All language subtitles for Lords.of.the.Mafia.with.Robert.Stack.S01E05.The.Godfather.vs.the.President.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

It is said that people
in Louisiana don't

tolerate corruption,
they demand it.

New Orleans was the
first American city

that the Sicilian
mafia began to inhabit.

And I think anybody,

anybody who has the
connections and the money,

can have somebody hurt.

♪ Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

♪ Oh-oh-oh-oh

♪ Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

Within the American
Italian mafia families,

the individual with
the most power,

influence, and wealth
is known as "The Boss."

Some bosses rule their dynasties

from behind the
scenes in the shadows,

always maintaining
a low profile.

Others are highly visible,

larger than life characters
with national reputations.

Such was a long
time supreme ruler

of the mafia of New
Orleans, Carlos Marcello.

After centuries of
changing owners,

the Louisiana purchased
by Thomas Jefferson

finally placed the city of
New Orleans under US control.

In the 1800s it became
a thriving city,

and the most attractive
American destination

for Italian immigrants.

It's very unique in
that it's 90% Sicilian.

Out of every thousand 900
people are from Sicily,

and it was the first group of
immigrants in this country.

Now contrary to what
a lot of people think.

And in the 1850s

there were more Italians
here than in New York.

And it was a one-two
punch for about 30 years,

and then New York
finally overwhelmed us.

But for the longest time,

New Orleans was the
main headquarters

for the Italian immigration.

The migration to
America by Sicilians

was precipitated by the
unification of Italy in 1860.

This unification plunged Sicily

into an economic depression,

and the poverty stricken
Sicilians fled to North Africa,

Northern Italy, and
the United States.

It starts back with Garibaldi

when he went there in 1860,

and captured Sicily and
then the southern part,

and turned it over to
King Victor Emanuel,

to become the initial impact
of united the nations.

Italy became a country for
the first time in 1870,

since the Roman days.

And they were promised,

the southern part of
Italy was promised

all kind of things.

And when that those
promises weren't fulfilled,

well, they were looking for
opportunities elsewhere.

And the mass immigration
started, and they took off.

The
migrating Sicilians were
drawn to New Orleans

because of its
temperate weather,

and the opportunities
afforded them there,

which were different than
what New York had to offer.

In New York, they went there

and they started
digging tunnels,

or they went to
work in factories.

That was not the case here.

Even in New Orleans,

they didn't have to live
in an eighth story of a

tenement building without
hot, or even water.

Forget hot water.

It was a different life.

It was closer to
the European life.

So when they arrived,
they almost fit right in.

It was almost like being home.

It was a natural transfer.

Another natural
transfer to New Orleans,

albeit a less desirable one,

was a small but
notorious segment

of the Sicilian population.

The secret criminal
organization known as a mafia,

had been a part of
Sicily for years,

first established as a reaction

to oppressive rulers in Italy.

John H. Davis, author of
"Mafia Kingfish," explains why.

New Orleans was the
first American city

that the Sicilian
mafia began to inhabit.

And long before New York,

or Chicago, or any other.

They were attracted
to New Orleans,

and to the state of Louisiana

because it resembled
somewhat Sicily.

And so they came
here and droves.

And by the turn of the century,

you're talking about by by 1900,

there were about 100
mafiosi in New Orleans.

The permissive
attitudes in New Orleans

made the city a haven
for vice and corruption.

The corruption in
the New Orleans area is

probably going back
a hundred years,

to late 1890s that
I would know about.

In the past, law enforcement
has closed a blind eye to it.

Not saying the
police were corrupt,

but things were tolerated
in the French Quarter

that would not be tolerated
anywhere else in the country.

When the Sicilian immigrants
arrived in New Orleans,

many became laborers on the
docks and on plantations.

It was in these very areas that
the mafia began to dominate.

By the early 1870s,

the mafia had made
inroads in controlling

the waterfront and markets,

and eventually the hauling
of freight in the ports.

Their means of
gaining this control

was through their
standard way, violence.

Between 1869 and 1889,

the New Orleans
police attributed

over a hundred murders to
the infamous Sicilian Mafia.

The tactic of gaining
control through violence,

which had worked
so well in Sicily,

became standard procedure
in Louisiana as well.

The violence in
New Orleans mafia

controlled docks
and markets erupted

as rival fought for dominance.

In the ongoing confrontation,

the supposedly corrupt
Chief of Police,

David Hennessy,
was assassinated,

presumably by members
of the warring families.

Enraged citizens fueled
by anti-Italian sentiment,

took revenge and lynched
several Italian suspects

in custody in the local jail.

This resulted in protests
by outraged Italians,

both in the US and Italy.

While the local press rejoice at

the city's mafia had being
wiped out, they were wrong.

After a couple of years,
the gangsters regrouped,

and by the early 1920s,

one family had
firmly established

its dominance in New Orleans.

It would eventually
bear the name

of illiterate Italian immigrant,

who became one of America's
most powerful mafia bosses.

Carlos Marcello's
parents immigrated

to North Africa where
Carlos was born in 1910.

Carlos's father, Joseph
Marcello went on to Louisiana.

And when Carlos was
eight months old,

he and his mother
rejoined Joseph

in what would be
their new homeland.

As their small family expanded,

the Marcello's took to farming

a plot of land
outside New Orleans.

When Carlos was old enough,

he was given the
job of transporting

the produce his family grew,

to the markets in the city.

Coming in daily contact
with the rough world

of the Sicilian
dominated markets,

young Marcello got his
first exposure to the mafia.

It was then he realized
the farming life

was not going to be his calling.

Well, Carlos Marcello
was an extraordinarily

capable and
intelligent young man,

who left his family's
farm in the bayous,

and started committing crimes
in the city of New Orleans.

Marcello's
early criminal career

consisted mostly of
small time theft.

A botched back job eventually
landed Carlos behind bars

with a nine to 12
year prison sentence.

At the time of his conviction,

he was just 20 years old.

Through a mafia connection,

Marcello's father was able

to gain a pardon for his son

from Louisiana's
Governor O.K. Allen.

Young Carlos learned first-hand,

the benefits of having
friends in high places,

and the extent to which
mafia influence could reach.

By 1930, there were mafiosi

at every level of
government in New Orleans.

After his
abbreviated prison term,

Carlos returned to the
city and opened a bar

called The Brown Bomber,

named after the
fighter, Joe Lewis.

Soon he branched out and
began distributing jukeboxes

and pinball machines
in restaurants

around Algiers and Gretna.

Bar owners who
declined doing business

with Marcello or his brothers,

who soon persuaded to
change their minds.

So have you thought
about our offer?

Yeah, but like I told you,

I already have a jukebox.

Not one of ours.

You don't have
one of our machines,

you got a piece of junk.

Look, every bar and in parish
is putting in our machines.

I'm sure you don't want to be

the only one left
with a piece of junk.

Could be bad for business.

Very bad.

I think it was fear.

I don't know how
realistic that fear was,

or how realistic his
ability to carry it out,

but obviously there were many
people who thought he could.

And you know, I think anybody,

anybody who has the
connections and the money

can have somebody hurt
if they want that done.

Marcello's
reputation reached

New York Mafia Boss,
Frank Costello.

Under attack by
officials up North,

Costello was planning to
move his slot machines

to the New Orleans area.

You got a start into
the mafia basically,

after Costello brought
down all the slot machines.

And he then
successfully placed them

in all the bars and restaurants,

and began getting rich because

he was getting a cut, you know,

from all the, from every slot
machine that he installed.

He would split it with Costello.

The fact that
gambling was illegal

in Louisiana didn't
deter anyone.

Louisiana Senator, Huey Long,

agreeing to a 10%
cut of the take,

made sure the police
looked the other way.

Marcello wielded his
power with an iron hand.

He allegedly took people to
his property on the bayou

and had them disposed of.

And he had a bathtub
in back of the property,

and he'd fill it with lye.

And the unfortunate
victim would be,

would be decomposed in
the bathtub full of lye,

and then the tub would
be poured into the bayou.

Not everyone
buys the violent reputation.

As far as I knew,

Marcello did not have a
reputation for violence.

There were allegations years ago

that he might have
been involved in

a gang lands style hit on
the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

That was nothing but rumor.

It never went beyond rumor.

In my opinion, he
never had to resort

to that type of
strong arm techniques.

New York
boss, Frank Costello

was so pleased with how Marcello

ran the slot machine
business in New Orleans,

that when he opened
a Las Vegas style

gambling house in
Jefferson Parish,

Carlos was counted in
as a 12.5% partner.

By the time he was 37 years old,

Marcello had amassed
a small fortune

from his illegal dealings.

In 1947, he became
the boss of the

entire New Orleans Mafia.

He also became one of the
wealthiest men in Louisiana,

with dozens of illegal and
legitimate enterprises.

Although only five
feet, two inches tall,

and nicknamed "The Little Man,"

Marcello, became
the biggest leader

in the New Orleans Mafia,

and one of Louisiana's
wealthiest men.

His total worth was
estimated at $450 million.

Drugs. That was, that
was his big staple.

Heroin that would
come in from Sicily

into the Port of New Orleans,

and Carlos would
distribute it in Texas,

Louisiana, and
Mississippi, Alabama,

the whole southern
group of states.

Marcello's
territory extended

from the Mississippi River Delta

throughout much of
the Gulf States.

He became a master paying
off anyone necessary

to ensure his
operations ran smoothly.

He was able to
keep his activities

relatively free of
legal interference,

until concerned citizens invited

a former FBI agent
to investigate

the New Orleans
Police Department.

Aaron Cohen began to expose
a goings on in Louisiana,

which eventually came to the
attention of Robert Kennedy,

and a Senate committee
investigating corruption.

Since his rise to the top

of the New Orleans
Mafia in 1947,

Carlos Marcello's wealth
and power continued to grow.

Although the federal
government repeatedly tried

to put Marcello out of business,

he seemed impossible to convict.

For years, he and
his mafia family

seemed to be able to operate
with virtual impunity.

That began to change
to change, however,

with a vigorous
anti racketeering

and corruption
efforts of individuals

such as state police,
superintendent
Francis Bredenberg

and former FBI,
agent Aaron Cohen.

Brought to New Orleans in 1953

to investigate corruption
in the police department,

Cohen eventually headed up the

privately funded Metropolitan
Crime Commission.

Bredenberg was appointed in 1952

as superintendent
of state police,

which he says also had a
long history of corruption.

Huey Long had them originally,
he organized it in 1935,

and he used it like his
little private army.

But they were all politicians,

people that the politicians
asked him to hire,

and that's the way they did it.

So I cut that out right away.

And I fired a few.

I wished I had fired more.

Because these guys were so
used to taking kickbacks.

And I had a terrible
time with it.

Now, age
85 Bredenberg recalls
numerous incidents

of police corruption
when he was in office.

I raided a place called
The Four Leaf Clover Club.

I raided it seven times.

And the fourth time I raided it

'cause I saw these
young girls in there,

and we'd booked these
prostitutes with the
sheriff's office,

but they would never try them.

The sheriff was half owner
of the house of prostitution.

We finally put the owner,

the man who was
half owner of it,

with him in jail for 10 years,

on a mandatory narcotics
law that I had passed,

that liberal judges canceled,

annulled two years later.

The extent
of Carlos Marcello's

criminal activities
went well beyond

the mere control of police.

Former federal prosecutor,

Eades Hogue saw how far
that influence went.

He controlled the
traditional rackets along the,

the Southern Gulf Coast,
primarily in Louisiana,

to some degree in Mississippi.

There were allegations that he
had influence even in Texas.

And by traditional rackets,

rackets like organized
prostitution,

illegal gambling, loan sharking
and things of that nature.

He was involved in
so many businesses,

in gambling, and running
restaurants, in oil.

He ran a vast conglomerate,

maybe of 50 different businesses
all under his umbrella.

In his
investigations,

Aaron Cohen learned that all

trails led to the
Marcello organization.

Marcello seemed to have
both the New Orleans

and Jefferson Parish
police departments

and municipal administrations
in his pocket.

Cohen also discovered that
Marcello could be connected

to at least three murders,

none of which Marcello
was ever charged with.

In 1959, Cohen was able
to bring his findings

to the attention of
the McClellan Committee

and its Chief Counsel,
Robert Kennedy.

The committee was
already waging war

against the mafia in
New York and Chicago.

The top mobsters of Louisiana
maintain contact with,

and join in common
objectives with

their counterparts elsewhere.

Freely, and expansively,
they move around the country

and are visited in turn.

Four years, unlike their
mafia predecessors,

the Marcello mob has
found little need

to fight against
officials charged

with exercising police powers.

The Carlos Marcellos of today

do not battle the
long arm of the law,

for they find that
the last longer,

grow richer, and
look more respectable

by linking arms with
willing officers of the law.

Through Robert
Kennedy's efforts

in the Justice Department,

our organized crime and
racketeering section

really was established.

That was a Robert
Kennedy brainchild,

to concentrate a
group of prosecutors

who were specially trained

to engage in traditional
organized crime investigations.

Marcello
and other mobsters

who appeared before
the committee,

refused to acknowledge the
existence of the mafia.

Even FBI Director, Jay Edgar
Hoover seemed to concur.

Hoover had long maintained
that the mafia was a myth.

In 1957, however,

60 mafia leaders were rounded up

at a house in upstate New York.

This seemed to confirm
once and for all,

the existence of a
national crime syndicate.

Absent from this meeting
though was Carlos Marcello.

He had such special
privileges within the mafia,

that he didn't have to attend
any of those big conclaves.

You know, that there was
one that an Appalachian,

where the heads of all
the families gathered.

That was broken
up by the police,

but Marcello wouldn't
have to attend those.

Whatever the
reason for Marcello's absence,

he was still
subpoenaed to appear

before the McClellan committee.

Marcello defiantly pleaded
the Fifth Amendment

to 66 questions that Robert
Kennedy directed toward him.

His arrogance and contempt
for the proceedings

provided even more incentive for

Robert Kennedy to
attack the mafia.

Marcello even refused to

answer the question
of where he was born.

This very withholding
of information

became the weapon
that Robert Kennedy

would use to go after Marcello.

Kennedy learned that
Marcello had obtained

an illegal Guatemalan
birth certificate,

and an entry described him

as a citizen of Guatemala.

Kennedy turned to the one agency

Marcello did not
have his hands in,

the Immigration and
Naturalization Service.

He ordered the INS
to expel Marcello

from the United
States without delay.

What exactly is going on here?

On, on
April 14th, 1961,

Marcello made a routine
check-in with immigration.

He was told to sit down.

The immigration agent then
read a letter to Marcello,

To Carlos Marcello,

it has come to the
attention of this office,

that your place
of birth is listed

as the country of Guatemala.

And as such, you are officially
a citizen of that country.

You are here with ordered return

to your country of
origin immediately.

What is this all about here?

You are overdue on your Visa.

Why are you doing this to me?

What's happening over here?

Marcello was
taken to a waiting car,

and whisked to the airport
and flown to Guatemala City.

The legality of the deportation
has always been in question.

I reviewed all the
INS files on that case.

And let me say this,

I'm not certain at all that

fundamental notions
of due process

were followed in connection
with that arrest.

He got no hearing,

he got no opportunity
to consult counsel,

as I understand it,

his counsel were
not able to consult

anybody connected with
the Justice Department.

This guy was just swept
up, taken in a car,

put on an airplane, and
flown outta the country.

Marcello spent two
agonizing months in exile.

After making his way
through the rugged

central American jungle,

Marcello somehow got
back to Louisiana.

How exactly Marcello was able

to re-enter the US is uncertain.

Investigator, Ed Becker
believes Marcello used his

connections to sneak
back into the country.

New Orleans fishing
boats were down there

for the crab and
all that, you know,

which they did periodically,

like once a week at least.

What he'd have to do,

make one phone call and says,

"I want to boat here
tomorrow at 8:00 PM."

And give it to Joe, and whoever,

you know, somebody he trusted.

And that's it.

And when he couldn't take
like an airplane back,

or drive back,

gettin' stopped at the border,

or, you know, driving,
and the flight,

he naturally wouldn't do that.

'Cause you remember,
there's always guards,

always FBI at the airport.

LA and New Orleans always
photographed the mob

when they came off the planes.

The government
backed deportation effort

seemed to have backfired.

The fact that he
could sneaked back in

made him a even more of a hero

to the mob than he was before
he'd got, was deported.

So, well, everybody knew he was

really the Godfather
of the United States.

For Marcello,
the deportation episode

was something he
wasn't going to forget.

His fury toward Kennedy
reportedly became an obsession.

Kennedy also was
enraged on hearing

that Marcello was able
to reenter the country.

He acted quickly,

and had Marcello indicted
for illegal entry.

The INS ruled Marcello
was an undesirable alien,

and once again,
ordered him deported,

a ruling that Marcello's
attorneys appealed.

They never stopped trying.

Washington DC never stopped
trying to deport Marcello.

We did not get directly
involved in that,

other than whatever
they asked us to do.

But Washington really never
gave up on deporting him.

Marcello
never forgot the

harrowing and
humiliating experience

of the forced
deportation at the hands

of Robert Kennedy.

In the early 1960s,

Carlos Marcello was facing

the severest challenge
to his empire yet,

in the form of a newly elected
Kennedy administration.

President John F.
Kennedy took office,

and appointed his
brother Robert,

to the post of Attorney General.

Now with greater
power and authority,

Robert Kennedy and the president

continue their campaign
to bring down Marcello.

What Marcello needed was
for that threat to go away.

On November 22nd, 1963,
that's exactly what happened.

President Kennedy
was visiting Dallas

as part of a Democratic
party campaign tour.

As a presidential motorcade

made its way through
Dealey Plaza,

gunshots suddenly rang out.

The president was shot,

and rushed to nearby
Parkland Hospital.

Within an hour, John F.
Kennedy was pronounced dead.

A short time later,

Dallas Police
apprehended a young man

by the name of
Lee Harvey Oswald.

Though quickly fingered
as a president's assassin,

Oswald denied involvement.

I really don't know what
the situation is about.

Nobody has told me anything
except that I'm accused

of murdering a policeman.

Before
anyone could thoroughly

interrogate Oswald, though,

the Dallas nightclub
owner by the name

of Jack Ruby slipped
through police barricades.

Amidst the confusion resulting

from the killing of President
Kennedy and then Oswald,

numerous conspiracy
theories began to emerge.

The list of possible
co-conspirators
included the Soviets,

who had recently backed down
on the Cuban missile crisis.

Cuba, still angry over
the Bay of Pigs invasion.

The CIA whom Kennedy had
threatened to disband,

supported the slain South
Vietnamese President, Diem,

who held the Kennedy
administration responsible

for Diem's death, and
of course, the mafia,

who had more than their share
of gripes with the Kennedys.

The government and
the media began taking

a closer look at the
alleged assassin.

Oswald often visited New Orleans

where he apparently volunteered
in a pro castor organization

called the Fair Play
for Cuba Committee.

Oswald was seen
passing out pamphlets

for the group on
New Orleans Streets.

Oswald's affiliation
to this movement

was one thing that
led many people

to speculate on Fidel Castro's

involvement in
the assassination.

Another theory linked
the assassination

to a joint effort between
the CIA and mafia,

who were both anti-Castro,

albeit for different reasons.

The CIA viewed Castro's
Cuba as a satellite

of the Soviet Union, and a
threat to national security.

As for the Mafia, Castro
was directly responsible

for shutting down
their lucrative Cuban
gambling operations.

After the disastrous
Bay of Pigs invasion,

both the CIA and the Mafia
blamed President Kennedy

for the of the invasion,

and for Castro
remaining in power.

Without any concrete
evidence to support

any of these various theories,

the controversial
Warren Commission

concluded that
Oswald acted alone.

Nearly 15 years later,
however, in 1979,

the House
Assassinations Committee

decided to reopen
the investigation.

New evidence surfaced to
suggest the possibility

that Oswald shot the president

on behalf of Carlos Marcello.

By the summer of 1962,

Robert Kennedy had tightened
his grip on the mafia,

and brought new charges
against Marcello.

With two federal indictments,

and a standing
deportation order,

Marcello was living each day
under a cloud of uncertainty.

No, I did not expect that.

We had had no indication

that anything like this
was going to happen.

New information
revealed possible links

between Oswald and Marcello.

While in New Orleans,

Oswald lived with his
uncle Dutch Murit,

who was affiliated with members

of Marcello's gambling racket.

Oswald was also possibly
connected to David Ferry,

who was ironically a member

of a violently anti-Castro
Cuban revolutionary front,

an organization heavily
financed by Carlos Marcello.

Around the time that Kennedy
announced his trip to Dallas,

Carlos Marcello and David Ferry

were planning Marcello's
defense in a legal case,

scheduled to go to trial in
New Orleans in early November.

In addition to
meeting with Marcello

at the Town and Country Motel,

Ferry also allegedly met with
Oswald in the French Quarter.

Conspiracy theorists speculated

that Marcello was
looking for someone

outside his organization
to take care of Kennedy.

And then learned
of Dutch Murit's

oddball nephew,
Lee Harvey Oswald.

A connection between
Oswald's killer Jack Ruby,

and Carlos Marcello
was also discovered.

In 1946, a year
before Carlos Marcello

assumed power in Louisiana,

the Chicago mob
launched a campaign

to take over the rockets
in the Dallas area,

and gain control of the
Dallas police force.

Assisting in the
effort was Jack Ruby.

Ruby stayed on in Dallas,

opening up a nightclub,

and acting as a middleman
between the mafia

and the police department.

Jack Ruby swore he'd
shot Lee Harvey Oswald

to vindicate the president.

It has been proposed, however,

that Marcello needed
someone with access

to the Dallas Police
to silence Oswald,

and Ruby was a
perfect candidate.

Whether it will be ever
definitively determined,

if Marcello or any other
mobster had anything to do

with the assassination
of John F. Kennedy,

it is fairly safe
to say that many

of Carlos Marcello's
worst headaches

went away on
November 22nd, 1963.

Long before John Gotti
became known as a Teflon Don,

the head of the New
Orleans mafia was proving

to be virtually immune to
government enforcement efforts.

Since the 1930s, Carlos
Marcello had managed

to dodge federal probes
linking him to organized crime.

When asked by reporters of his

involvement with the rackets,

Marcello had a
standard response.

But still, what
was your answer to that?

- Absolutely not.
- How long ago did-

When asked about
his business ventures,

Marcello had a stock answer.

Plan investment in motels.

What's your
opinion of all the talk about

still your involvements
in the rackets,

and you're being
labeled a mafia boss

and a little man of
rackets in Louisiana?

Just a lot of lies, and bad
statement from Aaron Cohen,

people like that, that's
making a living out of it.

In 1966, however,

the allegations became
impossible to refute.

Marcello was picked up
by New York City police

at a restaurant in Queens,

along with some of the biggest
names and organized crime.

Upon his released and
arrival to New Orleans,

Marcello found himself besieged
by reporters and cameras.

He also placed himself
in more legal turmoil

after an encounter with
FBI Agent, Patrick Collins.

He returned to New Orleans,

in the airport, he made one
big error, a big mistake.

In the airport, he
spotted an FBI official,

and the FBI official
came up to him

and said, "Hey Carlos,

"we understand you
guys got got caught up

"there in Los
Stellar restaurant."

Where about Marcello hauled off,

and practically broke the
guy, the FBI guy's skull.

Then that landed him in
prison for six months.

Marcello and
his lawyers had their

own take on the incident.

He positively
did not know that

Mr. Pat Collins
was an FBI agent.

And the evidence plainly shows

that Mr. Pat Collins
was a very belligerent

young man at that
particular moment.

And he has quoted
Marcello as saying,

"Are you looking for trouble,
or do you want trouble?"

Instead of trying
to explain himself,

Mr. Pat Collins says,

"I can handle trouble,"

in a manner to show
that he wanted to fight.

A judge
convicted and sentenced

Marcello to two years.

But as he had in the past,

Marcello used
political clout to have

his sentence reduced
to a mere six months.

However powerful
he was nationally,

Marcello, continually
wielded political influence

for personal gain
on his own turf.

In an expose about
corruption in Louisiana,

"Life Magazine," looked at
Marcello's outrageous exercise

of power over state officials.

The article claimed
Marcello persuaded

the Louisiana State government
to spend taxpayers money

to improve his personal

6400 acre swampland
property, Churchill Farms.

If fully dyked and drained,

the property could
be worth a reputed

$60 million in
prime real estate.

It took four years
and over $1 million

to build a levee,

which benefited no one
in the entire state

except Carlos Marcello.

Since even before the days

of Louisiana's notorious
Senator, Huey Long,

corruption had been
an integral part

of the state's political system.

Nobody understands the
relationship between

politics and
corruption in Louisiana

better than Attorney, John Volz-

Just how far the drug
lords would go to get-

who's
unwillingness to play along

may have cost him two
campaigns for sheriff,

and District Attorney
of St. Tammany Parish.

They give us no break at all.

I characterize
Louisiana as a place

that is known for corruption.

It's known for corruption.

And why? Because
there's so many corrupt

public officials in this state.

Not all of 'em,
but a lot of 'em.

Too many of 'em.

And, you know, it's said that

people in Louisiana don't
tolerate corruption,

they demand it.

And so they find people
who do illegal things,

but who are glib.

They find that funny.

They find it amusing.

It's entertainment. Not
all people are like that.

Not all the people.

I'm not, I'm not indicting,

in the general
sense of the word,

all the citizens of the state,

'cause there are are
some fine people here

that don't wanna see this.

But there are too many,

too many politicians
with their hands out.

After
formed a committee in 1951,

and the McClellan
hearing 10 years later,

Marcello walked away with his
empire and reputation intact.

In 1979 though,

Marcello faced a new challenge

when The House Select
Committee on Assassinations

reopened the investigation

into President
Kennedy's assassination,

based on new evidence
and new witnesses.

Ed Becker, a Las Vegas
casino investigator

who moved in and out
of mafia circles,

was one of those witnesses.

He had occasion to
meet with Marcello

in 1962 as part of
a business venture.

He was able to gain
the mobster's trust
by dropping names.

We were drinking,
and the, and I said,

"Boy, I tell you, Bobby's
sure not happy anymore

"that you got back
in the country."

And I said, "Everybody in
Las Vegas talking about it."

Which of course
stimulated his ego.

And now he's starting
to mutter to me

about Bobby Kennedy
and the Kennedy family.

And he keeps it up,
and he keeps it up,

and now I keep prodding him.

You know, you know, saying,

"Well, he's not gonna be in
office that much longer."

I didn't know.

I mean, Kennedy, just what,

been reelected, or,
and Bobby was going to,

I guess go on with him.

And this infuriated Carlos
just even thinking about it.

And that's when he spat
out this Sicilian phrase,

which I had to do by memory.

I mean I don't speak Italian,

so I, you know, whatever.

And, and phonetically I could
under, I could grasp it.

I had, I have a good memory.

And so I was able to
call an Italian consulate

one time and find
out what it meant.

And I found out what it meant.

It meant, you know,
you cut off the tail,

the head, and the tail dies.

Well that means instead of

killing the president
of the United States,

we would've been
assassinating him,

which would've been, you know,
the first obvious thought.

I mean that first obvious
thought is "Kill Bobby."

In the end, the House Select
Committee on Assassinations

came short of indicting him.

Marcello, like so
many times before,

had managed to
avoid prosecution.

In 1979, however,
the wheels of justice

would catch up with
Marcello as the FBI launched

an elaborate undercover sting
operation called BRILAB,

an acronym for
bribery and labor.

The FBI was able to infiltrate
Marcello's inner sanctum

through the use of an informer.

One particular fellow
that cooperated was a

gentleman by the
name of Joe Hauser.

As a result of that,

we began a series

of electronic
surveillance activities

involving phone taps on
Marcello's office phones.

At one point,

the court authorized a
electronic surveillance

by way of a microphone
in his office,

here in the New Orleans area.

At one time, as I think
I remember correctly,

we even tapped his home phone.

The FBI
recruited Hauser,

a notorious swindler
who at the time

was facing a 10 count
conviction charge

for bribery and racketeering.

- What's in it for me?
- In a deal

with the Justice Department,

Hauser would receive a
reduced sentence in exchange

for turning
government informant.

The strategy was
to present Marcello

with an opportunity
to assist Hauser

in obtaining state
insurance contracts.

And he was presented with an
opportunity and he took it.

Not only did he take it,

but Marcello had
his own ideas about

how to proceed and
who to approach.

We do the whole
state if necessary.

in securing
these insurance

contracts on stadium employees.

What
Marcello didn't know,

was that their conversations
were being taped

by a recorder hidden
in Hauser's briefcase.

Once those
approaches were made,

we were off to the races,

and Marcello became
a dominant figure

in directing Hauser and
undercover FBI agents

who were masquerading as agents,

who had connections with the

Prudential Life
Insurance Company.

In exchange for
his influential connections,

Marcello would receive cash,

and a cut in profits from
any insurance contracts

he steered to
Fidelity Prudential.

The FBI agents,
the undercover agents

were introduced to then
commissioner of administration,

which is like second to the
Governor, Mr. Charles Romer,

who we alleged, and
obviously proved,

that he had taken money,
I think it was $25,000,

to steer the state's
employees insurance company,

insurance business to
these particular agents.

And in the process,

the FBI listened to
his conversations

for about 19 months.

In addition to the $25,000,

Marcello promised
Romer monthly payments

of $43,000 for the
life of the contracts.

I think the
significance of the case

is not only the prosecution

and conviction of a person
who was reputed to be

way up in the, in the organized
crime scale in this area,

but also the fact that,

that you could see the tentacles

of organized crime moving into
corrupting state officials.

Marcello
became concerned.

There was a chance that
Romer could lose his position

after the Republican
gubernatorial primary.

He decided to hedge
his bet on Romer,

and offer a bribe to then

Democratic Lieutenant
Governor, James Fitz-Morris.

Marcello believed
Fitz could direct

certain contracts his way,

especially if Romer was
removed from his position.

Fitz-Morris took the bait,

and accepted Marcello's
bribe for $10,000.

Carlos Marcello's reign as

the untouchable
godfather of Louisiana,

ended in August of 1980

when a grand jury
filed a 70-year-old

on guilty of numerous
racketeering charges.

Indicted alongside Marcello,
Romer, I. Irving Davidson,

a longtime friend of Marcello's,

and an influential
Washington Lobbyist

who had originally introduced
Hauser to Marcello.

Vincent Marinello, a
lawyer for Marcello.

Davidson and Marinello were
acquitted of all charges,

while Romer would
be found guilty,

and sentenced to
serve a prison term.

On June 1st, 1982,

due to his poor health,

Marcello was taken to the
United States Medical Center

for federal prisoners
in Springfield, Missouri

to begin serving his sentence.

After Carlos
Marcello's conviction,

the family's influence
in New Orleans

political circles in
the underworld declined.

In 1988, Carlos's
brother Sammy Marcello

was indicted for
money laundering.

And several Marcello
owned restaurants

like The Louisiana
fell into bankruptcy.

Carlos Marcel died
approximately four
or five years ago.

He was succeeded
by Anthony Corolla.

Anthony Corolla was involved
in gaming, gambling activity,

and they were meeting
at a restaurant

in the French Quarter in
the city of New Orleans,

and unbeknowing to them,

they were being watched
and monitored by the FBI,

and the FBI actually
caught them plotting

to takeover worldwide gaming
in Louisiana route operators.

One of the people that
came from out of town,

was a gentleman by
the name Tanfield,

who had connections
to the Genovese, and
the Gambino family.

FBI
Wire taps indicate

the Gambino and
Bruno-Scarfo crime families

were laying the
groundwork for making

New Orleans a major port of
entry for cocaine smuggling.

In the early 90s,
the FBI conducted a,

actually a five
year investigation
that began in 1990,

and ended in the result
of the convictions

of 20 LCN members
and associates.

The LCN in New Orleans,

we believe is pretty much kind

of looking at an
open city right now.

What I mean by open city,

there is not any specifically
defined one family

that is concentrating
on establishing

itself in criminal activity.

In New Orleans,
a history of affiliation

between organized crime
and public institutions

seems destined to repeat itself.

I would venture to guess,

there's corruption here.

And yes, there's
corruption in America,

and I think there
always will be.

But, law enforcement
should be vigilant,

and continue to investigate
and prosecute corruption.

It's the only tool
available to combat it.

It will never eradicate it.

Never, as long as human beings

continue to be human beings.

But it must be done,

because I think it tempers
and restrains excesses.

On the other hand,

the government needs to
operate within the law.

And, should always
be mindful of that.

Despite
its checkered past,

the future of New Orleans
is looking brighter.

Over the last four years

with the new police
chief we do have here,

we've seen things turn around.

The quality of
life in New Orleans

has improved tremendously.

Crime has dropped,

the homicide rate has
dropped tremendously.

We were averaging 400,
430 murders a year.

It's down probably 40%.

So, across the board,

the quality of life is improved.

By exploiting a political
system rife with corruption,

and by wielding fear and bribery
like precision instruments,

Marcello was able
to amass an empire.

Only through diligence were
honest law enforcement,

and political
officials finally able

to bring down the godfather of
New Orleans and his dynasty.

I'm Robert Stack.

Thanks for joining us.