Read Online The Quiet Don: The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino by Matt Birkbeck - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Matt Birkbeck
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his answers would tend to incriminate him, Size refused to give any testimony about his activities or his dealings with Cohen. He also refused to explain suspicious long-distance telephone calls made every Friday from his home to Allentown, Reading, Schuylkill Haven, Wilkes-Barre and Williamsport.
Jimmy Mack, of Wilkes-Barre, also known as Vincenzo Maccarone, testified before the committee. He admitted owning pinball machines and a few slot machines and said that he grossed $50 to $60 a day as a numbers banker in Wilkes-Barre. Pretending that he did not know whether the numbers business was against the law, he pointed to the fact that the police never interfered with him or gave him trouble in connection with his slot machines. He added that he operated the slot machines in private clubs outside the city, and none of them ever was seized.
Captain Harry E. McElroy, director of the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information of the Pennsylvania State Police, with headquarters at Harrisburg, told the committee that Sergeant Charles Hartman, of the state police, had reported a bribe offer from Jimmy Mack, acting on behalf of Cohen, and that the state police commissioner had given instructions to Hartman “to string Mack along,” because all signs indicated that the time was approaching to close in on the Cohen operations. The advisability of trying to bait Cohen into passing the bribe was considered, but this was eventually abandoned in favor of the direct thrust that would cripple his operations. Mack denied the bribe offer, but the committee sees no reason for doubting the word of Captain McElroy.
The Treasury-balance racket, Captain McElroy said, has two divisions. In one division are a number of independent operators. The other division consists of the syndicate headed by Cohen. The state is divided into districts with separate organizations in each district. The racket runs into many millions; in fact, Captain McElroy estimated that it grosses more than $30 million per year, with the syndicate operation accounting for more than $20 million of this figure. He identified Size as Cohen’s principal representative in Pennsylvania and declared that information in the hands of the state police indicates that Cohen operates on an interstate basis.
Captain McElroy told the committee that raids made during the past one and one-half years have resulted in confiscation of millions of tickets and printing equipment, material and supplies worth tremendous amounts of money, but he complained that it is difficult to get evidence against the leaders. “They sit behind somewhere and the money comes in to them and they don’t have direct operations, and that’s that,” Captain McElroy declared. He estimated that the operators realize net profit of about 20 percent of the gross intake. He said he had heard of many instances where the racket interests refused to pay the big “hits.”
Captain McElroy was asked whether use of the U.S. Treasury balance has the psychological effect of giving the lottery the benefit of the prestige of the federal government. He testified that he was certain that this was so.
George T. Harris, superintendent of the Washington office of Western Union, testified that a Western Union employee is sent every morning to obtain the Treasury balance, and he transmits it directly from the Treasury Department to Western Union’s commercial news department in New York. The number is wired from there to Chicago, from which it is wired to sixteen subscribers to this special service. Fifty-one subscribers in the East are serviced from New York. Three Scranton subscribers are included in the list.
The committee also questioned Joseph Baldassari, a partner in the Baldassari Amusement Company, but he proved to be extremely uncooperative. The committee had information to the effect that Baldassari and his brother Al are engaged in an extensive gambling enterprise operating under official sanction. However, he
Jimmy Mack, of Wilkes-Barre, also known as Vincenzo Maccarone, testified before the committee. He admitted owning pinball machines and a few slot machines and said that he grossed $50 to $60 a day as a numbers banker in Wilkes-Barre. Pretending that he did not know whether the numbers business was against the law, he pointed to the fact that the police never interfered with him or gave him trouble in connection with his slot machines. He added that he operated the slot machines in private clubs outside the city, and none of them ever was seized.
Captain Harry E. McElroy, director of the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information of the Pennsylvania State Police, with headquarters at Harrisburg, told the committee that Sergeant Charles Hartman, of the state police, had reported a bribe offer from Jimmy Mack, acting on behalf of Cohen, and that the state police commissioner had given instructions to Hartman “to string Mack along,” because all signs indicated that the time was approaching to close in on the Cohen operations. The advisability of trying to bait Cohen into passing the bribe was considered, but this was eventually abandoned in favor of the direct thrust that would cripple his operations. Mack denied the bribe offer, but the committee sees no reason for doubting the word of Captain McElroy.
The Treasury-balance racket, Captain McElroy said, has two divisions. In one division are a number of independent operators. The other division consists of the syndicate headed by Cohen. The state is divided into districts with separate organizations in each district. The racket runs into many millions; in fact, Captain McElroy estimated that it grosses more than $30 million per year, with the syndicate operation accounting for more than $20 million of this figure. He identified Size as Cohen’s principal representative in Pennsylvania and declared that information in the hands of the state police indicates that Cohen operates on an interstate basis.
Captain McElroy told the committee that raids made during the past one and one-half years have resulted in confiscation of millions of tickets and printing equipment, material and supplies worth tremendous amounts of money, but he complained that it is difficult to get evidence against the leaders. “They sit behind somewhere and the money comes in to them and they don’t have direct operations, and that’s that,” Captain McElroy declared. He estimated that the operators realize net profit of about 20 percent of the gross intake. He said he had heard of many instances where the racket interests refused to pay the big “hits.”
Captain McElroy was asked whether use of the U.S. Treasury balance has the psychological effect of giving the lottery the benefit of the prestige of the federal government. He testified that he was certain that this was so.
George T. Harris, superintendent of the Washington office of Western Union, testified that a Western Union employee is sent every morning to obtain the Treasury balance, and he transmits it directly from the Treasury Department to Western Union’s commercial news department in New York. The number is wired from there to Chicago, from which it is wired to sixteen subscribers to this special service. Fifty-one subscribers in the East are serviced from New York. Three Scranton subscribers are included in the list.
The committee also questioned Joseph Baldassari, a partner in the Baldassari Amusement Company, but he proved to be extremely uncooperative. The committee had information to the effect that Baldassari and his brother Al are engaged in an extensive gambling enterprise operating under official sanction. However, he
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