Mob Nemesis: How the FBI Crippled Organized Crime
While J. Edgar Hoover was denying that there was such a thing as organized crime, in the forties, fifties, and sixties the mob was busy forming powerful syndicates in many northeastern cities. This book tells the fascinating, first-hand story of how FBI Special Agent Joe Griffin, with the help of a team of courageous professionals, succeeded through dogged determination and uncanny street smarts to convict major La Cosa Nostra leaders in Buffalo, Cleveland, Rochester, and Youngstown.\ Forget...
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"If you've ever seen The Godfather or watched The Sopranos, you might think you know what life is like in the seamy underworld of organized crime. Whether you know them as La Cosa Nostra, the Mafia, or simply the Mob, if you've bought into the glamorous Hollywood depiction of these criminals, you couldn't be more wrong." In Mob Nemesis, former FBI Special Agent and Medal of Valor recipient Joe Griffin and writer/researcher Don DeNevi shatter the myths surrounding Hollywood's version of the Mafia. Here, you'll get the real story from a man who spent his law enforcement career observing the day-to-day behavior of these "instinctual killers," and for whom it was a matter of principle to bring them to justice. Publishers Weekly Retired Special Agent in Charge Griffin, currently CEO of an investigative firm, found his way to the FBI for pragmatic reasons: hailing from humble West Virginia beginnings, he wanted to work for the government in order to attend Georgetown at night. Initially rejected as too "immature" for special agent training (he was given a job as a clerk), Griffin was eventually accepted and soon developed an appetite for crime fighting. And as with many younger agents, he wanted to go after infamous La Cosa Nostra; how he does so is the subject of this no-frills memoir of the FBI-mob wars of the 1960s and '70s. Griffin details several protracted campaigns in unglamorous locales like Cleveland and Buffalo, which were hotbeds of Mafia activities like gambling, loan-sharking, prostitution and drug-related murders. His distant, hardboiled perspective is appropriate to the material, though the prose might be described as workmanlike at best, wooden at worst. Still, Griffin and DeNevi (Riddle of the Rock) offer ample unadorned recollections of the nitty-gritty a part of American underworld in its death throes. While the aging Rust Belt gangsters Griffin pursued were extremely violent and mercenary, their downfall seems foretold by their cheapness (they refused to hire lawyers for jailed underlings, whom Griffin was then able to "flip") and stupidity (they failed to dispose of cars, guns and loot from major crimes). (Jan.) Forecasts: Although this book's limited stylistic palette may fail to engage casual readers, mob and crime-fighting cognoscenti and die-hard Sopranos fans will certainly enjoy Griffin's detailed recollections of these lesser-known mobsters' downfall. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Acknowledgments9Introduction11Foreword19A Few Words about Joe Griffin and His Book23Chapter 1.Our First Efforts against Organized Crime27Chapter 2.The Early Years43Chapter 3.Smashing the Money Sources65Chapter 4.Magaddino99Chapter 5.Going After the Bosses111Chapter 6.Another Washington Assignment--This Time We Investigate Ourselves145Chapter 7.Cleveland164Chapter 8.On the Inspection Trail209Chapter 9.My Return to Cleveland213Chapter 10.Top Notch275Chapter 11.Jackie Presser--Code-Named ALPRO301Chapter 12.The End of an Era--The Card Shop Case317Epilogue321Glossary333
\ Publishers WeeklyRetired Special Agent in Charge Griffin, currently CEO of an investigative firm, found his way to the FBI for pragmatic reasons: hailing from humble West Virginia beginnings, he wanted to work for the government in order to attend Georgetown at night. Initially rejected as too "immature" for special agent training (he was given a job as a clerk), Griffin was eventually accepted and soon developed an appetite for crime fighting. And as with many younger agents, he wanted to go after infamous La Cosa Nostra; how he does so is the subject of this no-frills memoir of the FBI-mob wars of the 1960s and '70s. Griffin details several protracted campaigns in unglamorous locales like Cleveland and Buffalo, which were hotbeds of Mafia activities like gambling, loan-sharking, prostitution and drug-related murders. His distant, hardboiled perspective is appropriate to the material, though the prose might be described as workmanlike at best, wooden at worst. Still, Griffin and DeNevi (Riddle of the Rock) offer ample unadorned recollections of the nitty-gritty a part of American underworld in its death throes. While the aging Rust Belt gangsters Griffin pursued were extremely violent and mercenary, their downfall seems foretold by their cheapness (they refused to hire lawyers for jailed underlings, whom Griffin was then able to "flip") and stupidity (they failed to dispose of cars, guns and loot from major crimes). (Jan.) Forecasts: Although this book's limited stylistic palette may fail to engage casual readers, mob and crime-fighting cognoscenti and die-hard Sopranos fans will certainly enjoy Griffin's detailed recollections of these lesser-known mobsters' downfall. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalWhen Griffin joined the FBI in 1957, La Cosa Nostra hadn't even been officially acknowledged, but the Mob families had a stranglehold on many American port cities. Soon after, though, the reality of La Cosa Nostra couldn't be denied. J. Edgar Hoover declared war on the Mob, and FBI Special Agent Griffin, who later won the FBI Medal of Valor, found his calling. After providing a very brief history of the Mafia in America, Griffin (with research help from DeNevi) details his experiences in fighting the Mob in Cleveland, Youngstown, Rochester, and Buffalo, describing the surveillance, the stings, the frustrations, and triumphs. He also discusses some internal problems, including feuds between law enforcement groups and the discovery of a Mob mole in their Cleveland office. The prose, written by a man who filed reports for a living, isn't stylish, and the not-quite-chronological order of the anecdotes and the vast number of names can be confusing. But Griffin comes off as a hard-working guy with a job to do, one that made the country a lot safer for the rest of us. For all true crime collections. Deirdre Root, Middletown P.L., OH Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.\ \ \ BooknewsGriffin (former FBI Special Agent in Charge) and DeNevi (criminal justice, San Francisco State University) provide a first-hand account of the FBI's efforts to put the mob out of business in Buffalo, Cleveland, Rochester, and Youngstown, and the successful convictions that resulted. In the process they describe mob intrigue, drug deals, gambling rings, hits, gangland rivalries, and a plot to infiltrate the FBI. Sixteen pages of mug shots and surveillance photos accompany the text. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)\ \
