Busting the Mob

The decades-long fight to bring down the mob is examined through five crucial cases in this authoritative and vividly detailed book. From Al Capone to John Gotti, organized crime bosses have achieved notoriety as anti- heroes in popular culture. In practice, the Cosa Nostra grew strong and wealthy by supplying illicit goods and services and by obtaining control over labor unions and key industries—all while facing little opposition from law enforcement. Yet, by the 1990s, the very foundations of the mob had been shaken, its bosses imprisoned, its profits diminished, and its influence badly weakened. James B. Jacobs, Christopher Panarella, and Jay Worthington document the government's relentless attack on organized crime. The authors present an overview of the forces and events that led to the most successful organized crime control initiatives in American history. Enlisting trial testimony, secretly taped conversations, court documents, and depositions, they document five landmark cases, representing the most important organized crime prosecutions of the modern era—Teamsters Local 560, The Pizza Connection, The Commission, the International Teamsters, and the prosecution of John Gotti.