Central, Los Angeles and
nearby Long Beach, California. Eventually, the two established a
distribution network that reached Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Michigan,
Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Florida and New York. The duo routinely
sent 200-pound shipments of cocaine to cities such as Shreveport and
Chicago. Following one such shipment to Detroit, law enforcement managed
to seize the $1 million cash payment headed back to LA. The pair
were reportedly supplied by Colombian national and alleged high-ranking
member of the Cali drug cartel Mario Ernesto Villabona-Alvarado<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">.</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The
6'5", 240-pound Harris also applied his business acumen to legitimate
enterprise such as a limousine company, a deli, an electrical
contracting business and a hair salon in Beverly Hills. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1985, he met Lydia Robinson, whom he eventually married, while at a nightclub in Houston, Texas. </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">June
4, 1987, marked the opening night of the Ron Milner play "Checkmates"
at Los Angeles' Inner City Cultural Center. Reportedly, Michael financed
the play, which would be the first stage production featuring actor
Denzel Washington in the lead role. "Checkmates" and Washington enjoyed a
Broadway run the following year. </span><br /></span>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><img alt="Image result for michael harry o harris" class="irc_mi" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfD1xHm0Oww8ng-ug37SWeju8DL1lI68SSYisNN_qsa-moE_fBu8UjhvhSbvRgrEs0vRKIRoNAVcIQR8WwAwuVJgPsRaySaw2q8mMcFLAqi9MEFDu9EgV_yDc2NkznRGrocCi2LjdW9h0/s400/DenzelWashingtonMichaelHarris.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="400" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Denzel Washington and Michael "Harry O" Harris</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That
same year, Harris is rumored to have helped launch Rap-A-Lot Records
with a $200,000 investment. Founder James "Lil' J" Smith has since
disputed Harris' involvement with the label. According to Harris
himself, the two parted ways in 1994 following a dispute over ownership
of Brooklyn rapper Dana Dane's music. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In
June of 1987, Michael was arrested and charged with the kidnapping and
attempted murder of James Lester, a member of the Harris' cocaine
organization. Lester testified that Michael suspected him of embezzling
$100,000 of the proceeds derived from the crack-houses and subsequently
drove him, accompanied by two other men, to the Mojave Desert's Antelope
Valley where he was shot and left to die. Michael was convicted in June
of 1988 and eventually sentenced to 28 years in prison<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">He repo<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">rtedly retained prominent <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">California</span> attorney <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">David</span> Kenner to oversee his appeal following th<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">e</span> conviction. </span> </span><br /><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In
September of 1987, David paid $150,000 for a 37-foot speedboat. He was
killed when the boat sank in the Long Beach Harbor on May 29, 1988. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">On
August 26, 1988, the DEA seized Harris' hilltop mansion worth $1.1
million and located in the San Fernando Valley's celebrity-filled Encino
neighborhood. Owing to the Federal Asset Forfeiture Act of 1984,
authorities eventually seized assets belonging to the Harris' worth $3.2
million, including two other houses in neighboring Tarzana, as well as
five luxury cars, including a 1981 Mercedes-Benz and a 1988 Jaguar. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michael married Lydia Robinson inside Tehachapi Prison, located in California's Cummings Valley. The nuptials were presided over </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">by the same judge wh<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">o convicted and sentenced him</span></span>. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><img alt="Image result for michael harry o harris" class="irc_mi" height="266" src="https://sanquentinnews.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/warden-ayers-and-harry-o1.png" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="400" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">San Quentin Warden Robert L. Ayers, Jr. and Harry O</span></div>
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Harris was <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">briefly</span>
a cellmate of fellow Los Angeles drug kingpin Rick "Freeway Ricky"
Ross, who was a friend of Harris' brother David. According to Ross, he </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">advised Harris to utilize Andre "Dr. Dre" Young to produce songs for Lydia and </span>was even present when Harris and Knight met in person. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Harr<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">is initially <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">became acquainted with</span> Young's then-manager Marion "Suge" Knight via telephone</span> and the two met in person while Harris was detained </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">at the MDC Los Angeles (Metropolitan Detention Center, Los Angeles)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>.<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">While
incarcerated, Harris made the introduction between Marion "Suge"
Knight, Jr. and David Kenner in October 1991 in the interest of
furthering his wife Lydia's singing career. Knight visited Harris in
detention at Tehachapi Prison several times during the production and
release of Death Row's first offering: Knight's business partner Andre
"Dr. Dre" Young's solo debut album, <i>The</i> <i>Chronic</i>. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">It's
worth noting that inmates of the California state prison system are
legally barred from operating businesses. However, beginning in the
1990s, Lydia Harris has linked several six-figure deals with recording
industry giants. While both husband and wife have acknowledged that
Michael has been involved in these discussions, they deny that he served
in a CEO capacity. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In
May of 1992, Harris' wife Lydia and Suge Knight's legal counsel and
Harris' former attorney, David Kenner, filed incorporation papers for
the company Godfather Entertainment (GFE, Inc.), which became the parent
company of Death Row Records.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Knight
even installed a black telephone in the Death Row recording studio that
was only to be used to receive collect calls from Harris in prison. All
Death Row staff members and visitors to the studio were notified to
never tie up the line. </span></span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Tupac Shakur, David Kenner, "Suge" Knight and Snoop</span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In
1993, Lydia secured a $150,000 production deal with Motown Records
subsidiary, PolyGram Records. She also landed a $250,000 deal with Sony
subsidiary, Relativity Records for Pittsburgh rapper Blak Czer's 1994
album <i>Tales From Da Blak Side</i>, which was released through her
Lifestyle Records. After signing New York rapper Dana "Dana Dane"
McLeese to Lifestyle Records, Lydia negotiated a $500,000 recording deal
for him with Interscope Records. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In 1994, Michael's daughter Lydasia was conceived during a conjugal visit with Lydia. </span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That
same year, Lydia signed a $ 200,000 publishing deal with Viacom
subsidiary Famous Music on behalf of legendary Long Beach, CA producer
Kevin "DJ Battlecat" Gilliam, who composed several songs for Lifestyle.
1994 also marked the inking of a $2 million deal with Time Warner
subsidiary, the now-defunct Maverick<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Recor<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">ds,
which was co-founded and co-owned by 1980s and 90s pop superstar
Madonna. The deal resulted in the release of McLeese's third and final
studio album, 1995's <i>Rollin' Wit Dana Dane</i>, which was largely produced by Gilliam. However<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">, that s<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">ame year, Maverick Records dissolved its relationship with Lifestyle. Maverick co-founder <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Frederick
DeMann visited Michael Harris in prison several times during the
Maverick-Lifestyle venture. DeMann's resume also includes acting as
manager for Madonna, Michael Jackson, Lionel Rich<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">ie, Billy Idol and Shakira. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In
late 1995/early 1996, Harris issued a letter to Death Row Records'
distributor, Interscope Records, threatening to file suit if he was not
compensated for his initial investment of $1.5 million in the label in
late 1991. No suit was filed and Harris' wife was paid <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">$300,000 by Death Row's distributor, Interscope Records. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In
1996, Harris declined a deal, offered by the government, that would
grant him early release in exchange for his testimony against Knight.</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Michael "Harry O" Harris, Lydia Harris and Leigh Savidge</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In May of 1997, following the much-publicized death of Death Row Records' flagship recording artist Tupac Shak<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">ur
and the incarceration of label head Suge Knight for a parole violation
caught on camera, federal agents representing the FBI, IRS and AT<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">F sought to determine a link, if any, between Death Row, Harris and Patrick Johnson, a convicted PCP <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">kingpin and former client of Kenner.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Harris
was transferred to the MDC Los Angeles (Metropolitan Detention Center,
Los Angeles) by order of subpoena soon after the investigation was
launched. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Knight
denied receiving any start-up funds from Harris, though both he and
Kenner thanked Harris during speeches they gave at a February 22, 1992
Godfather Entertainment pa<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">rty hosted at the now-defunct Beverly <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Hills resta<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">urant, Chasen's. The speeches were captured on a videotape, which the FBI subsequently seized. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Meanwhile, that same year, Lydia founded another music label, New <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Image Entertainment. The company's first album, <i>Life </i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><i><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">A</span>fter Evolution: <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">R</span>eality Check</i>, was released in August of 1997. </span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">In March of 2<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">005, Lydia Harris was awarded $107 million <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">as
a result of her 2002 lawsuit, which never made it to trial, against
Knight and Death Row alleging that he owed her unpaid profits from the
label due to <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">her role as a <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">co-founder.
Harris was awarded $60 million in punitive damages, $45 million in
economic damages and $2 million in non-economic damages. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That
June, Michael's attorney, Steven Goldberg, filed for divorce from Lydia
Harris on his client's behalf. During the proceedings, Michael,
who was serving his sentence at C<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">alifornia's
Soledad State Prison, sought half of the nine-figure judgement
from Knight as community property. He was brought to the Monterey
County courthouse in which the proceedings took place in handcuffs and
accompanied by a SWAT team. During the divorce <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">litigation, both testified that Lydia sued Knight on behalf of Michael. Michael was quoted as s<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">tating,
"I was the one making all major client decisions on behalf of the
marital estate, even though Lydia was technically named the plaintiff in
the matter. Lydia simply accepted whatever decision [her lawyer] and I
made jointly." </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: verdana;">That same year, Harris became eligible for parole</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: verdana;">. He eventually broke ties with Kenner and hired </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: verdana;">one of the prosecutors during the "O</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: verdana;">.J. Trial", Christopher Darden, as his attorney.</span> </span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As of January of 2021, Harris was being held at FCI Lompoc (Federal Correctional
Institution, Lompoc), a low-security federal prison located 175 miles
northwest of Los Angeles.</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="font-family: verdana;">However, outgoing president Donald Trump issued a commutation, one of more than 140, for Harris on January 19, 2021, the day before his successor's inauguration. The Trump administration issued the following statement, calling Harris: "...a former entrepreneur and has mentored and taught fellow prisoners how to start and run businesses. He has completed courses towards business and journalism degrees. Upon his release, Mr. Harris will have a meaningful place of employment and housing with the support of his family."</span> <span style="font-family: verdana;">Rapper Calvin "Snoop" Broadus, who was formerly signed to Death Row Records, reportedly campaigned for Harris' pardon.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #292929; font-size: 17px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="color: #292929;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">James "Lil' J" Prince, CEO of Rap-A-Lot Records</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">Michael "Harry O" Harris and Relana Harris</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-family: verdana;">Lydia Harris with Boyz II Men</span></div>
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dieyounghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05278226611672184421noreply@blogger.com11