Tuesday, April 5, 2005
In Today’s column: WHY A WISEGUY TODAY IS LIKELY TO FEEL THE TIME HE HAS TO SPEND BEHIND BARS IS TRULY PUNISHING..., HENRY HILL, IN "TROUBLE" AGAIN, OCEANS OF LITIGATION, THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING REGISTER?
Too Many Black Prisoners!!!
When we speak of a "mobster," and/or a "wiseguy," we are referring to a white male of Italian descent who is affiliated with the American Mafia. In the auspices of a U.S. penal institution, all felons, black and white alike, are equal before the law. For most mobsters/wiseguys today, serving a prison sentence means living in relative close proximity with a disproportinately high number of black felons. Mobsters/wiseguys
tend to believe that black felons have become too well represented among incarcerated populations in the U.S.
Most mobsters/wiseguys have been socialized into a racially segregated society, i.e. a society in which racial segregation has traditionally been segregation of both the de facto and de jure varieties. They have therefore been taught to avoid close contact with nonwhites on any terms other than those of their own. For these reasons, serving prison time today is really punishing to mobsters/wiseguys.
"On December 31, 2003, there were 2,085,331 people in U.S. prisons and jails. That's a rise of 2.6% during the 12 previous months. Federal prisons are growing almost 5 times faster than state prison populations" (p. 1). See: http://www.prisonsucks.com/
A glance at U.S. total federal prisoner population and the U.S. total population data is revealing. According to the "Bureau of Federal Prisons Quickfacts, Last Updated: Saturday, 26 February 2005..."
Inmates By Race
White:
102,681
(56.6 %)
Black:
72,530
(40.0 %)
Native American:
3,136
(1.7 %)
Asian:
2,920
(1.6 %)
Ethnicity
Hispanic:
58,287
(32.2 %)
56.6% of federal prisoners are white (Bureau of Federal Prisons Quickfacts). As of July 1, 2003, whites comprised 80.5% of the total U.S. population (Population of the United States by Race and Hispanic/Latino Origin, Census 2000 and July 1, 2003).
As of July 1, 2003, black people constituted 12.8% of the total U.S. population (Population of the United States by Race and Hispanic/Latino Origin, Census 2000 and July 1, 2003). Blacks constituted forty percent (40.0%) of federal prisoners (Bureau of Federal Prisons Quickfacts).
See: http://www.bop.gov/news/quick.jsp
See: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762156.html
Historically speaking, the racial segregation of prisoners in U.S. jails and prisons has been strictly beneficial to the American Mafia status quo. It helped the American Mafia to create its "mafia row." It helped the American Mafia to gain a significant degree of control over the criminal activities that occur in penal institutions. Of course, the continuation of criminal activity in U.S. penal institutions is contingent upon the complicity of corrupt prison officials and staff.
But, racial segregation in jails and prisons is a double edged sword. Drug gangs and "new mobs" continue to seriously challenge the American Mafia and any claim it has to hegemony in American penal institutions.
The fact that black law breakers are imprisoned in our nation's federal prisons at a rate that is three times their representation in the total U.S. population has widespread implications. It is having a "negative impact" on the mob's flip rate, i.e. the rate at which mob guys are choosing to turn state's evidence. This is especially true among the older and more traditional mob guys who are often the mob's most powerful members.
The example of Walter Johnson, an African-American felon, and the late John J. Gotti, the late boss of the Gambino Cosa Nostra Family, is a case in point.
Walter Johnson is well socialized into prison society. In fact he is better socialized into prison society than he is into the mainstream American society. His socialization reflects the changing demographics of prison society.
John J. Gotti was well socialized into the Italian-American underworld. He, too, was better socialized into the Italian-American underworld than he was into the mainstream American society. His criminal career is a testimony to the power of the changing demographics in process in the Italian-American underworld. What happens when two immovable objects collide?
When Two Immovable Objects Collide
Who is Walter Johnson? Walter Johnson, convicted of bank robbery in 1992, was sentenced to a 10 year prison stretch. Transferred to the Marion Federal Penitentiary in 1995, it was there, in July 1996, that Walter Johnson pummeled to the mats the inimitable Dapper Don.
John "Johnny Boy" Gotti was down for the count.
Maybe Walter Johnson is crazy. Maybe he is suicidal. The only thing that is certain is that Wayne Johnson is violent and he just did not care.. He TKO-ed the most powerful mafioso in America. If he had not subsequently been restrained, Wayne Johnson might have killed John Gotti.
Once upon a time, the American Mafia directly controlled most of the criminal activity that occurred in U.S. prisons. There was a power vacuum in the underworld that only the American Mafia could fill. John Gotti would not have had to negotiate a contract with the Aryan Brotherhood (AB), a white supremacist prison gang, to end Walter Johnson's life, as he allegedly did, if this was still true..
Nevertheless, as much as they tried, the Aryan Brotherhood (AB) was unsuccessful in its efforts to whack Walter Johnson.
On May 15, 2001, after completing his sentence in the SuperMax facility in Florence, Colorado, Walter Johnson was released from prison. The last I heard, Walter Johnson was indicted for the murder of a 32-year-old rookie police officer. Walter Johnson was free pending the trial. If convicted, Walter Johnson faced life.
The reason most "amici di nostra" fight hard to avoid prison sentences today it to minimize contact with guys like Walter Johnson. Violent men like Walter Johnson are very very dangerous. They are unpredictable because they are irrational.
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Worst of all, from the American Mafia's point of view, guys like Walter Johnson set a bad example. The American Mafia wants to harness men like Johnson in the hope that it will one day be able to channel their hostilities to be employed at the mob's discretion.
Once upon a time, there was a power vacuum in the underworld that only the American Mafia could fill. In those days, it was easier for American mobsters to place the accent on self-perceived positive aspects, as opposed to self-perceived negative aspects, of prison servitude. We must remember that, from the standpoint of the gangsters involved, self-perception of the "positive" and/or "negative" aspects of prison servitude is subjective. One gangster's poison is another gangster's meat.
The Self-Perceived Positive Aspects Of Serving A Prison Sentence
In the late nineteenth century, the greatest immigration to the United States was from Europe. Recent immigrants from Europe to the U.S. were well represented among the nation's total prisoner population. There was little reason for anyone to suspect that nonwhite prisoners of any kind would one day mushroom into the fastest growing segment of the total U.S. prisoner population.
The greatest immigration to the U.S. today is immigration from Asia and Latin America. The Asian American arrest rate is lower than the American national arrest rate. The over representation of latino prisoners in our nation's prisons is well documented.
In The U.S., Syndicated Crime Is The Domain Of White Males
In the words of Joseph D. Pistone (March 1, 2004), in The Way of the Wiseguy, Running Press Book Publishers; Book & CD edition, ISBN: 0762418397.
"The Mafia is not an equal-opportunity employer, To be inducted into a Mafia family, you have to be a white male of Italian descent. What that means is that your father has to be a full Italian. If your father is full Italian, you are considered an Italian. There are no exceptions to this requirement" (p. 92).
Matthew Madonna and LeRoy "Nicky" Barnes
LeRoy "Nicky" Barnes, the legendary Harlem drug merchant, is an African American gangster whose criminal enterprise was syndicated with the American Mafia. Nevertheless, Nicky Barnes was a marginal "mobster." Here's why...
Matthew Madonna, the Lucchese Cosa Nostra Family associate, supplied 20 to 30 kilograms of heroin a month for five years to LeRoy "Nicky" Barnes, during the latter's heyday. Nicky Barnes, in turn, kicked up to the Lucchese Cosa Nostra Family.
Madonna and Barnes met in 1959 in state prison where they apparently spent a lot of time talking shop. On the outside, in the early 1970's, they established a sophisticated system for exchanging drugs for cash. It allowed the men never to be seen in public together with either drugs or cash, and was so clever that law enforcement officials never cracked it, finding out about it only after Barnes was convicted and cooperated to get out from under a life sentence.
It worked like this: once a month, Madonna and Barnes would meet on a Manhattan street corner. Madonna would give Barnes the keys for a car---its trunk laden with heroin---that was parked in a nearby municipal parking lot. Two days later, Barnes would park the car, filled with cash, in another lot, meet Madonna on another street corner, and give him back the keys.
Convicted in 1975 of charges unrelated to Barnes, Madonna was released from Lewisberg Federal Penitentiary in August 1995, with a special parole of eight years. Matthew Madonna served twenty years for heroin trafficking, the mandatory two-thirds of his thirty year sentence.
Matthew Madonna was rewarded for his years of silence. Inducted into the Lucchese Cosa Nostra Family soon after his release, Madonna has since been elevated to capo.
Nicky Barnes was convicted of heroin trafficking in 1977. In federal prison, he began a life sentence. Four years later, Barnes began to cooperate with federal prosecutors.
LeRoy "Nicky" Barnes As A Marginal Mobster/Wiseguy
We might think of Nicky Barnes as a marginal mobster/wiseguy. He had been the chief narcotics distributor in New York City, upstate New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Barnes was in the 21st year of his life sentence before he was released, finally winning his freedom in August, 1998.
Barnes's cooperation with the feds helped convict more drug dealers and murderers than superstar turncoat underboss Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano.
However Sammy Bull was able to testify under oath to the murder of 19 individuals. His prosecutorial testimony was instrumental in the ultimate convictions of John "the Dapper Don" Gotti and Vincent "the Chin" Gigante. For these reason, Sammy Bull was released from prison after serving only five years.
Nicky Barnes can offer little in terms of the vital information the feds need about the flow of narcotics into America and/or the network of corruption that makes that flow possible. While he was doing life in prison, Nicky Barnes did not occupy “Mafia Row.” For Nicky Barnes, in the long term, the positive aspects of prison servitude were few.
We might conclude, therefore, that, in his criminal career, Sammy Bull, was a member of the American Mafia's mainstream while in his criminal career, Nicky Barnes occupied the margins of the American Mafia.
Whatever Happened To Mafia Row?
Lewisburg Penitentiary, G Block, the maximum security wing, is a case in point.
G Block was once known as "Mafia Row" because of all the goodfellas who served their there. Carmine "Lilo" Galante's (February 21, 1910-July 12 , 1979) Lewisburg Penitentiary cell was in Mafia Row. At the time, G Block was considered the toughest block in the prison. Because of Lilo Galante's awesome power, G Block was also the best run block in the prison.
From time to time and from place to place in the U.S. prison system today, diverse groups access extraordinary power and privilege in given penal settings.
In Double Deal: The Inside Story of Murder, Unbridled Corruption, and the Cop Who Was a Mobster, HarperCollins, ISBN: 0060195851, Sam Giancana and Michael Corbitt (March 1, 2003), discuss extraordinary power and privilege during Michael Corbitt's stay at the Federal Correctional Institution at Tallahassee, Florida...
"After that, I managed to hook up with some of the East Coast wiseguys, among them a mob up-and-comer out of Nicky Scarfo's Philadelphia crew, who everybody called "Johnny Chang."
Under Johnny's supervision, the Italians had the prison all sewn up. It was unbelievable; they controlled just about everything but the locks on the doors. They were in charge of the telephones, the vending machines, the yard, and the visiting room. As long as they weren't too flashy about what they were doing, nobody screwed with them, including the officials and guards.
Once I got in tight with Johnny Chang, my situation at the prison improved dramatically, I got a job in the phone room, so I could talk to whoever I wanted, as long as I wanted. It was great; I called Joey every day, sometimes twice a day. And thanks to Johnny, my diet even took a turn for the better; believe it or not, the Italian inmates had a shed fixed up out in the yard where they could cook all their favorite Italian meals. Johnny had guys working in the prison kitchen who'd steal whatever he wanted and trade him for cigarettes or dope.
Being with the Italians at Tallahassee was like something out of Goodfellas. We had music, we had food----you name it, whatever we wanted, we had it. And if we didn't have it, Johnny Chang could get it. If it hadn't been for the fact that I was in a federal pen, it would've been a hell of a good time" (p. 329).
When you enter an American correctional institution today, it becomes immediately evident that criminal activity in most prisons is no longer under the direct control of the American Mafia. The proportion of prison staff members who are African American is increasing as well.
The Self-Perceived Negative Aspects Of Serving A Prison Sentence
Criminal Activity In Most U.S. Prisons Is No Longer Under The Direct Control Of The American Mafia
Demographic trends have displaced the strict control the American Mafia traditionally had over intra-prisoner interaction in U.S. prisons. What are these "demographic trends?" The ascendancy of other tough prisoners, white, black, and other nonwhite, who live in tough blocks. Rather than the American Mafia, they are members of drug gangs and/or the "new" mobs, e.g. the Mexican Mafia, the Black Gangster Disciples, the Bloods, the Latin Kings, the St. James Boys Gang, a Mexican and Mexican-American street gang. the Crips, El Rukn, etc.
In Double Deal: The Inside Story of Murder, Unbridled Corruption, and the Cop Who Was a Mobster, HarperCollins, ISBN: 0060195851, Sam Giancana and Michael Corbitt (March 1, 2003), discuss extraordinary power and privilege during Michael Corbitt's stay at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC)...
Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC)
"There was one group of mob guys, organized criminals, that I'd never had much contact with until I hit the MCC. And that was the El Rukns. They were called the Blackstone Rangers in their early days, but changed their name to El Ruykn----meaning "black stone" in Arabic----when their leader joined a Black Muslim sect. These m**^!!^^^!**/ were bad. We're talking some very heavy dope-dealing. A ton of murders. A whole network of activity all over the country.
There was a major investigation into their organization in Chicago, with about sixty members indicted for a bunch of stuff. Those guys were all going away forever. The U.S. Attorney's Office got around nine of them, including two of the top guys, to flip and go against their leader, Jeff Fort.
That's when they started showing up on my floor at the MCC. They had the run of the floor. Their doors were open, they could use the phone whenever they wanted, they could have as many visits as they wanted, and it didn't matter how long, either----it could be maybe four or five hours. And believe it or not, they were having sex on the floor in there. The women were bringing in dope. The guys were always higher than a kite. When I was doing my cleanup routine on the floor, I'd see them doing lines of cocaine in the phone room. They were working drug deals from inside the joint. It looked to me like they could do just about anything they wanted. The guards saw all the b**/!^^*. Everybody saw it. But nobody ever said a word.
I figured the only way that sort of crap could go on was by direct order of the U.S. Attorney's office. An attorney named Bill Hogan was in charge of the El Ruykn case. And who did Hogan report to? My old pal Tom Scorza.
Knowing that, I wasn't real interested in running to the officials at MCC and crying about all the special treatment the El Ruykns were getting. I figured a guy in my situation might want to do the smart thing. I kept my eyes and ears open and my mouth shut" (pp. 313-314).
Sam Giancana and Michael Corbitt (March 1, 2003), also discuss extraordinary power and privilege during Michael Corbitt's stay at the Federal Correctional Institution at Tallahassee, Florida...
"In the spring of 1993, just as I was settling in to life at Tallahassee, all hell broke loose in Chicago. The El Rukn trial had gotten under way, and there'd been a number of allegations that El Rukn inmates at the MCC had received illegal and inappropriate favors----including sex and drugs----from the U.S. Attorney's Office in exchange for their testimony against fellow gang members.
Right away the authorities launched an official misconduct investigation into the U.S. Attorney's Office, placing the chief prosecutor, William Hogan, and my old pal, his supervisor, Tom Scorsa, on the hot seat. In connection with this investigation, everyone who'd been on the sixth floor of the MCC during the El Rukns' incarceration was formally interviewed. Everyone but me, that is.
I was told by an FBI agent that when the judge compared a list of the names of those interviewed with a list of the prisoners who'd beem on the sixth floor during the time in question----and discovered I was the only witness who hadn't been formally interviewed----I'm told he hit the roof. Shortly after that, I was flown to Chicago.
I'd thought I was just going for an interview; instead I was thrown into a full-blown hearing. The attorneys drilled me for five hours on the stand about what had happened on the sixth floor of the MCC. In graphic detail, I testified that I'd seen the El Rukns using drugs and having sex with visitors. Of course, I wasn't the only person to have witnessed this outrage; other witnesses substantiated my testimony. And thanks to that, the government's case against the El Rukn gang went down the drain.
It was a very ugly scandal. The papers made me out to be the big man who'd buried crime-busters and rising stars Tom Scorza and Bill Hogan. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise to anybody that a few months later, when I heard that Scorza and Hogan had left their positions at the U.S. Attorney's Office, I didn't shed a single tear" (Ibid., pp. 329-330).
Racist Groups In U.S. Prisons
Prisons are segregated places. One of the most segregated aspects of prison life, like life in general in the broader American society, is religious observation. Naturally then, religious groups sometime inadvertantly serve as the spawning ground for racial intolerance. The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights guarantees "freedom of religion," i.e. AMENDMENT I
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
Racist ideologies are disseminated via prison outreach programs that are conducted by radical groups. The Aryan Brotherhood and the Nation of Islam are paramount among racist groups in U.S. prisons.
Aryan Brotherhood
The Aryan Brotherhood originated in California's San Quentin Prison in the 1960s and has since spread to other prisons throughout the United States. The Aryan Brotherhood is affiliated with the Aryan Nations, a paramilitary hate group. Aryan Brotherhood reportedly engages in extortion, drug operations and violence in correctional facilities. Many of its members bear the identifying tattoo of a swastika and the Nazi SS lightning bolt.
"Identity" is a pseudo-theological hate movement that maintains that Anglo-Saxons, not Jews, are the biblical "chosen people," that non-whites are "mud people" on the level of animals and that Jews are the "children of Satan."
The Aryan Brotherhoods reputation for violence is well documented.
Many white supremacist and anti-Semitic groups reach out to prisoners by offering them heavily discounted or free copies of their publications; other readers of these racist magazines and newspapers are encouraged to write to these "prisoners of war." See: http://www.adl.org/special_reports/racist_groups_in_prisons/prisons_brotherhood.asp
See: Allegations Against Aryan Brotherhood, BBC News/December 5, 2002 at http://www.rickross.com/reference/aryan_brotherhood/aryan_brotherhood1.html,
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/cac/pr2002/152.html
Nation of Islam (NOI)
The Nation of Islam is a religious group in the United States that preaches black nationalism. American minister Louis Farrakhan established that organization in 1977. He based it on the teachings of Elijah Muhammad (nee Poole), who had led a group of the same name from 1934 to 1975. Farrakhan continued Muhammad's teachings about the need for self-knowledge, the acceptance of black identity, and economic independence.
Farrakhan's Nation of Islam is headquartered in Chicago. Its members are urged to eat only one meal a day and to avoid the use of tobacco and alcohol. Women are expected to emphasize housework and child rearing, though some women serve as ministers. The key groups in the organization are the Fruit of Islam and Muslim Girls Training (MGT). Members of the Fruit of Islam provide security to mosques (places of worship and public places. Members of MGT learn domestic skills.
The original Nation of Islam (also called Black Muslims) was founded in Detroit in 1930 by a salesman named Wallace D. Fard (also known as Wali Faradi). Elijah Muhammad (formerly Elijah Poole) led the group from 1934 until his death in 1975. He taught that Fard was Allah and he himself was Allah's messenger. Muhammad also taught that white people were "devils" who sought to harm and oppress blacks. He said that whites would eventually be destroyed and blacks would emerge victorious.
Muhammad's son Warith Deen Mohammed (sometimes spelled Muhammad) succeeded him. Instead of continuing his father's teachings, Warith dismantled the Nation of Islam. He led his followers to Sunni Islam, a traditional branch of Islam practised by many Africans. In time, his group became known as the Muslim American Society. Farrakhan and other discontented followers resurrected the Nation of Islam but rejected the name Black Muslims. Farrakhan also stopped preaching that whites would eventually be destroyed.
In 1997, Farrakhan began to moce closer to traditional Sunni Islam. He adopted the orthodox Friday worship service, prayer posture, and fasting. These measures helped end 25 years of separation and hostilities between Farrakhan and Mohammed. The two men declared their unity at the second International Islamic Conference in Chicago in February 2000. But they continue to lead separate movements.
The Nation of Islam has organized an extensive prison outreach program since 1984. Prisons constitute the greatest source of converts to the Nation of Islam. The NOI has fought, sometimes in court, to have its prison emissaries recognized as chaplains separate from the mainstream Muslim (Sunni) chaplaincy.
Supporters of the NOI's prison outreach program argue that its message of "doing for self" in terms of discipline and morality helps rehabilitate prisoners; moreover, NOI's prison emissaries help inmates find jobs and housing upon their release. However, critics worry that Farrakhan's rhetoric -- including a long record of anti-Semitic and anti-white statements -- may spill over into NOI's prison outreach program and radicalize prisoners. See: http://www.adl.org/special_reports/racist_groups_in_prisons/prisons_non_white_racists.asp
Henry Hill, 61, ran into trouble in August, 2004 when drug paraphernalia was found in bags he brought to the North Platte, Nebraska airport (glass tubes found in Hill's luggage tested positive for coke and meth). Henry Hill didn't intend to but, he managed to get busted for felony possession anyway. Hill is facing felony charges for allegedly possessing cocaine and methamphetamine.
In recent years, Henry Hill has been best known for his appearances on Howard Stern's radio program. He is remembered as a Lucchese Cosa Nostra Family associate who turned government snitch. Hill's underworld career was chronicled in Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas" (1990) starring Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci et al.
In reference to Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano's bust for Ecstasy, Henry Hill was quoted as saying, "Now he'll never get out of the life."
According to North Platte Police Lt. Rick Ryan, Hill had been barred from Scorez, but on Sunday, March 27, 2005, he went into the bar. Ryan said the manager asked Hill to leave, but he refused. The workers in the bar tried to escort Hill out of the bar, with no luck. Hill then allegedly threatened the manager. Ryan said, "He created a disturbance in the bar. Then he started to come at the manager." Officers arrested Hill around 12:45 p.m. Sunday, March 27, 2005, and placed him in the Lincoln County Jail.
The charges of third-degree assault, second-degree trespassing and disturbing the peace can be added to the charge of criminal mischief Hill received on Thursday, March 24.
Publicity, negative or otherwise, helps the Henry Hill marketability, e.g. Henry Hill websites, publications, public appearances, etc. But, each time he is "busted," Henry Hill is exposed to mob retribution.
Since Henry Hill flipped, he has gotten into trouble several times. I like to think his cooperation will save Henry Hill again. After all, the feds have yet to find any proof that Henry Hill has lied in his testimony for the prosecution.
But, each time he is caught on the wrong side of the law, the odds increase that Henry Hill will get whacked.
Eventually the feds will determine that they no longer need him, that they have milked Henry Hill dry. Then, the feds will determine that Henry Hill is more trouble than he is worth to them. What happens then?
During the month of March, 2005, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, former NYPD detectives, were charged with moonlighting for more than a decade as Mafia hit men who kidnapped, killed and engineered the slayings of at least eight rival gangsters for Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, an underboss in the Lucchese Crime Family. The government says they were paid thousands of dollars a month.
Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa are each charged with eight murders, two attempted murders, murder conspiracy, obstruction of justice, drug distribution and money laundering and, if convicted, could be sentenced to life in prison. They have denied any wrongdoing.
At the point that either or both Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa are convicted, the U.S. courts are going to be flooded with a sea of litigation against them for arrests they made, and convictions that stemmed from those arrests, over the years.
What is the incredible shrinking register? It is the list of men who are affiliated with the American Mafia who are not simultaneously cooperating with the feds.