Mob Scene on Tommy Hill

I posted a brief update on Tommy Hill in September 2009.  Here is George Anastasia's summary of things (where Black Brothers, Inc. readers will hear familiar names such as Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, Shamsud-din Ali, and Kaboni Savage):

Mob Scene on William "Big Billy" D'Elia

Black Brothers, Inc. (2007) readers will notice the concluding chapters are preoccupied with corruption and white-collar crimes relating to the former syndicate and/or involving Black Mafia alums.  Included in these narratives is a discussion regarding William "Big Billy" D'Elia, successor to the late Russell Bufalino as reputed Wilkes Barre/Scranton mob boss.  Among other related matters, the FBI tracked D'Elia (who had a reputation as a "waste broker") to a 2001 meeting with onetime Black Mafia heavy Shamsud-din Ali (formerly Clarence Fowler), where the two discussed plans to form a demolition company with the hopes of obtaining contracts from Philadelphia's John Street Administration (with whom Ali was extremely close; Ali was later among 20 others who were convicted or pleaded guilty in a massive FBI corruption probe of the Street Administration, though not relating to the D'Elia matter).  Here is George Anastasia's update on D'Elia:

Mob Scene on Raymond "Long John" Martorano

As discussed in Black Brothers, Inc., Raymond "Long John" Martorano formed a partnership with imprisoned Black Mafia heavyweights Lonnie Dawson and Nudie Mims to run a massive heroin distribution network in the early 1980s.  Martorano was housed in Philadelphia's Detention Center with Dawson, who was the institution's most influential prisoner.  Dawson, who had corrupted guards with various goods and services, met regularly with Afghan heroin smugglers and dictated the drug traffic from inside the prison walls for several of the city's most consequential territories.  Martorano's son, George ("Cowboy"), was an intermediary between Martorano/Dawson and Nudie Mims, who was running a similar network out of Graterford Prison, where he was serving a life sentence for murder.  On FBI wiretaps, Mims and Dawson were recorded saying they could sell $400,000 worth of heroin per month.

Mob Scene on Black Mafia alum Ricardo McKendrick

I blogged about this in April 2008 (here and here), when Ricardo McKendrick, an influential Black Mafia figure circa 1973, was arrested following the largest seizure of cocaine (600 pounds) in Philadelphia history.

Mob Scene on Kaboni Savage

As I have mentioned elsewhere on this blog, the cases of Dawud Bey and Kaboni Savage have been in the news since the 2007 update of Black Brothers, Inc.: The Violent Rise and Fall of Philadelphia's Black Mafia (Milo), where they are discussed in considerable detail.  In this regard, Philly.com's Mob Scene with George Anastasia has offered the following.  BBI readers will hear familiar names such as Shamsud-din Ali, Gerald Thomas, Eugene Coleman, RAM Squad and more when viewing this vid clip and others on the site (also see, for example, "Two Drug Kingpins: Witness intimidation, murder, and two drug kingpins"):

Philly.com's Mob Scene videos

I am a big fan of Philly.com's Mob Scene with George Anastasia, which features concise but substantive interviews of the acclaimed Inquirer reporter.  The vignettes, which are roughly five minutes in length, are produced by area great Jim Barry (formerly at CBS3) and afford viewers with a nice blend of imagery and great reporting.  Now that I have the time, I'll be linking to and/or embedding several pieces from their archives (some of which are more than a year old) that are directly related to my research agenda.  Hopefully, the videos will add context to what I have penned.  Few people know the region's underworld and related criminal justice apparatus as well as George.

Gaming the Game: Some tidbits on what readers can expect to see

http://nbascandal.blogspot.com/2010/12/some-tidbits-on-what-readers-can-expect.html