As usual, I awoke thinking. I think constantly and often think of myself as The Thinker by Rodin, actually I had a statue of it on my desk for many years until my arrest and I do not know what happened to it after that. I guess everyone loses almost everything when they are arrested and do time. I actually think about everything I do. I think every job or scam out completely, and I always put myself in the other person’s place to think what … [Read more...]
THE ACCIDENTAL GANGSTER Photo Gallery
Photos From Ori Spado's New Book THE ACCIDENTAL GANGSTER … [Read more...]
Roman Martín Provides A Guide To The Mobster Life In UNDERWORLD
Have you ever fantasized about being able to do whatever you want, when you want, and to whom you want? Or perhaps you’ve dreamed about never having to take crap off anyone ever again? If so, then the Mafia could be the perfect new profession for you! For the first time in history, there is now an easy-to-follow self-help guide on how to join and rise in the most exclusive men’s club in the world—the Italian-American Mafia (aka La Cosa Nostra). … [Read more...]
Ori Spado
Orlando (Ori) Spado was born on December 17,1944 in Rome New York where he attended high school at Rome Free Academy and at the age of 18, he joined the U.S. Army and served his country proudly and was discharged honorably in 1966. He returned to Rome and had various jobs until he sold insurance for the Prudential Ins Company and was a leading agent. After a marriage and three children Ori moved to San Francisco where he married his second wife … [Read more...]
UNDERWORLD Author Roman Martín on Dispelling the Hollywood Myth About Mickey Cohen
Bonjourno, amici nostra! Welcome to UNDERWORLD, my spanking new blog about organized crime (“OC”) and the Italian-American Mafia, coupled with helpful hints about how to improve your own budding criminal career. Rather than waste time about my motivations for doing so, or about my bonafides as a self-proclaimed expert, let’s just get right to it. Today’s topic is all about debunking the Tinsel Town-perpetuated myth that Mickey Cohen … [Read more...]
Roman Martín
Roman Martín was born the youngest of five quintuplets in Scottsdale, Arizona to a wealthy used-furniture manufacturer and his homemaker wife. Roman’s fascination with crime began shortly after his birth when an ex-con climbed a ladder to the second-story of his home, crawled into the nursery, and snatched him from his crib. As the kidnapper later told the local press after his arrest, “He was the best one of the litter. You could tell he … [Read more...]
THE GANGSTER’S COUSIN: Growing Up In The Luciano Family
Born in 1942, Salvatore "Sal" Lucania was not only raised but educated by the streets of East Harlem. Dropping out of his Catholic high school at 15 after punching out a priest, a formal education was not Sal's future. As such, it would have been easy to fall into the trappings of "made man" status in the mafia, like his cousin Charles "Lucky" Luciano. But Sal had a different vision of the future, if he could just escape the confines of his … [Read more...]
Salvatore Lucania
Growing up in the streets of Harlem in the 1940s and 50s, Sal Lucania survived by outwitting neighborhood bullies, the abusive priests who ran his school, local gangsters, and even some distant mafia relatives. He was born into a Sicilian family in 1942 and was named for his cousin Salvador Charles “Lucky” Luciano. As a Sicilian, he took on the philosophy of his culture: “No authority higher than our own.” As a relative of … [Read more...]
100 of the Most Notorious Criminals Are Ranked From Bad to Worst in BROOKLYN’S MOST WANTED
"Brooklyn’s Most Wanted" parades an impressive perp walk of 100 of the Borough’s most notorious, ranking them meticulously from bad to worst. From crime bosses to career criminals to corrupt politicians, pedophile priests to Ponzi scammers, this is not your usual crime chronicle. You want labor racketeering, Ponzi scheming, hijacking, murder, loan sharking, arson, illegal gambling, money laundering? Fugetaboutit! Take this guided tour through … [Read more...]
Author Craig McGuire: The Journey Behind BROOKLYN’S MOST WANTED
With the development of any book, there is a story behind the story. This is a story about Brooklyn. Or rather, it’s a book about the dark side of where we’re from. Writing “Brooklyn’s Most Wanted – Ranking the Top 100 Most Notorious Criminals, Crooks and Creeps from the County of the Kings” was a long journey that started many years before I picked up a pen or punched a key. I remember as a boy I felt bad for the rest of children of … [Read more...]
Join our email list