Any Mafia stories you’d like to share?

[lucas80]

The Sopranos thread got me thinking about the Mafia. As far as I know I’ve never had any interactions with the Mafia, but I know people who have.
1. My dad had to go to Chicago for business a lot. One trip he came home and said he’d been running late to a meeting with a guy who was “big in trucking”, and he got pulled over for speeding in some little Chicago town. My dad apologized to the guy when he got there and told him why he was late. The guy told him to give him the ticket. That night there was a knock at his hotel room door and a cop was standing there. Turns out it was the chief of police for this town, and he apologized to my dad and tore up the ticket in front of him.
Now, my dad embellished a lot, but most of that was probably true.
2. One of my best friends from high school went to Brown University in Providence, which is a Mob city. As an upperclassman he lived in a apartment off campus. One day he came back from classes, his door had been forced open and everything of value had been stolen. He called his landlord to tell him what happened and say he needed the door fixed. The guy came over and was super pissed and made comments about how that shouldn’t have happened. The next day my friend came back from classes and all of stuff that had been stolen was piled in the middle of his living room.
Clearly his landlord was paying for protection, and thieves had been tracked down.

 

[BelemNole]

My grandfather used to be a number runner in NYC amongst his many other jobs. When he died some old school fellas showed up at the wake and paid for some stuff out of respect for him being a stand up guy.

 

[golfinghawkeye]

In my hometown we had neighbors that were brothers who were contractors. They moved to Iowa from Italy and bought houses next to each other. They were successful and had a contract to build many grocery stores in the 70’s and 80’s. One brother was telling my dad about union problems he was having at a job site. He made a call to Kansas City and everyone was back to work within a day.

When one of the brothers wife died there was many black Cadillacs and Lincolns parked along the street in front of our house. Quite a few from Missouri and a few from Illinois.

 

[ghost80]

Stories from my prior life? Yes. Can I talk about them? Probably not.

Nothing too juicy but these people really do not like folks that talk about anything. If you talk about the little stuff.....how can they trust you to stay quiet about the bigger stuff....and how do they know how much you really know? Better to just say nothing.

I can say that is where my handle originated.

 

[THE_DEVIL]

My uncle repainted cars and held stuff for somebody connected in the DSM. That's all I got. csb/

 

[BioHawk]

When I was in high school a buddy and I were driving in the car and at a stoplight this white van pulls up next to us and a guy in the passenger seat gets my attention and asks me to roll down the window. He says he wants to know if we were interested in some speakers. Being high school kids interested in stereo equipment we say sure and pull over to a parking lot to take a look. He opens the back of the van and there's probably 50 high end speakers that were all brand new. Being young and naive it didn't click that something might be off with all this until we told him that we didn't have money worth these and then he offered to take them for a gold chain I was wearing. Unfortunately that kind of freaked me out and we politely left. Looking back, I kind of wish I would have taken him up on the deal.

 

[THE_DEVIL]

When I was in high school a buddy and I were driving in the car and at a stoplight this white van pulls up next to us and a guy in the passenger seat gets my attention and asks me to roll down the window. He says he wants to know if we were interested in some speakers. Being high school kids interested in stereo equipment we say sure and pull over to a parking lot to take a look. He opens the back of the van and there's probably 50 high end speakers that were all brand new. Being young and naive it didn't click that something might be off with all this until we told him that we didn't have money worth these and then he offered to take them for a gold chain I was wearing. Unfortunately that kind of freaked me out and we politely left. Looking back, I kind of wish I would have taken him up on the deal.

 

[BioHawk]

The guys looked a lot greasier than that. Long hair mullets and white tank tops.

 

[lucas80]

When I was in high school a buddy and I were driving in the car and at a stoplight this white van pulls up next to us and a guy in the passenger seat gets my attention and asks me to roll down the window. He says he wants to know if we were interested in some speakers. Being high school kids interested in stereo equipment we say sure and pull over to a parking lot to take a look. He opens the back of the van and there's probably 50 high end speakers that were all brand new. Being young and naive it didn't click that something might be off with all this until we told him that we didn't have money worth these and then he offered to take them for a gold chain I was wearing. Unfortunately that kind of freaked me out and we politely left. Looking back, I kind of wish I would have taken him up on the deal.

Not sure if that is Mob related, or some guy cruising for young dudes

 

[themelrosemauler]

Fück you… pay me.

 

[Formerly Rockymtnole]

I launder money for the cartel. Recently moved to Missouri. Job security...questionable.

 

[NDallasRuss]

The only story I have is that when I worked for comcast I did a payroll audit on an installation contractor in Detroit. The guy that owned the company seemed really shady (maybe "connected", I don't know), drove a big Cadillac, etc. He had some glaring payroll issues. He asked if me and my coworker wanted to go out on his boat. We very politely declined.

 

[ghost80]

My uncle repainted cars and held stuff for somebody connected in the DSM. That's all I got. csb/

Not certain if still the case but at one time mobsters used cars as a form of liquid asset. Easy to buy them and hide them all over as a hedge against RICO seizure. Cant grab it unless you can find it and if the mobster needs cash....they can simply sell off their mobile fleet.

 

[BubsFinn]

There is no mafia.

 

[stout1]

This isn’t me, but I was in Russia about the same time and have similar experiences. Never robbed a train.

 

[win4jj]

Don’t tell them anything. And never rat out your friends.

 

[soybean]

Back in the late 1960's a guy approached me in Cedar Rapids and offered to sell me a brown paper grocery sack full of twenty dollar bills for $3K...when I asked much was in the sack he responed "Who knows? I'm not that far up yet." "how about $2K?" I did not buy.

In the early 1980's I was in Des Moines one day getting a tire fixed at a small off the beaten track gas station near Drake when a black Lincoln drove across those old time rubber tubes stretched out on the driveway that dinged when you drove over them. The back window of the car rolled down and the guy asked me if I was the operator. I said "no" and pointed at the guy fixing my tire. The guy inside the car said loudly to him without even getting out of the car "We are gonna put a cigarette machine in here, OK?" The operator nodded silently and the car drove off. I asked him how much of a cut he got off such a machine and he just shrugged and said "I'll know when they tell me"..."I don't ask guys like that questions"

 

[ICWestfan]

I know some of the folks from out around Templeton, Iowa. One of the clan was out hunting and found an old rusted out Tommy gun. He told a couple of people about his find and about a week later the FBI knocked on his door. They confiscated the Tommy gun as it was "part of an active investigation".

 

[alaskanseminole]

My grandfather used to be a number runner in NYC amongst his many other jobs. When he died some old school fellas showed up at the wake and paid for some stuff out of respect for him being a stand up guy.

Rural Wisconsin and Minnesota were a summer sanctuary for gangsters. My grandfather owned Circle Lily Lodge near Mercer, Wisconsin. Apparently, it was common place for Frank Capone to visit (he'd rent out several cabins for he and his men). Dogs were not allowed in the restaurant/tavern with one exception; Frank's. He'd have a Doberman on each side of him while he ate. Who knows if any of it's true, but it's the stories my family has shared over the years.

Here's an old newspaper clipping of it.

 

[ghost80]

Back in the late 1960's a guy approached me in Cedar Rapids and offered to sell me a brown paper grocery sack full of twenty dollar bills for $3K...when I asked much was in the sack he responed "Who knows? I'm not that far up yet." "how about $2K?" I did not buy.

In the early 1980's I was in Des Moines one day getting a tire fixed at a small off the beaten track gas station near Drake when a black Lincoln drove across those old time rubber tubes on the driveway that dinged when you drove over them. The back window rolled down and the guy asked me if I was the operator. I said "no" and pointed at the guy fixing my tire. The guy inside the car said to him without even getting out of the car "We are gonna put a cigarette machine in here, OK?" The operator nooded silently and the car drove off. I asked him how much of a cut he got off such a machine and he just shrugged and said "I'll know when they tell me"..."I don't ask guys like that questions"

...and I'm guessing the smokes from that machine did not have a real State of Iowa Revenue stamp attached.

 

[soybean]

...and I'm guessing the smokes from that machine did not have a real State of Iowa Revenue stamp attached.

I have no idea, but it makes sense.

 

[UNIowaHawk]

Dad was a US Marshal and had to go out east often due to shortages and ushered John Gotti between court and jail on a few occasions. Said he was pretty polite and they had a number of fun conversations. On one occasion he gave his tie, which was worth a few hundred bucks, to another Marshal or FBI Agent due to a bet about something in the court that day. He also had food catered into a meeting with his lawyers and made sure my dad and other US Marshals and FBI there were well taken care of.

 

[DogBoyRy]

The Sopranos thread got me thinking about the Mafia. As far as I know I’ve never had any interactions with the Mafia, but I know people who have.
1. My dad had to go to Chicago for business a lot. One trip he came home and said he’d been running late to a meeting with a guy who was “big in trucking”, and he got pulled over for speeding in some little Chicago town. My dad apologized to the guy when he got there and told him why he was late. The guy told him to give him the ticket. That night there was a knock at his hotel room door and a cop was standing there. Turns out it was the chief of police for this town, and he apologized to my dad and tore up the ticket in front of him.
Now, my dad embellished a lot, but most of that was probably true.
2. One of my best friends from high school went to Brown University in Providence, which is a Mob city. As an upperclassman he lived in a apartment off campus. One day he came back from classes, his door had been forced open and everything of value had been stolen. He called his landlord to tell him what happened and say he needed the door fixed. The guy came over and was super pissed and made comments about how that shouldn’t have happened. The next day my friend came back from classes and all of stuff that had been stolen was piled in the middle of his living room.
Clearly his landlord was paying for protection, and thieves had been tracked down.

Providence is still a huge mob town. The italian restaurants are great there.

 

[Fijimn]

Galveston is run by the Macio family. Old man Macio owned the Balanese Room. Which was a club out on a pier. There are a ton of stories about the Balanese room and a famous song by ZZ Top. A nephew runs a deli import store off the strand. You can get him going telling old stories while enjoying a really good mufalettat

 

[JupiterHawk]

Stories from my prior life? Yes. Can I talk about them? Probably not.

Nothing too juicy but these people really do not like folks that talk about anything. If you talk about the little stuff.....how can they trust you to stay quiet about the bigger stuff....and how do they know how much you really know? Better to just say nothing.

I can say that is where my handle originated.

 

[SF HAWKEYE]

When I was in high school a buddy and I were driving in the car and at a stoplight this white van pulls up next to us and a guy in the passenger seat gets my attention and asks me to roll down the window. He says he wants to know if we were interested in some speakers. Being high school kids interested in stereo equipment we say sure and pull over to a parking lot to take a look. He opens the back of the van and there's probably 50 high end speakers that were all brand new. Being young and naive it didn't click that something might be off with all this until we told him that we didn't have money worth these and then he offered to take them for a gold chain I was wearing. Unfortunately that kind of freaked me out and we politely left. Looking back, I kind of wish I would have taken him up on the deal.

This is just a scam to sell $hitty speakers. Had it happen to me a couple times in the Bay Area. They pull up and say they were doing a job and had left over speakers that the client already paid for and they’ll make you a killer deal. They show a fake receipt that shows they cost $2,000 and tell you they’ll sell them to you for $400.
But the speakers are total junk. Luckily I was late for a meeting the first time it happened or I might have bought them. When I told my coworkers about it they laughed and told me the scam.

I don’t have any personal stories of the Italian mob but I’ve been in a card room in chicago run by the Chinese mafia. It was in the back room of a Chinese laundry. My buddy knew the owner. We stood there scared to death watching these scary Chinese gangsters and a couple other tough guys play cards.

This stereotypical Italian mafia guy got up after winning and walked by us and said “Beautiful Fvckin day huh?!” Got into this caddy with license plates that said Frenchy and peeled out.
when ever I see those friends we always say “beautiful fvckin day huh?!”

 

[HawkeyeShawn]

Grew up in Avoca, IA. There was a ranch about 2 miles north on hwy 59 where they trained race horses. At the time there was a track in Omaha. Rumor always was that the owner was connected. My Dad, who was a construction contractor, built and remodeled several parts of the ranch. It’s an enormous spread with a track for the horses, several large sheds and barns. The house, in the 80’s was beautiful and even had an indoor pool. I worked for my Dad and when we had jobs on the ranch, there were certain places that were off-limits. I awakes just assumed the mob rumors were true. One summer after I graduated HS, a couple guys I knew from Walnut were working there as actua employees for the owner. I stopped out there one night to hang out with them. In one of the giant barns, they showed us one of the gun storage rooms. Lined up from wall to wall were, what looked like, fully automatic rifles. At least 100, if not more. Granted, I don’t know sh*t about guns, but it was an arsenal.

Eventually horse racing ended in Omaha and the guy left. The ranch is still there today, so if you ever head north on 59 to Harlan, it sits on the East side of 59.

Thats my brush with the Mob….or maybe not.

 

[ghost80]

Great movie. IMO the best mob film. Does an excellent job of displaying the many ways the mob and their affiliates are always looking for ways to earn. Also does an excellent job of explaining the relationships between the mob and their affiliates.

Personally I was not a mobster or even an affiliate....but found myself (and other associates from work) in my past life challenged to keep from being drawn in. That is easy to happen. They can be quite charming, helpful, and make you feel like you will belong with them.........and once you accept a favor from them (even if legal).....they own you.

 

[Whatsgoingonwitgyouguys0190]

My brother used to run drugs for Henry Hill from Denver to Nebraska when Henry was cooking in a small town called North Platte. Random shit would happen when my brother was doing that, brother was a total mess. Henry’s baby grandson was randomly at our house for a day because my brother and Henry were too messed up to watch him. My brother claims they went to New York one week and he met Howard Stern but that could just be a drug induced recollection of a story Henry told him. Henry was alright when he wasn’t drunk and high but he eventually lost his job due to his constant boozing and being an asshole to the owners of Firefly. He moved back East and helped open a restaurant before he died.

 

[jellyfish10]

My brother used to run drugs for Henry Hill from Denver to Nebraska when Henry was cooking in a small town called North Platte. Random shit would happen when my brother was doing that, brother was a total mess. Henry’s baby grandson was randomly at our house for a day because my brother and Henry were too messed up to watch him. My brother claims they went to New York one week and he met Howard Stern but that could just be a drug induced recollection of a story Henry told him. Henry was alright when he wasn’t drunk and high but he eventually lost his job due to his constant boozing and being an asshole to the owners of Firefly. He moved back East and helped open a restaurant before he died.

@eightno2002 can you confirm/deny this report?

 

[eightno2002]

@eightno2002 can you confirm/deny this report?

I can confirm most people in north platte are on drugs

 

[TC Nole OX]

View embedded media

This isn’t me, but I was in Russia about the same time and have similar experiences. Never robbed a train.

This is great. I also like that he is an FSU Fraterno-American

 

[Whatsgoingonwitgyouguys0190]

This is great. I also like that he is an FSU Fraterno-American

They stole that dude’s life story for Van Wilder, he didn’t mind at all even though others said to sue them.

 

[TC Nole OX]

They stole that dude’s life story for Van Wilder, he didn’t mind at all even though others said to sue them.

I had never heard of this guy until this thread

How Netflix Comedian Bert Kreischer Inspired the Van Wilder Movie Franchise

Bert Kreischer is the real Van Wilder!

screenrant.com

 

[OrlandNole]

View embedded media

This isn’t me, but I was in Russia about the same time and have similar experiences. Never robbed a train.

Us Noles all know this story very well. Bert went to FSU - we were there at the same time. He was elected president of his fraternity for pooping in a pizza box. I remember when one of the TMZ-like entertainment shows interviewed him after the Rolling Stone article. Van Wilder is loosely based on Bert's life.

 

[Chewback]

I can confirm most people in north platte are on drugs

Nor much else to do in North Platte.

 

[Jimmy McGill]

 

[ghost80]

Grew up in Avoca, IA. There was a ranch about 2 miles north on hwy 59 where they trained race horses. At the time there was a track in Omaha. Rumor always was that the owner was connected. My Dad, who was a construction contractor, built and remodeled several parts of the ranch. It’s an enormous spread with a track for the horses, several large sheds and barns. The house, in the 80’s was beautiful and even had an indoor pool. I worked for my Dad and when we had jobs on the ranch, there were certain places that were off-limits. I awakes just assumed the mob rumors were true. One summer after I graduated HS, a couple guys I knew from Walnut were working there as actua employees for the owner. I stopped out there one night to hang out with them. In one of the giant barns, they showed us one of the gun storage rooms. Lined up from wall to wall were, what looked like, fully automatic rifles. At least 100, if not more. Granted, I don’t know sh*t about guns, but it was an arsenal.

Eventually horse racing ended in Omaha and the guy left. The ranch is still there today, so if you ever head north on 59 to Harlan, it sits on the East side of 59.

Thats my bush with the Mob….or maybe not.

Not at all doubting what you saw but questioning if they were full auto. Owning 1 unlicensed full auto firearm is serious federal heat if caught. Can't even imagine the heat 100 would bring.

If someone had 100 full autos I don't think they would have them in a shed for hired help to have access or even knowledge about. What if someone took one and fired it? You can expect that to bring trouble.

Likely legal semi auto versions either for their own use, as an investment, or to sell at gun shows. I know sizeable dealers that get "black rifles" in by the 100s during times of created gun shortages.

 

[Hawkman98]

My brother used to run drugs for Henry Hill from Denver to Nebraska when Henry was cooking in a small town called North Platte. Random shit would happen when my brother was doing that, brother was a total mess. Henry’s baby grandson was randomly at our house for a day because my brother and Henry were too messed up to watch him. My brother claims they went to New York one week and he met Howard Stern but that could just be a drug induced recollection of a story Henry told him. Henry was alright when he wasn’t drunk and high but he eventually lost his job due to his constant boozing and being an asshole to the owners of Firefly. He moved back East and helped open a restaurant before he died.

Probably true. Henry Hill was a regular guest on Howard.

 

[Jimmy McGill]