' (203

) Dallas w

as anoth

er area in w

hich

the F

BI w

as far less active

against La C

osa Nostra. A

lthough Joseph Francis C

ivello, a "counselor to

the Italian

com

munity

at large" acco

rdin

g to

the F

BI, atten

ded

the

A palachin m

eeting in 1957, the Crim

e Condition R

eport filed by the D

allas field o

ffice for th

e perio

d en

din

g F

ebru

ary 2

6, 1

96

2, stated

, "T

here is n

o ev

iden

ce of illeg

al activity byJo

seph F

rancis C

ivello

." T

his seine report concluded that "Texas is not a place w

here the Mafia

has th

e kin

d o

f contro

l it has elsew

here." D

allas also d

id n

ot h

ave in

opera

tiole

ctro

nic

surv

eilla

nce in

1963:—

- -- (294)

Org

anized

crime in

telligen

ce relative to

Carlo

s Marcello

and

Santos T

ratticantwas w

ell as the Dallas area w

as, therefore; insufficient-rraIra-S

7May have been involved

assassinato

-John-F

enned

y.-

- -

(295)

It is evident the Kennedy adm

inistration launched the strongest F

ederal effort ever against organized crime. L

eaders and mem

bers of L

a Cosa N

ostra were clearly concerned by it and blam

ed the President

to so

nic ex

tent, b

ut m

ost d

efinitely

his b

roth

er, Atty

. Gen

. Robert F

. K

ennedy. It was also clear that organized crim

e would have benefitted

from

the assassin

ation o

f John F

. Ken

ned

y an

d th

e chan

ges it w

ould

bring in G

overnment policy and officials. N

evertheless, it is extremely

unlikely that the national comm

ission of La C

osa Nostra w

as involved in

any

plan

to k

ill the P

residen

t. It was facin

g stro

ng

intern

al dis-

sensio

n an

d o

ther p

roblem

s and d

oes n

oM

ppear to

hav

e been

in a

position to undertake such a major act.

(296) A

review of the history of L

a Cosa N

ostra in the United S

tates rev

eals. moreo

ver, n

o p

receden

t for th

e assassinatio

n o

f a Presid

ent.

In fact, lie is among several categories of people against w

hom orga-

nized crime traditionally has not com

mitted acts ocviolence. N

or does th

e meth

od o

f the assassin

ation co

nfo

rm to

the trad

itional p

attern

of organized crime m

urders—it involved people w

ho were not m

embers

of La C

osa Nostra, one of w

hom w

as unstable, it does not seem to have

had

any

auth

orizatio

n fro

m an

y lead

er, it was co

nd

ucted

with

ou

t the

usu

al precau

tions th

at pro

tect the assassin

from

bein

g ap

preh

ended

, an

d th

e murd

er weap

on w

as atypical. N

everth

eless, there h

ave b

een

excep

tion

s to th

e traditio

nal p

attern an

d th

e Ken

ned

y assassin

ation

h

as parallels to

these ex

ceptio

ns. T

hu

s inv

olv

emen

t by

ind

ivid

ual

mem

bers organized crime cannot be precluded.

Subm

itted b

y :

RA

LPH SA

LERN

O, C

onsultant.

III. CA

RL

OS

MA

RC

EL

LO

CO

NT

EN

TS

The p

ositio

n o

f Marc

eilo

with

in th

e N

atio

nal C

rime S

yndic

ate

. M

are

ello

: A K

ennedy a

dm

inistra

tion ta

rget_

D

ep

orta

tion

effo

rts

Inere

ned F

edera

l pre

ssure

Alle

ged

as, :tssln

atio

n th

reat b

y M

arc

ella

F

BI in

vestig

atio

n o

f the a

lleg

atio

n

Com

mitte

e in

vestig

atio

n o

f the a

llegatio

n

B

eck

er 's

sta

tem

ent to

the c

om

mitte

e

Analy

sis

of th

e e

vid

ence

(297) F

ollo

win

g th

e com

pletio

n o

f its inv

esti,__

_,, ation of organized

crime th

e com

mittee co

nclu

ded

in its rep

Ort 1 hat C

arlos Alafeello,

a Itd.ilanes R

. - Hotta each

--hail th

a.tnotiv

e,_u=

s, am

t opportunity to plan and execute a conspiracy to a

ssassin

ate

Ti-

dent,-Iceimerty70

iiiTabre -

e ide nee, Ric com

in ttee

com

irdE

irtliiirit was u

nlik

ely that. any-one-of them

-was involved in

suci a

. ccii:T

icy

. Nev

ertheless, th

e possib

ilit • that o

ne o

r more o

f them

was involy_iT

Jraiuttntitbu-prn

itti10

.--

(2?)8

) While th

e com

mittee's in

vestig

ation estab

lished

evid

ence o

f association betw

een Jack Ruby, the m

urderer of the President's assas-

sin, and acquaintances or associates of Marcello, T

rafficante. and Hoffe,

similar ev

iden

ce was d

ifficult to

establish

in th

e case of L

ee Harv

ey

Osw

ald. D

espite th

is, som

e such

associatio

ns—

bo

th-d

irect and

in-

direct—

wereiT

hrt-in

dicated

in v

aryin

g d

egrees b

etween

Osw

ald an

d --

varions-efirt, Tr7S- Iiiikiiiig at feast some affiliation_ or_associatien w

ith the orgauizeslerim

e network of - M

arcello, the lon g tim

e leads • of the MA

T.-

in N

ew ( • •

. (299)

Marceltom

Va- sT

as noted

in th

e consu

ltant's rep

ort, o

ne o

f the

major leaders of the national crim

e syndicate. Certainly, he w

as one of the m

ost successful at evading the intelligence-gathering efforts of law

enfo

rcemen

t agen

cies and

at avo

idin

g co

nv

iction

, at least in recen

t. years. H

e became a prim

e target of the Kennedy adm

inistration, which

wascle

urfelift -t- tiii- v

ely

-p .ratra.

-et cd deportation proceed- ings

had

iesin_ju

iiiiiticl-ainst h

inii in

1953. T

he serio

usn

ess of

Robert ‘ennedy's intent w

as evidenced by the successful, albeit brief, deportation of M

arcello in 1961. The F

ederal Governm

ent. also stepped up other investigative efforts, principally in the area of tax evasion and intelligence gathering.

THE PO

SITION

OF M

AR

CELLO

WITH

IN TH

E NA

TION

AL C

RIM

E SYN

DIC

ATE

(300) Carlos M

arcello, now 08, has been identified by F

ederal author- ities as th

e leadin

g M

afia figure in

New

Orlean

s. La., fo

r almost. 3

0

years. (I) I

[is criminal syndicate has long provided a classic illustra-

tion of the destructive impact that organized crim

e has on Am

erican society.

(61)

Para

gra

ph

(30

0)

(333)

(333)

(35

8,

(

37

0

(3

10

) (3

90)

(399)

(H

O)

I

(301) T

he ex

act, place o

f Marcello

's birth

on F

ebru

ary 6

, 1910, h

as

long been in doubt, and at one point, was a central question in a lengthy

dep

ortatio

n p

roceed

ing. N

everth

eless, it is gen

erallly b

elieved

that

Marcell() \v

as horn

in T

imis, N

orth

Africa, w

ith th

e nam

e Calo

gero

Minacore. (F2)

00)

Marcello

's first contact w

ith th

e law cam

e on N

ovem

ber 2

9,

1929. when he w

as arrested at the age of 19 by New

Orleans police as

an accesso

ry b

efore an

d after th

e robbery

of a lo

cal ban

k.(3

) The

charg

es were su

bseq

uen

tly d

ismissed

. Less th

an 6

month

s later, on

May 13, 1930, he w

as convicted of assault and robbery and was sen-

tenced

to th

e State p

eniten

tiary fo

r 9 to

14 y

ears. He serv

ed less th

an

5. (4

) It was d

urin

g h

is pro

secutio

n o

n th

ese, charg

es that M

arcello

first came to the attention of the public and press. T

estimony disclosed

that he had personally planned the crime—

a grocery store robbery—

using an interesting method of operation. (5

) in testim

ony b

efore th

e

McC

lellan Senate com

mittee in 1959, A

aron M. K

ohn, the managing

directo

r of th

e Metro

politan

Crim

e Com

missio

n o

f New

Orlean

s and

a former F

BI agent testified that. M

arcello had shielded his own com

-

plicity

in th

e crime b

y in

ducin

g tw

o ju

ven

iles to carry

out. th

e rob-

bery. (0) K

ohn testified that. Marcello and a confederate had supplied

the ju

ven

iles with

a gun an

d in

structio

ns o

n th

eir "getaw

ay."(7

)

The p

lan h

ad g

one aw

ry w

hen

the tw

o w

ere later appreh

ended

and

pressu

red b

y au

thorities to

iden

tify th

e "Wrg

her-u

ps.

(8) K

ohn also

noted that. M

arcello "was referred to as a F

agin" in press accounts at

the tim

e, in an

apparen

t reference to

the D

icken

s character w

ho re-

cruited juveniles to carry out. his crimes. (9

)

(303) In 1935, after receiving a pardon by the Governor of L

ouisiana,

Marcello's early underw

orld career continued, with charges being filed

against. him for a second assault and robbery, violation of F

ederal In-

ternal Revenue law

s, assault. with intent to kill a N

ew O

rleans police

officer, an

d y

et anoth

er assault. an

d ro

bbery

.(70) 'M

arcell() was n

ot

pro

secuted

on th

e vario

us ch

arges. In

193

• of w

hat_

_F

edera

l--

agen

ts describ

ed as "th

e big

geat_

ma m

ana_

ring in

New

Orlean

s-his:. •

• o w

as arrestediu

ld ch

arged

with

the saleo

f more,th

an____

23 potrrrdsce,

Despite_rezeiving_ another_ lengthy

prigarrtk-ittenelvanftlFS,71■=830 fine M

amello_serazedless than 10 m

onths a'4

. arra

nged-te

--sd•tfo

lifor $

400. (1

2)

Oth

er charg

es were

brought against Marcello over the next several years, steM

ming from

such alleged o

ffenses as narcotics sale, a high-speed automobile chase,

and assaulting an investigative reporter ; these w

ere never prosecuted, and the records have since. disappeared. (1

3)

(304) D

uring the 1940's, Marcello becam

e associated with N

ew Y

ork

Mafia, lead

er Fran

k C

ostello

in th

e operatio

n o

f a slot m

achin

e net-

work. ( /.;) C

ostello was then regarded by seine authorities as one of the

most in

fluen

tial leaders o

f org

anized

crime in

the U

nited

States an

d

was com

monly referred to in the new

spapers as the Mafia's "boss of all

bosses" or "prime m

inister of the underworld." M

arcello's association

with C

ostello in various Louisiana gam

bling activities had come about

follo

win

g a rep

orted

agreem

ent. b

etween

Costello

and S

enato

r Ifuey

Long th

at allow

ed fo

r the in

troductio

n o

f slot m

achin

es into

New

O

rleans.(15) (305)

Marcello w

as also involved in Louisiana gam

bling; through his

1:r.,ily-owned Jefferson M

usic Com

pany, which cam

e to dominate the

slot machine, pinball and juke box trade in the N

ew O

rleans area. (16)

By th

e late 1940's, in

an allian

ce with

Josep

h P

oretto

, Marcello

nad

taken

contro

l of th

e largest racin

g w

ire service in

New

Orlean

s, the

Southern N

ews S

ervice and Publishing C

o., which served L

ouisiana's

prosperous gambling netw

ork. (17) M

arcello and ther_associates - tilso

• •

• • n g a

m m

- gratshrogititli6 - New

Or-

gea lin .n

s area, the B

eRerly

-Clu

b-arew

-San

thport-C

hib

-; the B

everly

Clu

b o

ught M

arcello in

to p

artnersh

ip w

ith_th

esyndicate fin

ancier,

Meyer L

ansliT(ig) —

(3

04—

By -th

e -late - 1950's; the Nola P

rinting Co., of N

ew O

rleans, a

gambling w

ire service controlled by the Marcello interests, w

as serving

bookm

akers an

d relay

centers th

roughout th

e State o

f Luisian

a, as

• well as areas as d

iverse as C

hicag

o, H

ousto

n, M

iami, H

ot S

prin

gs,

Indianapolis and Detroit and cities in A

labama and M

ississippi. (1.9)

(307) In

a statemen

t prep

ared fo

r the H

ouse Ju

diciary

Com

mittee

in 1970, Kohn outlined the continuing expansion of M

arcello's hold-

ings during the 1940's and 1950's:

Marcello

and h

is gro

win

g o

rgan

ization d

evelo

ped

their

capital o

r ban

kro

ll thro

ugh ex

tensiv

e gam

blin

g, in

cludin

g

casinos, slo

t mach

ines, p

inball, h

andbooks, lay

off, fo

otb

all

pools, d

ice, card g

ames ro

ulette an

d b

ingo; also

narco

tics,

prostitution, extortion, cli pjoin

t operatio

ns, B

-drin

kin

g, m

ar-

ketin

g sto

len g

oods, ro

bberies, b

urg

laries, and th

efts. Their

crimin

al enterp

rise required

, and h

ad, co

rrupt co

llusio

n o

f

public officials at every critical level including police, sheriffs,

justices of the peace, prosecutors, mayors, governors, judges,

councilm

en, licen

sing au

thorities, S

tate legislato

rs, and at

least one Mem

ber of Congress. (0

0)

(308) S

hen

Marcello

appeared

as a witn

ess befo

re the . K

efanver_____

comm

ittee. on January

if al, he 7i7vokest_the_hitlinmerianient - an

d-

refused to responttaquestioning on his orga nizedcrime activities; (2

1)

SU

bseq

uen

tly co

nvicted

of co

ntem

pt o

f Congress fo

r refusin

g to

re-

spond to the directions of the chair, Marcello w

as later successful in

hav

ing h

is convictio

n o

vertu

rned

. In its fin

al report, th

e Kefau

ver

comm

ittee concluded that Marcello's dom

ination of organized crime

in Louisiana had com

e about in large part due to the "personal enrich:

ment of sheriffs, m

arshals, and other law enforcem

ent officials" who

received payoffs for "their failure to enforce gambling law

s and other

statutes relatin

g , to v

ice."(22) T

he K

efauver rep

ort fu

rther n

oted

that "In

every

line o

f inquiry

, the co

mm

ittee found th

at the trail o

f

Carlos M

arcello."(03) (309)

The K

efauver report also raised the question of why M

arcello,

who "has never becom

e a citizen," "had not been deported.' (3.4)

(310) In early 1953. partly .as a resu

lt of th

e natio

nal atten

tion h

e

received from the K

efauver comm

ittee

. investigation, Marcello

finally

became the subject of deportation proceedings; these proceedings con-

tinued for over 25 years and were still being conducted in 1979. (2

5)

Fed

eral official h

ave n

ote

L_M

arcello- h RS- eN

pende41—m

ore_ legal

resources in his_two an a hal f deearle fight—

against-deportation than

in ar -ThFiRTi7e — r such case in Am

erican history.

64

(311) In the years im

mediately follow

ing the Kefauver investigation,

Marcello

apparen

tly d

ecided

to try

to escap

e his p

ublic im

age as

Louisian

a's "rackets b

oss." A

s the N

ew O

rleans C

rime C

om

missio

n

noted. he took several steps to that end :

Not u

ntil C

arlos M

arcello b

ecame a su

bject o

f dep

orta-

tion . . . d

id h

e start publicly

conductin

g h

imself in

a man

-ner intended to substantiate his claim

that he was a legitim

ate b

usin

essman

. But th

is was co

ntriv

ed p

ub

lic relation

s hav

ing

little relatio

nsh

ip to

fact. He co

ntin

ued

to d

irect his u

nd

er-w

orld government and to press further expansion. H

e became

involv

ed in

a series of m

otel tran

sactions in

volv

ing m

illions

of d

ollars, an

d lan

d n

egotiatio

ns o

f even

greater w

orth

. But

for th

e most p

art, he k

ept h

is nam

e off th

e record

, usin

g

mem

bers o

f his fam

ily an

d tru

sted lieu

tenan

ts for th

at purpose. (26)

(312) M

arcello d

id n

ot atten

d th

e natio

nal M

afia "conferen

ce" at A

palach

in, N

.Y. o

f Novem

ber 1

4, 1

957. In

stead, h

e sent h

is bro

ther

Josep

h, th

e family's u

nderb

oss, as h

is perso

nak

represen

tative. W

hen

th

e State p

olice d

iscovered

the g

atherin

g, Joellarcello

was o

ne o

f those identified as having attended, along w

ith Vito G

enovese, Santos

Traffican

te, Carlo

Gam

bin

o, .Jo

e Bonan

no, S

am G

iancan

a, Russell

Bufalin

o; an

d G

erardo C

atena. Jo

e Marcello

, how

ever, w

as able to

ev

ade arrestin

g o

fficers and escap

ed fro

m th

e scene alo

ng w

ith S

am

Giancana and C

armine G

alente. (27) (313)

Carlo

s Marcello

was called

to testify

befo

re the M

cClellan

com

mittee on M

arch 2,1,.1959, during the comm

ittee's extended investi-g

ation

of lab

or rack

eteering

and

org

anized

crime. S

ervin

g as ch

ief

counsel to the comm

ittee was R

obert F. K

ennedy ; his brother, Senator

John F

. Ken

ned

y, w

as a mem

ber o

f the co

mm

ittee. In resp

onse to

com

mittee questioning, M

arcello again invoked the fifth amendm

ent in refu

sing to

answ

er any q

uestio

ns relatin

g to

his b

ackgro

und, activ

i-ties, an

d asso

ciates.(28)

(314) A

t the co

nclu

sion o

f Marcello

's appearan

ce befo

re the co

m-

mittee, S

enato

r Sam

Erv

in o

f North

Caro

lina req

uested

of th

e Chair

permission to ask the N

ew O

rleans underworld leader one final ques-

tion

: "I wo

uld

like to

kn

ow

ho

w y

ou

man

aged

to stay

in th

e Un

ited

States for 5 years, 9 m

onths, and 24 days after you were found ordered

dep

orted

as an u

ndesirab

le perso

n."(2

9) M

arcello's resp

onse to

the questio

n—

"I would

n't k

now

"—pro

voked

Erv

in to

state that "th

e A

merican

peo

ple's p

atience o

ught to

run o

ut o

n th

is" and th

at "those

who have no claim

to any right to remain in A

merica, w

ho come here

and p

rey lik

e leeches u

pon law

-abid

ing p

eople *

* *

ought to

- be re-

moved

from

this co

untry

."(30) S

enato

r Karl M

undt jo

ined

in E

rvin

's den

unciatio

n, u

rgin

g p

rom

pt actio

n b

y th

e Atto

rney

Gen

eral, and

Sen

n o

r Carl C

urtis fu

rther rem

arked

to M

arcello th

at "I thin

k y

ou

ought to

pack

up y

our b

ags an

d v

olu

ntarily

dep

art."(31)

(315) B

y lw early 1960's C

arlos Marcello w

as widely recognized as

one of the 10 n lost powerful M

afia leaders in the United S

tates: he was

a La C

osa Nest ra boss w

hose businesslike approach, political influence, and pow

er were particularly respected w

ithin the national underworld.

I I is 30-year record of advancement in the organized crim

e hierarchy, together

with

his in

fluen

ce in L

ouisian

a and n

eighborin

g S

tates,

65

secured a position of special respect for him am

ong his syndicate peers.

(316) It w

as this same record of underw

orld achievement, as w

ill be discussed later, that also led to C

arlos Marcello's becom

ing a special targ

et of in

vestig

ation b

y th

e Dep

artmen

t of Ju

stice while Jo

hn F

. K

ennedy was P

resident and Robert F

. Kennedy, A

l torney General.

(311) In

Feb

ruary

1064, th

e Satu

rday

Even

ing P

ost rep

orted

addi-

tional information about the grow

th of Marcello's crim

inal enterprises, disclosing figures prepared by the N

ew O

rleans Crim

e Com

mission. O

f particular note w

as the prominent role w

hich the New

Orleans M

afia

had come to assum

e under Marcello's direction by 1963 :

One of the things that distinguishes this branch is its talent

at high finance. So a

a. • ero

me at handling larcre sum

s of m

oney—both or itself and for the national organization

tharitTi§ .szai - eride-s- allatrieTW

aliStifet - 7d1C.ow.N

ptra. Its arm

atiffeiime ru

nS

JO- $1,- 1114,000,000, m

aking it by far th

e S

tate's largest in

dustry

, accord

ing to

* *

* th

e metro

politan

crim

e comm

ission * * * The sum

is all the more rem

arkable

in that it compares w

ith the estimated $2 billion racketeer take

in Chicago and environs, and area w

ith more than five tim

es the population of m

etropolitan New

Orleans. (3

2)

(318) T

he crim

e com

missio

n h

ad estim

ated th

at the M

arcello co

n-

trolled syndicate generated at least $500 million annually from

illegal gam

blin

g; $

400 m

illion fro

m d

iverse "leg

itimate in

terests" in th

e fields of transportation, finance, housing, and service industries; $100 m

illion from illegal activities in over 1,500 syndicate-connected bars

and taverns; $8 million from

professional burglaries and holdups; $6 m

illion

from

pro

stitutio

n; an

d an

oth

er $1

00

millio

n in

the fo

rm o

f

underpayment of taxes. (3

3)

(319) T

he size of the Marcello organization's annual incom

e is sig-nifican

t in th

e contex

t of th

e reported

natio

nal in

com

e of o

rgan

ized

crime. F

orm

er Atto

rney

Gen

eral Ram

sey C

lark h

as noted

that th

e m

ost co

nserv

ative estim

ates indicate th

at "the p

rofits fo

r org

anized

crim

e [are] com

parab

le to th

ose o

f the 1

0 larg

est industrial co

rpora-

tions co

mbin

ed *

* *

Gen

eral Moto

rs, Stan

dard

Oil, F

ord

, Gen

eral E

lectric, Chry

sler, IBM

, Mobile. O

il, Tex

aco, G

ulf, an

d U

.S. S

teel

togeth

er. * "

"(4)

(3'2

0) In

testimony b

efore th

e .11ouse S

elect_C

om

mittee_

on_crin

ie

several years ago, Marcello-providedii si77T

it , ificantly different account,

• of his itirg

ateting-th

at be earn

ed. "a salary

of ab

out $

1,6

00 a m

onth

"

as atonuito_salesman,-travelincre

to v

arious - fru

nta

nds- and m

arkets in

thritrw

-fIrleun

,.; aron lle-alsotestilied that lie made a-living through

vario

irsianctin

tinfit'S

;(3.5

) - (3

21) W

hile M

arcello's in

fluen

ce iind statu

re as a Mafia lead

er was

well-know

n to both his underworld colleagues and F

ederal and State

auth

orities b

y th

e early 1

960's, an

oth

er significan

t aspect o

f his

careers—his relationship w

ith the Mafia's national governing com

mis-

sion—w

as not confirmed until several years later. W

hile it was know

n

that

fkla.:&

,A11_041441-4S-M

4lifi-11•241-. n the first branch of the M

afia in

Am

erica (the S

icilian L

a Cosa N

ostra ialle - rli e- reili-.11!- 1

7iiitE

d. S

tem--

t th

e--no 0

eNV

r cans ( u

rn:g

t w

hether it had

extraordiiniry speeiiiTtifi‘T

reges wilT

unTa national syitilicat e had long

been

:.iystery

. Durin

g th

e late 1960'r, th

e FB

I learned

new

and su

b-

Seating A

rrangement at La S

tella Septem

ber 22, 1966

Do

min

ick A

lon

gi

Joseph M

arce

llo, Jr.

Anie

llo

De

llacro

ce

Mike

Mira

nda [V

V.

)!---;'"

Carlo

Gam

bin

o

Ca

rlos M

arce

llo

Sa

nto

T

raffica

nte

, Jr.

Anth

ony C

aro

lla

Fra

nk G

aglia

no

Jose

ph

N. G

allo

Joseph C

olu

mbo

Tom

my E

boli

Anth

ony C

arillo

66 67

stantiv

e info

rmatio

n reg

ardin

g its u

niq

ue p

ositio

n. S

ensitiv

e Bu

reau

reports on La. C

osa Nostra set forth the details obtained from

a highly reliable source. A

mong them

were the follow

ing : * *

* h

e learned

that th

e first "family

" of w

hat h

as now

b

ecom

e kn

ow

n as L

a Co

sa No

stra (LC

N) cam

e from

Sicily

an

d settled

in N

ew O

rleans *

* *

the so

urce n

oted

that in

as-m

uch

as this "fam

ily" w

as the p

redecesso

r of all su

bseq

uen

t "fam

ilies," it has been afforded the highest respect and esteem,

and because of its exalted position, the New

Orleans "fam

ily" could m

ake decisions on its own w

ithout going to the "Com

-m

ission."(36) * *

* th

e sou

rce learned

that th

e New

Orlean

s "family

" co

uld

hav

e, on

its ow

n, "o

pen

ed th

e bo

ok

s," [adm

itting

new

m

embers in

to th

e org

anizatio

n] b

ut b

ecause o

f the tact an

d

dip

lom

acy o

f Carlo

s Marcello

, lie sou

gh

t "Co

mm

ission

" ap-

pro

val in

mak

ing

new

"sold

iers," wh

ich th

e "Co

mm

ission

" n

aturally

gran

ted *

* *

.(37

)

(322) A

aron K

olm

believ

ed th

at Marcello

's underw

orld

syndicate

had

"a more th

an au

tonom

ous co

mbin

ation o

f circum

stances b

ecause

of the remoteness of N

ew O

rleans" (37) and thus enjoyed an unusually

independent relationship with the ruling com

mission of the M

afia. (38) P

atrick C

ollin

s, an F

BI ag

ent w

ho

inv

estigated

the M

arcello o

rgan

i-zatio

n d

urin

g th

e late 1960's, ex

pressed

a similar v

iew reg

ardin

g

Marcello

's relationsh

ip w

ith th

e underw

orld

com

missio

n. H

e told

the

comm

ittee that the New

Orleans M

afia family "w

as unique among all

the m

ob

s"(39

) in th

at it "did

n't h

ave to

con

sult th

e com

missio

n in

the

same w

ay as th

e oth

er families d

id; th

ere was a u

niq

ue in

dep

enden

ce of so

rts. '(40) C

ollin

s said fu

rther th

at "the co

mm

ission w

ould

n't

question Marcello about m

aking new m

embers. H

e was not subject to

the necessity of clearing such things with the com

mission, like the other

families w

ere."(41) In addition Marcello "is probably the single m

ost resp

ected b

oss am

on

g all o

f the o

thers" in

La C

osa N

ostra an

d "h

as been for years." (42) (323)

In late 1

966, M

arcello's statu

s in o

rgan

ized crim

e was u

nder-

scored when he w

as arrested in New

York along w

ith Carlo G

ambino,

then the Mafia's reported "boss of all bosses" at a sum

mit m

eeting of L

a Cosa N

ostra leaders. (43) O

n Septem

ber 22, 1966, New

York police

arrested th

ose tw

o, S

anto

s Traffican

te, Joe C

olo

mb

o, T

ho

mas E

bo

li, M

ike M

irand

a and

several o

thers at th

e La S

tella restauran

t on

Lo

ng

Islan

d; th

is mob g

atherin

g w

as quick

ly d

ubbed

by th

e new

spap

ers "th

e Little A

palach

in" co

nferen

ce. (44) While authorities cam

e to be-lieve that the L

a Stella "luncheon" w

as actually a pro forma gathering

follo

win

g a m

ore serio

us m

eeting

(pro

bab

ly o

f the n

ight b

efore), th

e assem

blage has never been fully explained. (45) In his testimony before

the co

mm

ittee, Marcello

stated th

ere had

been

no su

bstan

ce to th

e g

atherin

g: "W

e just w

alked

in. W

hen

we w

alked

in w

e go

t arrested.

We d

idn

't hav

e time to

eat or talk

."(/r6) N

one o

f those a

rreste

d w

ere co

nv

icted o

f a crime. T

he seatin

g arran

gem

ent w

as as follo

ws:

68

(324) E

ight d

ays afterth

Ste11 ft-a rrests•-,- upon-his return to

Orle

ans It •

• Hu

irpo

rt, Marcello

com

mitted

_th

e on

ly F

ederal

oilense_far-whielthe

btretvt-Fiecrand convicted in recent tim

es. On

Septetabeii-34T- 196(x: ashe m

ade his w

the crowd of new

smen

and sp

ectators w

ho h

ad g

athered

to w

atch h

is return

, Marcello

had

a verbal exchange w

ith a man in the crow

d who he believed w

as imped-

ing his way.(47) S

houting "I'm the boss here !", M

arcello took a wild

swim

, with

his list at th

e man

. (48) T

he m

an tu

rned

ou

t to b

e FB

I S

pecial A

gen

t, Patrick

Co

llins. (4

9)

Arrested

by

FB

I agen

ts on

the

followine•6

day and charged with assault, M

arcello was eventually tried

in L

aredo, T

ex. T

he trial resu

lted in

a hung ju

ry (th

e New

Orlean

s C

rime C

omm

ission subsequently conclude. that "There w

ere substantial reaso

ns to

susp

ect jury

tamperin

g h

ad o

ccurred

."). (50

) (325)

Under the vigorous direction of the N

ew O

rleans strike force, M

arcello was retried and subsequently conV

icted in Houston, T

ex., on A

ugust 9, 1968. (51) O

riginally sentenced to 2 years in Federal prison,

Marcello served less than 6 m

onths, he was released on M

arch 12, 1971. A

s the N

ew O

rleans C

rime. C

om

missio

n n

oted

at the tim

e, the larg

e nu

mber o

f prestig

ious in

div

iduals. w

ho so

ught to

interced

e on h

is behalf, urging clem

ency, further underscored..the depth of his influence in L

ouisiana. (52)

(326) D

urin

g th

e late 19

60

's and

early 1

97

0's, M

arcello an

d h

is organized crim

e activities were the subject of renew

ed public attention. H

o was referred to by the chief of police in Y

oungstown, O

hio, as "the arch

etyp

e of th

e dev

iou

s pattern

of th

e Mafio

si."(53

) On

Sep

temb

er 1. 1967, L

ife magazine also identified M

arcello as one of the "handful" of m

en w

ho co

ntro

lled o

rgan

ized crim

e thro

ughout th

e Natio

n.(5

4)

In a s racial inves •f'hive report, the may azine reported that M

arcello w

„ personally directinganational. La C

osa_... e m

e Tic : 1Fr -6--

the ret

leader Jam

es R. H

oifa fro

m F

ederal p

rison

thro

uglu

itham

pts-trrh

rihtlIti fo

rmer cln

erfirosech

wiffie-S§-a-g

ainst

hire L

cI xac-aut-11-k--t estimonr.r6 rriT

F-Sa th

at x=

11its k

ey • A

ittfir" - lea4arF

in the-east-h

ad g

iven

the alleg

ed free-H

offa assig

nm

ent to

M

arcello, along with personal pledges of betw

een $1 to $2 million to

effect the p

lan. (5

6)

(The effo

rt was to

fail.) In its fo

llow

ing issu

e, L

ife wen

t on

to p

ortray

Marcello

as "Kin

g T

hu

g o

f Lo

uisian

a," re-p

ortin

g th

at 1w

was o

ne o

f the S

tate's wealth

iest men

and

"the lo

rd

of o

ne o

f the rich

est and

mo

st corru

pt. crim

inal fiefd

om

s in th

e land." (57) (327)

In August 19611, L

ook magazine reported on M

arcello's polit-ical and crim

inal influence in the Gulf S

tates region. (58

) 3

2) O

n M

arch 1

, 19

70

. UP

I stated th

at there. w

ere ind

ication

s that

Marcello

mig

ht b

e prep

aring to

leave th

e United

States, rath

er than

su

bm

it. to h

e forth

com

ing

imp

rison

men

t glo

win

g o

ut o

f his co

nv

ic- tio

n fo

r assaultin

g th

e FB

I agen

ti.(59

) Acco

rdin

g to

the sto

ry. M

ar-cello's atim

awy. G

. Wray G

ill, had denied the rumor, stating, "T

his is w

here M

arcello w

arts to b

e and n

obody can

put M

arcello o

ut o

f the

country unless they put a shotgun to his head. '(60) On M

arch 2, amid

television reports in New

Orleans that. M

arcello would in fact flee the

cou

nt ry

. lie New

/1 lean

s States-Item

repo

rted th

at them

W" S

no firm

evidence to :qipport the rumors.(61) In fact,„M

arcello never did leave. the country.

69

(329) In

its April 1

0, 1

970 issu

e, Life p

ublish

ed a fo

llow

up to

its investigation of M

arcello of 3 years earlier, concluding that "Mar-

cello n

ow

60

, no

t on

ly co

ntin

ues to

do

min

ate [Lo

uisian

a] bu

t gro

ws

vastly richer each year at public expense." (62) The m

agazine detailed various alleged relationships betw

een Marcello and key S

tate officials and reported on tw

o recent organized crime m

urders attributed to the M

arcello organization. (63

) The follow

ing month, in M

ay 1970, labor co

lum

nist V

ictor R

iesel reported

that F

ederal o

rgan

ized crim

e in-

vestig

ators h

ad co

nclu

ded

that C

arlos M

arcello h

ad b

ecom

e on

e of

the tw

o m

ost p

ow

erful M

afia leaders in

the N

ation

, secon

d o

nly

to

Carlo G

ambino, the actual "boss of all bosses."(64) R

iese! stated that. F

ederal officials had come th view

Marcello as the single m

ost influ-ential organized crim

e figure in the Nation outside of N

ew Y

ork. (65)

(330) In

the fall o

f 1970, th

e Wall S

treet Journ

al an

d L

os A

ngeles

Tim

es published further accounts of Marcello's m

ore recent activities, w

ith th

e Tim

es reporting that his criminal organization had expanded

to unprecedented dimensions. (66)

(331) A

ppearin

g b

efore th

e House S

elect Com

mittee o

n C

rime in

Jungtif-197T

, - Marcel 1 o repeaT

e- dliire

lias th

at h

e w

as n

of -iiiiToN

edi w

ith organized. crime. Ile testified flint lie did not know

what a -filekaker

was; (1

4rtlid -neirlinV

e - 5ny business interests outsideOf L

oniSiaInt - ; v

asr-baden7e contributed- any funds to. political_. figures in an effort..to gain-influe -i

,I-C-e- .169)find had not been sitrnificantly_.acquainted w

ith an

y n

ation ' al o

rgan

ized crim

e leaders w

ith th

e excep

tion

Of -S

iiiiras -T

railiettnte (70)fiia - 1. the:Idle Fralik.CoStello. ( 71)

(332-Y-T

F 1 response to a question by a mem

ber of the crime com

mittee

as to h

ow

he co

uld

"account fo

r the fact [th

at] you h

ave b

een re-

peated

ly id

entified

as a sign

ificant fig

ure in

org

anized

crime, b

y ap

-paren

tly resp

onsib

le peo

ple," M

arcello resp

onded

that h

e had

been

th

e sub

ject of "false statem

ents" ev

er since th

e Kefau

ver co

mm

ittee investigation of 1951. (7°x) M

arcello testified that although numerous

Fed

eral and

State in

vestig

ators h

ad cau

sed h

im to

be th

e sub

ject of negative publicity, "I am

not in no racket. I am not in no organized

crime." (73) M

AR

CE

LL

° : A K

EN

NE

DY

AD

MIN

IST

RA

TIO

N T

AR

GE

T

Dep

orta

tion effo

rts (333)

Carlo

s Marcello

and

his sy

nd

icate becam

e a prim

ary targ

et o

f inv

estigatio

n b

y th

e Dep

artmen

t of Ju

stice du

ring

the K

enn

edy

ad

min

istration

. Atto

rney

Gen

eral Ro

bert F

. Ken

ned

y v

iewed

him

as one of the m

ost powerful and threatening M

afia leaders in the Nation

and o

rdered

that th

e Justice D

epartm

ent fo

cus o

n h

im, alo

ng w

ith

other figures such as Team

sters president Hoffn, and C

hicago Mafia

leader Sam

Giancana. (74)

(334) In

Marcello

's case, the in

tent o

f the K

enned

y ad

min

istration

was m

ade k

now

n ev

en b

efore In

auguratio

n D

ay, Jan

uary

20, 1

961.

On

Decem

ber 2

8. 1

96

0, th

e New

Orlean

s States-Item

repo

rted th

at. A

ttorn

ey G

eneral-d

esignate K

enned

y w

as plan

nin

g sp

ecific actions

again

st. Marcello

.(75) A

n F

BI rep

ort fro

m th

at perio

d n

oted

:

On January 12, 1961, a [source] advised that C

arlos Mar-

cello is ex

tremely

app

rehen

sive an

d u

pset an

d h

as since th

e

70

New

Orlean

s States-item

new

spap

er on

Decem

ber 2

8, 1

96

0

pu

blish

ed a n

ews sto

ry rep

ortin

g th

at ... Ro

bert F

. Ken

ned

y

stated he would expedite the deportation proceedings pending

again

st Marcello

after Ken

ned

y tak

es office in

Janu

ary

1961. (76)

(335) T

he B

uts

LA

Co

,i sa_

lostraille fo

r 1961 n

oted

that M

arcello flew

t6 VS

ashington D.C

. short ly after the inauguration of PriT

gicturrt-K

eum-d-y--a-m

brasdirtcm2ch:A

vith_a-nuniti6.E.-..0-1

TM

rirald

i.b7

iness

a ssoc lig es. ( 77 ) W h

ile_th

ere,-he- p

laced- a- telep

hau

sall to t he office

of aCteast one C

ongressman. (78)

(336)_____Bureatt-reaird-s fiirth

er ind

icate that M

arcello in

itiated v

ari- o

us effo

rts to fo

restall or p

reven

t the an

ticipated

pro

mp

t dep

ortatio

n

action. An F

BI report noted that M

arcello may have tried a circuitous

approach. (70) Through a source, the B

ureau learned of another Mafia

leader's acco

un

t of h

ow

Marcello

had

repo

rtedly

pro

ceeded

.(80

) P

hilad

elph

ia un

derw

orld

leader A

ng

elo B

run

o d

iscussed

a specific

attempt b

y M

arcello to

forestall an

action b

y th

e imm

igratio

n au

- th

orities.(8

/) Acco

rdin

g to

the P

hilad

elph

ia un

derw

orld

leader

Marcello

had

enlisted

his clo

se Mafia asso

ciate, San

tos T

raffi- can

te of F

lorid

a, in th

e reported

plan

.(82) T

raflicante in

turn

con-

tacted F

rank S

inatra to

hav

e the sin

ger u

se his frien

dsh

ip w

ith th

e K

ennedy family on M

arcello's behalf. (83) T

his effort met w

ith failure an

d m

ay ev

en h

ave resu

lted in

inten

sified F

ederal effo

rts again

st M

arcel lo. (84)

(33

7). In

respO

nse to

Atto

rney

Gen

eral Ken

ned

y's stro

ng

interest

in M

arcello, th

e. New

Orlean

s FB

I office p

repared

a report o

n h

im

and h

is Mafia asso

ciates for F

BI D

irector J. E

dgar H

oover o

n

February 13, 1961.(8.5) A

report prepared under the direction of special A

gent. Regis K

ennedy,41-te-Neir:C

atricansmffice. stated that "C

ontinued • -

inv.eitig

rtrciii of tarh

icac-e-Decem

ber 1957, has failed to dev

elorre-tiffiT

iTibIe. area w

herein Ma rcell° m

ay be in violation of stat- utes w

ithitt-44te-F13fs; j

This assessm

ent by the New

O

rleans office itInstrtitT

A w

hy

jirsTiZ

e Dep

artmen

t and

oth

er law en

- fo

rcemen

t officials v

iewed

as less than

satisfactory

its perfo

rman

ce prior to t he in id-1960's in investigating organized crim

e. (3

38) W

hile th

e com

mittee carefu

lly ex

amin

ed n

um

erous areas o

f in

form

ation p

ertainin

g to

the p

roficien

cy o

f the F

BI in

investig

ating

organized crime during the. 1950's and early 1960's and found various

areas in w

hich

Bu

reau p

erform

ance w

as sign

ificantly

deficien

t, the

city o

f New

Orlean

s was a sp

ecial case. The in

dira H

ops are that.

Burcau's_bm

itell_wm

•k on the Mat t_elhi-casn-rnay-laiive -beau tittribut-

a distu

rbin

g a

ttitude o

n th

e p

art of th

e senio

r agen

t Wh

osu

perv

ised th

e case. Reg

is Ken

ned

y,jk

liaFU

JEiciii--th

arge o

f the

Bu

rtmr:1

Work

7r-n M

arcell() and the New

fo

r years an

d

also d

irected m

uch

of th

e FB

I investig

ation in

that city

of P

residen

t K

enn

edy

's assassinatio

n. In

an in

terview

with

the co

mm

ittee several

months before his death in-1-9-M

-Kein

iF' h

ad stated

that h

e believ

ed

iart:414 wttitot-eaigagett-ni-.any- organized crim

e activities or -oth

ei__

, illegal actions-during--the

;lid fro

in1959 u

ntil at least 1

963. (8

7)

Ile lib:L:stated that- he did not U

elieve Marcello w

as a significant orga- nized crim

e figure-TI

-did not believe that lie_was currently involved —

.

. .

, )11..C.X4

t enterprises. (88

) -----

71

(339) K

enn

edy

furth

er info

rmed

th

e com

mittee th

at he b

elieved

M

arcello IfEitild "stay aw

ay" from any im

proper activity and in reality dilea.rn his living.tis a tom

ato salesman m

at real estate in vestor. (89)

In response the question of why M

arcello had been consistently iden-tified

as one o

f the N

ation's m

ost p

ow

erful M

afia leaders b

y F

ederal

auth

orities fo

r ov

er 20

years, K

enn

edy

stated th

at the N

ew O

rleans

FB

I office did not know w

hy Marcello w

as so identified. (90) Ile fu

r-- ther stated that the N

ew O

rleans office had simply responded to peri-

odic d

irectives fro

m W

ashin

gto

n in

structin

g it to

monito

r Marcello

, but had not selected him

from investigative attention on its ow

n.(91) (340)

In Novem

ber 1978, the managing director of the N

ew O

rleans C

rime C

omm

ission, Aaron K

ohn, testified that agent Kennedy's sur-

prising views about C

arlos Marcello w

ere well-know

n to him during

that period. (92) While K

ennedy had served the Bureau w

ith distinc-tio

n in

oth

er areas, his attitu

de to

ward

investig

ating th

e org

anized

crim

e syndicate in

New

'Orlean

s was o

ne o

f neg

ativism

and rid

i-cule; (93) it w

as also accompanied by a belief that C

arlos Marcello w

as not in any w

ay a significant criminal figure. (94)

(341) In

an in

terview

with

the co

mm

ittee on

No

vem

ber 1

5, 1

97

8,

Ken

ned

y's su

ccessor as th

e FB

I org

anized

crime case ag

ent in

New

O

rleans, P

atrick C

ollin

s, stated th

at Ken

ned

y "h

ad tak

en th

e Deep

S

outh approach to organized crime; it's up N

orth but it sure isn't down

'_ere." (95) Further, K

ennedy and other agents "didn't see Marcello for

'shat he is. It is incredible to think, but they didn't understand that this w

as a Mafia fam

ily down in N

ew O

rleans." (96

) Wh

ile stating

that h

e had a high regard for K

ennedy's other work, C

ollins said he believed K

ennedy's attitude was one of "boredom

" over having to file periodic reports on M

arcello and organized crime. (97)

(342) W

;:hile the New

Orleans F

BI office's assessm

ent of Marcello and

his activ

ities - did-clot significantly contribute CO

- the F

ederal - efforts

Resinsania, other agencies w

ere pressing the drive in a more substan-

tive way. O

n March 3, Joseph S

wing of the Im

migration

and Mafura,lization S

ervice advised the FB

I that:

. . . the A

ttorn

ey G

eneral h

ad b

een em

ph

asizing

. . -• the

imp

ortan

ce of tak

ing

pro

mp

t action

to d

epo

rt no

torio

us—

ho

ms,-In-this connection -' the M

arcello case is of partieu-:::: -- ar'in

terest. A fin

al ord

er of.. d

eportatio

n h

as been

entered

ag

ainst M

arcello b

ut-th

is-fact-is- T beingTilfeld- in;.:strictest

confidence. (98)

(343) O

n the afternoon of April 4, 1961, 8 years after he w

as ordered deported, C

arlos Marcello w

as finally ejected from the U

nited States.

As h

e walk

ed in

to th

e INS

office in N

ew O

rleans fo

r his reg

ular ap

-p

oin

tmen

t to rep

ort as an

alien, h

e. was arrested

ainL

harid

euffed -b

y---_

_

INS ofircitiT

S: (99) - He w

as then rushed to_the_New

Orleans airport - and

flowirroT

hratemala. (TO

O) M

arcello's attorneys denounced the deporta-tio

n later th

at day

, termin

g it "cru

el and

un

civilized

," and

no

ted th

at th

eir client h

ad n

ot b

een allo

wed

to telep

ho

ne h

is attorn

ey o

r see his

wife.(101)

(344) O

n the following day, A

pril 5, 1961, Attorney G

eneral Robert

F. K

enned

y stated

that "M

arcello's d

eportatio

n w

as in strict acco

rd-

ance with the la

w."(1

02

) Justice Departm

ent officials noted that while

72

Marcello had not been allow

ed to call an attorney, one of his attorneys w

as present. with him

at the time, and that IN

S. officials had unsuccess-

fully

tried to

brin

g M

rs. Marcello

to th

e airpo

rt to m

eet him

.(/03

) T

he officials noted that special security precautions had been taken to in

sure ag

ainst M

arcell° s escape p

rior to

actual d

eportatio

n (104)

because lie had disappeared several times in the past w

hen deportation pro

ceedin

gs w

ere reachin

g critical ju

nctu

res. (105) (A

s will b

e seen,

such

precau

tions w

ere unab

le to p

reven

t Marcello

's return

to th

e count ry 2 m

onths later.) •

(34) In

testimony b

efore. th

e com

mittee o

n .Jan

uary

11, 1

97S

, Mar-

cell() stated th

at he h

ad n

ot b

een su

rprised

that A

ttorn

ey G

eneral

Kennedy had decided to press his deportation. (1

06) H

e noted, that "he [K

enned

y] said

* *

he w

ould

see that I b

e dep

orted

justas so

on as

be g

ot in

office. W

ell, he g

ot in

office Jan

uary

20

* *

* an

d A

pril

the 4th he deported me." (107)

(346) A

s he had in the past on several occasions, Marcello referred to

-his 1

96

1 d

epo

rtation

as an illeg

al "kid

nap

ing

."(10

8) In

his ap

pear-

ance before. the comm

ittee, he testified that "two m

arshals put the hand- cu

ffs on m

e and th

ey to

ld m

e that I w

as bein

g k

idnap

ed an

d b

eing

brought to Guatem

ala, which they did, anchin 30 m

inutes time I w

as in th

e plan

e."(/09) H

e furth

er testified th

at "they

dum

ped

me o

ff in

Guatem

ala, and I asked them, let m

e use the phone to call my w

ife, let m

e get m

y clo

thes, so

meth

ing th

ey w

ould

n't h

ear about. T

hey

just

snatched Inc and that is it, actually kidnaped me."(110)

(347) O

n A

pril 1

0, 1

96

1, 6

day

s after lie was d

epo

rted, th

e Intern

al R

even

ue S

ervice filed

a $835,3

96 tax

lien ag

ainst M

arcello an

d h

is w

ife. (111) O

n April 23, new

s reports disclosed that Marcello w

as being held

in cu

stody b

y G

uatem

alan au

thorities in

connectio

n w

ith w

hat

were reported to be false citizenship papers he had presented on arrival

there A

pril 6

. (112) O

n May 4, G

uatemalan P

resident Miguel F

uentes ordered that M

arcello be expelled; he was driven to and released at the

El S

alvad

or b

ord

er late that n

igh

t. (113)

(348) O

n M

ay 1

9, 1

961, a F

ederal co

urt in

Wash

ingto

n ru

led th

at M

arcello's d

epo

rtation

was fu

lly v

alid an

d d

enied

a mo

tion

by

his

attorneys that it be declared illegal. (114) With

that ru

ling, M

arcello's

reentry to the country was prohibited. (1

15)

3-19) Less than 2 w

eeks later, Marcello secretly gained entry into the

United

States. O

n Ju

ne 2

, 1961, co

nfirm

ing w

idesp

read ru

mors th

at th

eir client h

ad so

meh

ow

slipped

back

in, M

arcello's atto

rney

s an-

no

un

ced h

e had

return

ed an

d w

as in h

idin

g. (1

16

) Fed

eral inv

esti-gators have never been able to establish in detail his m

eans of entry. (350)

On June 5, 1961, after A

ttorney General K

ennedy dispatched 20 F

ederal agents to Shreveport, L

a., to conduct a search for Marcello,

the L

ouisian

a crime lead

er volu

ntarily

surren

dered

in N

ew O

rleans

and w

as ord

ered h

eld in

an alien

deten

tion cen

ter at McA

llen'

'rex. (1

17) O

n Ju

ne 8

, a Fed

eral gran

d ju

ry in

dicted

him

for illeg

al reentry ; (1

18

) on Ju

ly 1

1, th

e INS

ruled

he w

as an u

ndesirab

le alien

and once again ordered him deported. (119)

(351) O

n Ju

ne 1

6, 1

961, th

e FB

I received

a report th

at a U.S

. Sen

-ato

r from

Louisian

a mig

ht h

ave so

ught to

interv

ene o

n M

arcello's

behalf. (12

0) T

his Senator had reportedly received "financial aid from

M

arcello- in the past and w

as sponsoring a Louisiana official for a key

INS

positio

n fro

m w

hich

assistance m

ight b

e rendered

. (l2 l ).

9r.(-)N T

, °al

73

General K

ennedy sought to decipher the reported Marcello m

essage, the F

BI L

aboratory concluded that:

Becau

se of th

e brev

ity o

f the tex

t, no

determ

inatio

n as to

th

e mean

ing o

f the p

ossib

le code *

* *

could

be m

ade. It is

possible, however, that the nam

es in the text * * rep

resent

double m

eanin

g, w

herein

certain w

ord

s are giv

en arb

itrary

meanings by the correspondents. (.123)

(353) W

hile th

e vario

us co

urt actio

ns an

d ap

peals o

n M

arcello's

deportation and illegal recut ry were continuing in the fall of 1961, he

was again called before the M

cClellan com

mittee to testify about orga-

nized crime gam

bling activities in Louisiana. (1

24) In response to com

-m

ittee quest ions Marcell() 1111'01:V

(1 t lie fifth a mendnlent. refusing to

pro

vid

e any in

form

ation o

ther th

an h

is nam

e and alleg

ed p

lace of

birth

. (125)

(354) O

n October 30, 1961, A

ttorney General K

ennedy announced the indictm

ent of Marcello by a F

ederal grand jury in New

Orleans on

charges of conspiracy in falsifying a Guatem

alan birth certificate and com

mitting perjury. (126) M

arcello's brot lier. Joseph was also charged

in the alleged falsification of the birth certificate. (/27)

(355) O

n Decem

ber 20, 1961, with M

arcell() free on a $10,000 bond, the five-m

ember B

oard of Imm

igration Appeals upheld the deporta-

tion

ord

er again

st Marcello

, den

yin

g an

oth

er app

eal by

Marcello

at- torneys that it be declared invalid. (128)

• (356)

In October 1962, a B

ureau of Narcotics report described M

ar-cello

as "on

e of th

e Natio

n's lead

ing

racketeers" an

d n

oted

that h

e w

as "currently under intensive investigation by the Internal Revenue

Serv

ice. Intellig

ence D

ivisio

n fo

r tax frau

d."(1

29) T

he rep

ort also

noted that. M

arcell() was then instituting a further legal step to fore-

stall dep

ortatio

n.(/3

0) M

arcello's atto

rney

s had

filed a leg

al writ in

an effort to set aside his F

ederal conviction on narcotics charges from

24 years earlier. (131). Th

is con

victio

n w

as on

e of th

e key

factors in

the ongoing deportation proceedings against h

im. (132)

(357) 0•

, eraI court frilut'ag,ainst--M

areello a tte

nito

hav

e the-lb38-drug-eonviction- nullified: (13

3) T

he co

urt

said

itarliis-C

MT

h that Ite_harLnot-had-counsel-present-w

hen ]re pled_ guilt''T

hili -i=e-O

rres chargcon _October 29,1938, _w

as. f alse,(1,14 ) as • w

as •-atterlad

hO

t kilo

wn o

f-his

thts

-and

cou

ld.

- an-attem

iley:(-135)

-- •

Ivereased

Fed

eral P

ressure

(358) O

n February 15, 1963, in apparent response to A

ttorney Gen-

eral Ken

ned

y's req

uest fo

r contin

uin

g actio

n ag

ainst M

arcello, F

BI

Director J. E

dgar Hoover directed the N

ew O

rleans FB

I office to in-tensify its coverage of M

arcello and his organization. (1:36) He ordered

that a "special effort" be made to upgrade the level of the investigation

of Marcello, and suggested increased use of inform

ants as well as the

possible initiation of electronic surveillance. (137) (359)

Durin

g th

e course o

f its investig

ation o

f specific o

rgan

ized

crime leaders and their activities, the com

mittee had devoted special

attentio

n to

the d

egree to

wh

ich su

ch fig

ures w

ere sub

ject to elec-

tronic su

rveillan

ce by F

ederal o

r State ag

encies d

urin

g th

e perio

d

Marcello had not, been allow

ed to call an attorney, attc,i .n

eis

was present w

ith him at the tim

e, and that INS

officials had unsuccess-fu

lly tried

to b

ring M

rs. Marcello

to th

e airport to

meet h

im. (1

03

)

The officials noted that special security precautions had been taken to

insu

re again

st. Marcell° s escap

e prio

r to actu

al dep

ortatio

n (/0

4.)

because lie had disappeared several times in the past w

hen deportation pro

ceedin

gs w

ere reachin

g critical ju

nctu

res. (105) (A

s will be seen,

such

precau

tions w

ere unab

le to p

reven

t Marcello

's return

to th

e country `2 m

onths later.) (345)

In testimony before the com

mittee on January 11, 1978, M

ar-cello

stated th

at he h

ad n

ot b

een su

rprised

that A

ttorn

ey G

eneral

Kennedy had decided to press his deportation. (1

06) H

e noted, that "he [K

enned

y] said

" * h

e would

see that I b

e dep

orted

just as so

on as

he g

ot in

office. W

ell, he g

ot in

oflice Jan

uary

20 *

* an

d A

pril

the 4th he deported me." (1

07

) (346)

As he had in the past on several occasions, M

arcello referred to his 1

961 d

eportatio

n as an

illegal "k

idnap

ing."(1

08) In

his ap

pear-

ance before the comm

ittee, he testified that "two m

arshals put the hand- cu

ffs on In

c and th

ey to

ld m

e that. I w

as bein

g k

idnap

ed an

d b

eing

brought to Guatem

ala, which they did, and in 30 m

inutes time I w

as in th

e plan

e." (109

) H

e furth

er testified th

at "they

dum

ped

me o

ff in

Guatem

ala, and I asked them, let m

e use the phone to call my w

ife, let m

e get m

y clo

thes, so

meth

ing th

ey w

ould

n't h

ear about. T

hey

just

snatched inc and that is it, actually kidnapecritte."(110) (347)

On A

pril 1

0, 1

961, 6

day

s after he w

as dep

orted

, the In

ternal

Rev

enue S

ervice filed

a $835,3

96 tax

lien ag

ainst M

arcello an

d h

is w

ife. (111) O

n April 23, new

s reports disclosed that Marcello w

as being held

in cu

stody b

y G

uatem

alan au

thorities in

connectio

n w

ith w

hat

were reported to be false citizenship papers he had presented on arrival

there A

pril 6

. (112) O

n May 4, G

uatemalan P

resident Miguel F

uentes ordered that M

arcello be expelled ; he was driven to and released at the

El S

alvad

or b

ord

er late that n

igh

t. (113)

(348) O

n M

ay 1

9, 1

961, a F

ederal co

urt in

Wash

ingto

n ru

led th

at M

arcello's d

eportatio

n w

as fully

valid

and d

enied

a motio

n b

y h

is atto

rney

s that it b

e declared

illegal. (1

14) W

ith th

at rulin

g, M

arcello's

reentry to the country was prohibited. (115

) ( 349) L

ess than 2 weeks later, M

arcello secretly gained entry into the U

nited

States. O

n Ju

ne 2

, 1961, co

nfirm

ing w

idesp

read ru

mors th

at th

eir client h

ad so

meh

ow

slipped

back

in, M

arcello's atto

rney

s an-

nounced

he h

ad retu

rned

and w

as in h

idin

g. (1

16) F

ederal in

vesti-

gators have never been able to establish in detail his means of entry.

(350) O

n June 5, 1961, after Attorney G

eneral Kennedy dispatched

20 Federal agents to S

jireveport, La., to conduct a search for M

arcello, th

e Louisian

a crime lead

er volu

ntarily

surren

dered

in N

ew O

rleans

and w

as ord

ered h

eld in

an alien

deten

tion cen

ter at McA

llen,

Tex. (1

17

) (in Ju

ne 8

, a Fed

eral gran

d ju

ry in

dicted

him

for illeg

al reentry ; (1

18) o

n Ju

ly 1

1, th

e INS

ruled

he w

as an u

nd

esirable alien

and once again ordered him

deported. (11

9)

(351) O

n Ju

ne 1

6, 1

961, th

e FB

I received

a report th

at a U.S

. Sen

-ato

r from

Louisian

a mig

ht h

ave so

ught to

interv

ene o

n M

arcello's

beh

alf. (120) T

his Senator had reportedly received "financial aid from

M

arcello" in the past and was sponsoring a L

ouisiana official for a key IN

S p

ositio

n fro

m w

hich

assistance m

ight b

e rendered

.(1.3

1).

(352) In July 1961, the Justice D

epartment's organized crim

e section w

ith th

e assistance o

f codeb

reakin

g sp

ecialists of th

e FB

I, mad

e an

effOrt to decode w

hat was believed to be a secret com

munication involv-

ing M

arcello an

d an

associate. (1

V) W

hile sen

ior aid

es to A

ttorn

ey

oitta

'ai .h

ein

teily

iw

cIp

intr

Inc F

t

the FB

I Laboratory concluded that :

Becau

se of th

e brev

ity o

f the tex

t, no d

etermin

ation as to

th

e mean

ing o

f the p

ossib

le code *

* *

could

be m

ade. It is

possible, however, that the nam

es in the text * * represent,

double m

eanin

g, w

herein

certain w

ord

s are giv

en arb

itrary

meanings by the correspondents. (1

23

)

(353) W

hile th

e vario

us co

urt actio

ns an

d ap

peals o

n M

arcello's

deportation and illegal reentry were continuing in the fall of 1961, he

was again called before the M

cClellan com

mittee to testify about orga-

nized crime gam

bling activities in Louisiana. (1

24) In response to com

-m

ittee questions Marcell() invoked the fi fth am

endment. refusing to

pro

vid

e any in

form

ation o

ther th

an h

is nam

e and alleg

ed p

lace of

birth

. (125)

(354) O

n October 30, 1901, A

ttorney General K

ennedy announced the indictm

ent of Marcello by a F

ederal grand jury in New

Orleans on

charges of conspiracy in falsifying a Guatem

alan birth certificate and co

mm

itting p

erjury

. (126) Marcello's lirof her. Joseph w

as also charged

in the alleged falsification of the birth cell i fieate. (127) (355)

On D

ecember 20, 1961, w

ith Marcello free on a $10,000 bond,

the fiv

e-mem

ber B

oard

of Im

mig

ration A

ppeals u

pheld

the d

eporta-

tion

ord

er again

st Marcello

, den

yin

g an

oth

er app

eal by

Marcello

at-torneys that it be declared invalid. (128) (356)

In October 1962, a B

ureau of Narcotics report described M

ar-cello

as "one o

f the N

ation

's leadin

g rack

eteers" and

no

ted th

at lie w

as "currently under intensive investigation by the Internal Revenue

Serv

ice, Intellig

ence D

ivisio

n fo

r tax frau

d." (1

29)

The rep

ort also

noted

that M

arcello w

as then

institu

ting a fu

rther leg

al step to

fore-

stall dep

ortatio

n. (1

30

) Marcello

's attorn

eys h

ad filed

a legal w

rit in

an effort to set aside his Federal conviction on narcotics charges from

2

4 y

ears earlier.( /3/ ) T

his co

nvictio

n w

as one o

f the k

ey facto

rs in

the ongoing deportation proceedings against him. (132)

(357) 9n_D

aobet--84—i-D

e2—r-ra

-rfb co

urt ru

lel-against-Mareell&

F,---

a tterL/12L

Ioha.ve. t he-1938--drug-convict iorr-mil i fied, (43.3 )-.. T

he_ con rt said

thathe_had-not-had-counsel-present - when- 1ie-p

1 it

guilt "

iT

eJi1

7--a

s cha rT eorL

ilctober_29,1938 7.was.false.„(134) as

wad

firiTia

no

know

n of o

flus rr h

ts -unit-could mot T

dratt---- - . an

-atturn

ey.-(135-)

Increa

sed F

edera

l Pressu

re

(358) O

n February 15, 1963, in apparent response to A

ttorney Gen-

eral Ken

ned

y's req

uest fo

r con

tinu

ing

action

again

st Marcello

, FB

I D

irector J. Edgar H

oover directed the New

Orleans F

BI office to in-

tensify its coverage of Marcello and his organization. (1

36) H

e ordered that a "special effort" be m

ade to upgrade the level of the investigation of M

arcella and suggested increased use of informants as w

ell as the possible initiation of electronic surveillance. (1

37)

(359) D

urin

g th

e course o

f its investig

ation o

f specific o

rgan

ized

crime leaders and their activities, the com

mittee had devoted special

attentio

n to

the d

egree to

which

such

figures w

ere subject to

elec-tro

nic su

rveillan

ce by F

ederal o

r State ag

encies d

urin

g th

e perio

d

44-:0

5 c

- 79 - 6

74

of th

e early 1

960's. T

he co

mm

ittee believ

ed th

at there w

as a possi-

bility

that electro

nic su

rveillan

ce mig

ht h

ave reco

rded

som

e discu

s-sio

n o

f the K

enn

edy

assassinatio

n. In

evalu

ating

vario

us assessm

ents

by organized crime specialists during the early 1960's, the com

mittee

had

noted

that th

e likelih

ood o

f iden

tifyin

g th

e com

missio

n o

f crimi-

nal acts b

y o

rgan

ized crim

e figures d

urin

g th

at perio

d v

aried w

ith

the scope of electronic surveillance of those figures. (138) (360)

After carefu

lly ex

amin

ing th

e vario

us electro

nic su

rveillan

ce p

rog

rams in

effect du

ring

the early

19

60

's, the co

mm

ittee fou

nd

th

at Carlo

s Marcello

had

nev

er been

subject to

such

coverag

e durin

g

that p

eriod. F

BI files in

dicate th

at while th

ere had

not b

een p

rior in

-terest in

usin

g su

ch in

vestig

ative tech

niq

ues in

Marcello

's case, the

Bureau

did

attempt to

institu

te electronic su

rveillan

ce durin

g th

e pe-

riod of 1963 and 1964. (139) Tw

o unsuccessful attempts w

ere made, to

effect such surveil lance, (/40) failures attributable. in all likelihood to the security system

employed by M

arcello at the various locations from

which he operated. (/1

./) (361)

Al S

taffeld, th

e form

er FB

I official w

ho co

ord

inated

Bureau

period. , g

ave th

e com

-m

ittee his v

iew—

that th

e_F

BI....".h

att virtu

aI1 fib

Iliing in

electronic

surv

eillance o

n M

arcello an

d h

is gu

ys. W

e just co

uld

n't effeetiv

ite -its W

ith .1

rae r the-one big exception in our w

ork back - then

: T

here- w

as- just n

o w

ay o

f pen

etrating th

at area. He w

as too sm

art. -

(42-)--:Fhe-rn

ability - to effect surveillance of M

arcello apparently con-tinued, as F

BI files indicate that as late as 1967 B

ureau officials were

prep

ared to

testify th

at Marcello

had

nev

er been

the su

bject o

f elec-tronic surveillance. (4

3)

(362) A

ttorn

ey G

eneral K

enned

y's p

ersonal in

terest in th

e contin

u-

ing Ju

stice Dep

artmen

t investig

ation o

f Marcello

was fu

rther ev

i-denced in A

pril 1063. He had received a letter w

hich he in turn ordered th

e chief o

f the C

rimin

al Div

ision, Jack

Miller, to

forw

ard to

Hoover

for h

is perso

nal atten

tion. (14.4.)• T

he letter w

as from

a citizen claim

-in

g to

hav

e know

ledge o

f a severe b

eating in

flicted u

pon a frien

d b

y

lieuten

ants o

f Marcello

.(45) T

he A

ttorn

ey G

eneral req

uested

imm

e-diate B

ureau

attentio

n to

the m

atter. (363)

On

May

27

, 19

63

, the U

.S. S

up

reme C

ou

rt, in resp

on

se to an

appeal filed by M

arcello's attorneys, (IA

declined to review the M

ar-cello

dep

ortatio

n actio

n an

d u

pheld

the earlier d

ecision o

f the U

.S.

Circu

it Co

urt o

f Ap

ikals.(1

47

) (3

61) O

n N

ovem

ber 4

, 1963, A

larcello w

ent o

n-trial in

New

Orlean

s o

n F

edcif -a I' charges of conspiracy in connection w

ith his alleged 'falsi-ficatio

n 'o

f a Guatem

alan b

irth certificate. (148)-- E

ighteen

day

s later; n. N

ovember 22, 1963, he W

as acquitted. The new

s of President K

in=

nedy's_murder in D

allas:Tea -C

hM the N

ew O

rleans...courtroom shortly .

before lliTverdict w

as announced. (14.9). (365)—

Cm-

J•triy-22I9

64, th

e Suprem

e Court rejected

anoth

er appeal

by Marcello to have his 1938 narcotics conviction set aside, upholding

the rulings of various lower courts. (150)

( 366) -M

arcel lo td-a-nitssoci ate-w e re indicted in

Fed

eral cou

rt on

charg

es of h

avin

g b

ribed

a mem

ber o

f the lay

- that

had aesinit-techltfareello on NtsreitiV

-r-22-01

11

3:.(te

_-in

dic

tmen

t. alleg

ed-th

at Marculto-

ffirerhiS- Tie-u

tenan

ts had

mad

e two secret p

a-y-=

75

ments to a juror w

ith "the intent to influence his action, vote, opinion and decision" in the case. (152) T

he indictment further charged that in

Novem

ber 1963, Marcello had endeavored "to influence, obstruct, and

imped

e" the p

rosecu

tion "b

y req

uestin

g th

e. murd

er of *

* *

a prin

-cipal w

itness" for the Governm

ent, Carl N

oll. (153) (3

67) M

arcello su

rrendered

at the F

ederal co

urth

ouse an

d w

as sub-

sequently freed on a $100,000 bond on October 8, after the U

.S. attor-

ney

noted

that a search

by 1

0 F

BI ag

ents h

ad b

een u

nsu

ccessful in

locating him

the day before.(/54) The charge of having requested the

mu

rder o

f the ch

ief pro

secutio

n w

itness in

the 1

06

3 case w

as later dropped, follow

ing the reported unwillingness of that person to testify

to th

e incid

ent. M

arcello w

as acquitted

by a_

jury

of th

e oth

er charges. (

155) /

(3t8

1 E

fforts to

dep

ort M

arcello w

ere still un

derw

ay in

19

79

. In

late 1975, Marcello's attorneys had filed an appeal for suspension of

his d

eportatio

n o

rder, b

ased o

n "g

ood m

oral ch

aracter" durin

g th

e previous 10 years.(150) A

nother Marcello appeal w

as pending in the U

.S. district court in N

ew O

rleans in 1978. (157) (369)

While IN

S o

fficials poin

t out th

e pecu

liar natu

re of th

e cur-

rent deportation process in the United S

tates, which sets no practical

limits on the num

ber and frequency of appeals and other legal steps a p

erson

may

initiate to

forestall d

epo

rtation

, ano

ther facto

r has b

een

central to Marcello's continued presence in the U

nited States. Im

migra-

tion officials note that before the final step of deportation can be taken, som

e other country must agree to issue travel docum

ents authorizing th

e perso

n to

settle in th

at natio

n. (/5

8) A

s of 1

979, n

o co

untry

was

willing to do so. (159)

AL

LE

GE

D A

SS

AS

SIN

AT

ION

TIIR

EA

T B

Y M

AR

CE

LL

O

(370) A

s part o

f its inv

estigatio

n, th

e com

mittee ex

amin

ed a p

ub

-lish

ed acco

unt. o

f what. w

as alleged

to h

ave b

een a th

reat. mad

e, by

Carlz;g

arcello_in

late1962-ag

ainst th

e life 'of P

ireSident- - K

ennedy and his brother,. R

obert, the Attorney G

eneral..Thb-inform

ation was

firsVgW

fiTith

.pnbliely

in a ,b

ook o

n o

rgan

ized crim

e publish

ed in

1969-,-"T

he G

rim R

eapers," b

y E

d R

eid.(/6

0)

ii-foiriiier editor of tlirrtw

Irep-s- Stio,:wils- a, w

riter on

org

anized

crime-an

d th

e co-

auth

or, w

ith O

vid

Den

iaris, of "T

he G

reen F

elt Jungle," p

ublish

ed

in 19-677------

(371)--In

a length

y ch

apter o

n th

e New

Orlean

s Mafia an

d C

arlos

'Marcello, R

eid wrote of an alleged private m

eeting between M

arcello and tw

o or more m

en sometim

e in Septem

ber 1962. (101) Ilis account

was b

ased o

n in

terview

s he h

ad co

nducted

with

a man w

ho alleged lie had attended the m

eeting. (102) (3

72) A

ccord

ing to

Reid

's info

rman

t, the M

arcello m

eeting w

as held

in a farm

house. at C

hu

rchill F

arms, th

e 3,0

00

-acre swam

plan

d

plan

tation

ow

ned

by

Marcello

ou

tside o

f New

Orlean

s.(/63

) Reid

w

rote that Marcello and three other m

en had crone to the fa rmhonse

in a car d

riven

by

Marcell° h

imself.(1

6.0

Mharcello

and th

e oth

er m

en gathered inside the farmhouse, had drinks and engaged in casual

conversatio

n th

at inclu

ded

thc g

eneral su

bjects o

f busin

ess and

sex.(/6

5) A

fter furth

er drin

ks "b

rought m

ore fam

iliarity an

d re-

76 I16 o

Sir

77

js Ike

laxatio

n. th

e dialo

g tu

rned

to serious m

atters, including the pressure law

cstilkifTeliR

rrit-agenc-tes to

lear on

the M

afia bro

ther-

hood - • so

f the K

enn ly

adm

irustra

tionT

rar -

- ----

(37; )—

Reid's book contained the follow

ing account of the discussion:

It was then that C

arlos' voice lost its softness, and his words

were bitten off an

d sp

it out.w

hen

men

tion w

as mad

e of U

.S.

Atto

rney

Gen

eral Robert K

enned

y, w

ho w

as still on th

e trail of M

arcella. "L

ivarsi n

a petra d

i la scarpa I" C

arlos sh

rilled th

e Mafia

cry o

f reven

ge: "T

ake th

e stone o

ut o

f my sh

oe!"

"Don't w

orry

about th

at little Bobby so

n o

f a. bitch

," he

shouted. "He's going to be taken care of !"

Ever sin

ce Robert K

enned

y h

ad arran

ged

for h

is dep

orta-

tion

to G

uatem

ala, Carlo

s had

wan

ted rev

eng

e. Bu

t as the

subsequent conversation, which w

as reported to two top G

ov-ern

men

t investig

ators b

y o

ne o

f the p

articipan

ts and

later to this author, show

ed, he knew that to rid him

self of Robert

Ken

ned

y h

e would

first hav

e to rem

ove th

e Presid

ent. A

ny

killer o

f the A

ttorn

ey G

eneral w

ou

ld b

e hu

nted

down by

his bro

ther: th

e death

of th

e Presid

ent w

ou

ld see] the fate of

his Attorney G

eneral. (167) *

*

*

*

*

*

No one at. the m

eeting had any doubt about Marcello's in-

tentio

ns w

hen

he ab

ruptly

arose fro

m th

e table. M

arcella did

not jo

ko ab

out su

ch th

ings. In

any case, th

e matter h

ad

e- one beyond nicer "business": it. had become an affair of hon-

or, a Sicilian vendetta. M

oreover, the conversation at Church-

ill Farm

s also m

ade- clear th

at Marcella h

ad b

egu

n to

plan

a m

ove. H

e had

, for ex

ample, alread

y th

ought o

f usin

g a

"nut" to do the job. R

oughly

1 y

ear later Presid

ent K

enned

y w

as shot in

D

allas-2 m

on

ths after A

ttorn

ey G

eneral R

ob

ert Ken

ned

y

had announced t to the McC

lellan comm

ittee that he was going

to expand his war on organi•i,ed crim

e. And it is perhaps sig-

nificant that privately Robert K

ennedy had singled out James

Hotta. S

am (3 'anem

ia, and Carlos M

arcella as being among

his chief targets.(/68)

t::7-1

) In an

interv

iew w

ith th

e com

mittee, R

eid said

that h

is in-

formant- stated that A

farcello seemed to be "very serious" as he spoke

of p

lannin

g to

assassinate P

Lsid

ent K

enned

y. (169) H

e furth

er told

1 . ., co

mm

itit e that w

hile h

is info

rman

t had

had

great d

oubts at th

e tim

e as to w

heth

er Mareello

could

or w

ould

hav

e the P

residen

t as,a ssin

ated. im

med

iately after th

e assassinatio

n o

ccurred

, lie came

to believe t hat :Marcell° w

as in fact the porpettator. (170) :;7

5) R

eid in

form

ed th

e com

mittee th

at he b

elieved

his in

form

ant,

a man

with

underw

orld

associatio

ns, w

as credib

le and tru

stworth

y

(171) an

d h

ad in

fact pro

vid

ed "u

nusu

ally reliab

le" info

rmatio

n

about organized crime on past occasions, including during the w

riting of "T

he G

reen F

elt .1 u

ngle."(1

72) B

ased o

n p

ast associatio

n an

d

runt acts w

ith h

e in fo

rman

t, Reid

was "stro

ngly

inclin

ed to

believ

e his acco

unt o

f the M

arcella ineetin

g,"(1

73) alth

ough lie w

as "not

sure what it all m

eans in the final analysis."(174)

FB

I investig

atio

n o

f the a

llegatio

ns

(376) In early Ifax.1,267, over a year and a half before the book w

as p

ub

lished

, senio

r officials o

f the F

lI1 learn

ed o

fTirreco

un

t of th

e alleg

ed iliz-cting.(17.5) According to all F

BI m

emorandum

of May

1967,-Cram

-Assistant I )irector-A

itix Rosen to A

t;siStiiiit D

irector Cartha

DeL

onele the-Bureau's L

os Angeles oilier. ha

u l been contacted on by R

eid. (1

76) T

he m

emoran

dum

stated th

at Reid

. "who h

as written

several books concerning the hoodlum

eleniTiT

M177iffitacted the L

os A

ngeles office and had "indicated h had information concerning:1O

n_ R

oselli." (177) T

he mem

orandum furt, ter s a ed- th

at-when-R

eid-Was

interv

iewed

, he sh

ow

ed h

is man

uscrip

t to th

e Bu

reau's L

os A

ng

eles agents. (1

78

) The m

emorandum

gave the following account of R

eid's. in

form

ation

:

Reid

refers to C

arlos M

o

and

ind

i__

__a

cated_there-was-tr-

m

eeting

on

Sep

temb

er 11

alk..114.ttrchM

Ym

s, outside N

ew O

rleans, La., attend

several people including M

ar- cello

and

Reid

's info

rma

t.'nt. M

arcella was alleg

ed ; h

ave

said that in order to get BolybrItxurrerly-th

vy w

ohlitlid

it to

get the 1-Imsitleutj-tm

rt-thev-coutd-norld11131:Thby because the

President, w

ould A

rmy and the

The zesult-ef- kill ingthe P

resideilVv-voiffd cause B

obby to lose his p

ow

er a

s Atto

rney G

enera

l because

of th

e N

ew

P

residen

t. (179)

(377) W

hile th

e Bureau

mem

oran

dum

indicates th

at the ag

ents

who read that section of R

eid's manuscript believed it placed the m

eet-ing in S

eptember 1963, the actual account published by R

eid in 1969 stated

that th

e meetin

g h

ad o

ccurred

in S

eptem

ber 1

962.(1

80) In

his com

mittee interview

, Reid said that he had "alw

ays stated that the m

eeting

was in

Sep

temb

er 19

62

"(18

1) b

ecause h

is info

rman

t had

"clearly recalled" the tim

e, of the meeting and had been "traveling in

Louisian

a" that m

onth

. (180) (378)

The B

ureau

mem

oran

dum

wen

t on to

state that R

eid h

ad

info

rmed

the L

os A

ng

eles agen

ts that "a p

erson w

ho atten

ded

this

alleged meeting w

as interviewed by agents of our L

os Angeles office

and fu

rnish

ed th

em th

e info

rmatio

n.'5(1

83) F

urth

er, Reid

believ

ed

that "several days" after the informant had attended the m

eeting with

Marcella, he "w

as interviewcd concerning the B

illie So

l Estes case, at

which

time h

e alleged

ly related

to o

ur ag

ents w

hat h

e heard

at C

hu

rchill F

arms."(/8

4)

(379) T

he mem

orandum goes on to note that, a review

of FB

I tiles on R

eid's inforina It, whose nam

e was E

dward liccker. show

ed he had in

fact. been

interv

iewed

by B

ureau

n7ir-rrrrrrb

er 26, 1

96'2

, in

connectio

n w

ith th

e Billie S

ol E

stes investig

ation.(J$

.i) While "H

it this interview

, :Niarcello w

as mentioned * * in connection w

ith h '

no

sy p

rop

ositio

n *

* *

no

men

tion

was m

ade o

f" Atto

rney

Gen

eral K

enn

edy

or P

residen

t Ken

ned

y, o

r any

threat ag

ainst th

em.(/8

6)

(380) T

he mem

orandum said that t he agents w

ho read. the part. of R

eid's manuscript on the m

eeting told the author that Becker had not

infornied Ow

Iinreaa of the alleged Alarcello discussion of assassina-

tion. (18

7) In

1:n

.t. "It is noted E

dward N

icholas Becker is as private

investig

ator in

Los A

ngeles w

ho in

the p

ast has h

ad a rep

utatio

n o

f being unreliable and know

n to misrepresent facts."(188)

78

(381) T

he m

emoran

dum

conclu

ded

by statin

g th

at Reid

's offer to

provide the B

ureau with inform

ation about Mafia figure John R

oselli had been declined :

In co

nnectio

n w

ith Jo

hn R

oselli, R

eid w

onted

to trad

e in-

formation concerning him

, which offer w

as refused. He m

en-tioned he w

as concerned with R

oselli's association with attor-

ney Edw

ard Morgan of W

ashington, D.C

. As you recall, M

or-gan

was p

revio

usly

interv

iewed

at the req

uest o

f the W

hite

house co

ncern

ing alleg

ed in

form

ation in

his p

ossessio

n re-

gard

ing

the assassin

ation

. Also

, Ro

selli was th

e con

nectin

g

link b

etween

CIA

and R

obert M

aheu

who w

as hired

by th

e C

IA to approach S

am G

iancana to have Castro assassinated.

(189)

(382) T

he m

emoran

du

m w

ent to

Assistan

t Directo

rs Ro

sen an

d

DeL

oach

, and to

the m

ost sen

ior o

fficials in th

e Bureau

, inclu

din

g

Assistan

t. Directo

r William

Su

llivan

and

several o

f his d

epu

ties, and

A

ssistant D

irector Jam

es Gales o

f the In

spectio

n D

ivisio

n, all o

f w

hom

had

direct resp

onsib

ility fo

r the F

lIks in

vestig

ation o

f Presi-

den

t Ken

ned

y's m

urd

er.(190) N

o in

structio

ns o

f any k

ind to

follo

w

up o

n th

e info

rmatio

n reg

ardin

g M

arcello, th

e alleged

assassinatio

n

discussitm, and the inform

ant, were issued subseqttently. (191)

(383) T

he o

nly

directiv

e regard

ing th

e matter w

as a han

dw

ritten

notation matte on the m

emorandum

by De L

oach :(192) "We. should

discretly identify t he publisher" of the Reid book. (193)

(384) T

wo days later, in an F

BI m

emorandum

of May 17, 1967, the

Special A

gen

t. in C

harg

e (SA

C) o

f the L

os A

ngeles o

ffice reported

su

mo ad

ditio

nal in

form

ation to

Hoover.(1

94) In

the m

emoran

dum

, the L

os Angeles office set forth som

e alleged information it had learned

regarding Becker, w

ho, the Mem

o noted, claimed to have heard "state-

men

t9 su

pposed

ly m

ade b

y C

arlos M

arcello o

n S

eptem

ber 1

1, 1

963,

concern

ing th

e pen

din

g assassin

ation o

f Presid

ent K

enned

y."(1

95)

The F

BI m

emo stated

that 1

day

after the B

ureau

first learned

of th

e R

eid information, its L

os Angeles office received inform

ation regard-in

g E

dw

ard B

ecker w

hich

was alleg

edly

dam

agin

g to

his rep

uta-

tion.(1

96

) Acco

rdin

g to

the in

form

ation, S

idn

ey K

orsh

ak h

ad b

een

discussing liocke rand:

* *

Korsh

ak in

quired

as to w

ho E

d B

ecker w

as and

advised

that B

ecker w

as tryin

g to

shak

e dow

n so

me o

f K

orsh

ak's frien

ds fo

r mo

ney

by

claimin

g h

e is the co

llabo

-rator w

ith Reid and that for m

oney he. could keep the names

of th

ese peo

ple o

ut o

f the b

ook. (1

97)

(385) T

he m

emo

rand

um

also stated

that S

idn

ey K

orsh

ak h

ad fu

r-ther stated that "B

ecker was a no-good shakedow

n artist," (198) in

for-

mation w

hich in turn became know

n to the Bureau. (1

99

) (386)

The m

emoran

dum

did

not m

entio

n th

e back

gro

und o

f the

perso

n w

ho

was su

pp

lyin

g th

e neg

ative in

form

ation

and

allegatio

ns

about Becker—

Sidney K

orshak. He w

as a Los A

ngeles labor lawyer,

'Where

It,eker is re

ferre

d to

as a

n -in

form

ant,-

it sho

uld

be n

ote

d th

at

till!, applie

s to h

is rela

tionsh

ip to

Reid

and n

ot to

a F

edera

l law

enforcement

ageitey

.

79

who h

as been

-alleged

to h

ave u

nderw

orld

associatio

ns in

Chicag

o,

Califo

rnia, Is V

egas, an

d N

ew Y

ork

. (200) The B

ureau

's ow

n files

iden

tified h

im as a co

ntin

uin

g su

bject o

f nu

mero

us o

rgan

ized crim

e investigations, an associate of reputed C

hicago Mafia executioners G

us A

lex and Murray "T

he Cam

el" Hum

phreys, (201) and a business asso-

ciate of Jam

es R. H

offa an

d P

aul D

orfm

an.(2

02) In

an ex

tensiv

e four-part investigative series in 1976, the N

ew Y

ork Tim

es noted that a 1

968 Ju

stice Dep

artmen

t report h

ad d

escribed

Korsh

ak as p

erhap

s "the m

ost significant link in the relationship between the crim

e syndi-cate, p

olitics, lab

or, an

d m

anag

emen

t."(20

3) T

he T

imes fu

rther re-

ported

that at a m

eeting in

April 1

976, sen

ior o

fficials of th

e Justice

Dep

artmen

t's Org

anized

Crim

e Div

ision h

ad "reach

ed a co

nsen

sus

that M

r. Korsh

ak w

as one o

f the fiv

e most p

ow

erful m

embers o

f the

underworld." (2

04

) (387)

On June 5, 1967, in another m

emorandum

to Director H

oover, th

e Los A

ngeles F

BI o

ffice reported

that th

e perso

n w

ho h

ad p

ro-

vid

ed th

e dero

gato

ry in

form

ation o

n B

ecker h

ad co

ntacted

Reid

on

May

26 in

an effo

rt to "d

iscredit" B

ecker's in

form

ation ab

out M

ar-cello. (2

05

) This person had provided R

eid with the inform

ation about B

ecker -w

hich

had

deriv

ed fro

m K

orsh

ak. (2

06) T

he m

emoran

dum

w

ent o

n to

state that "T

he p

urp

ose [o

f this p

erson

] was to

discred

it B

ecker to

Reid

in o

rder th

at the C

arlos M

arcello in

ciden

t would

be

deleted from the book by R

eid. (207)

(388) O

n May 31, 1967, according to the sam

e mem

orandum, a spe-

cial agent of the Los A

ngeles office was involved in a visit to R

eid's hom

e(208) in

a furth

er effort to

persu

ade h

im o

f Beck

er's alleged

untrustw

orthiness. (209) D

uring this visit :

It was ag

ain p

oin

ted o

ut to

Reid

that B

ecker h

ad b

een

interviewed by B

ureau agents in Novem

ber 1962 concerning the B

illie Sol E

stes case, but had not mentioned the reputed

con

versatio

n o

r statemen

ts alleged

ly m

ade b

y M

arcell° on

•

Septem

ber 11, 1963 (almost a year later), at C

hurchill Farm

s, N

ew O

rleans. (210)

(389) T

he B

ureau

's po

ssible co

nfu

sion

ov

er the tim

e perio

ds in

-volv

ed in

the m

atter was fu

rther ev

iden

ced in

the m

emoran

dum

, w

hich said that "in Novem

ber 1962" Becker had "not m

entioned the rep

uted

* *

* statem

ents alleg

edly

mad

e by M

arcello o

n S

eptem

-b

er 11

, 19

63

."(21

1) A

gain

, bo

th R

eid an

d B

ecker h

ave m

aintain

ed

consisten

tly th

at they

mad

e clear that th

e meetin

g w

as in S

eptem

ber

1962, rather than Septem

ber 1963, (212) and that the specific reference in

the R

eid b

ook stated

"Sep

tember 1

962."(2

13) A

dditio

nally

, the

Bureau's ow

n files on Becker (w

hile not. containing - any references to assassination) clearly indicated that B

ecker had been interviewed by

:agen

ts in N

ov

emb

er 19

62

, follo

win

g a trip

thro

ug

h L

ou

isiana th

at S

eptember. (214)

Com

mittee in

vestigatio

n of

the alleg

atio

n

(390) T

he co

mm

ittee carefully

exam

ined

the F

BI's files relatin

g to

B

ecker and the Bureau's contact w

ith him in late 1962. T

he first Bu-

reau reference to Becker appeared in a report of N

ovember 20, 1962,

regarding a private investigator working on the B

illie Sol E

stes case, th

e famous m

ultim

illion-d

ollar frau

d in

vestig

ation o

f the early

80

19

60

's.(21

5) T

he rep

ort n

oted

that B

ecker, th

en 4

2, w

as associated

w

ith an

investig

ator b

eing em

plo

yed

by o

ne o

f the o

il service co

m-

pan

ies that h

ad alleg

edly

been

swin

dled

by

Estes. (216)

Becker w

as said to have had first m

et with the investigator in B

rownsw

ood, Tex.,

on Septem

ber 18, 1962, and that they had traveled to Shreveport, L

a., on business on S

eptember 21.(217) B

ecker was associated w

ith an oil geologist in S

hreveport, Carl R

oppolo,(218) who w

as alleged to be a close acquaintance of. C

arlos Marcella (219)

Th

e repo

rt no

ted th

at on

e perso

n h

ad to

ld th

e Bu

reau th

at "Ro

p-

polo

had

said th

at his m

oth

er is Carlo

s Marcello

's sister, and th

at R

op

po

llo is th

e favo

rite nep

hew

."(22

0) A

s is discu

ssed later, B

ecker

info

rmed

the co

mm

ittee that R

oppolo

, a close frien

d o

f his, w

as the

man w

ho allegedly set up the Septem

ber 10

62

meeting w

ith Marcello

and

attend

ed th

e meetin

g alo

ng

with

Beck

er for th

e pu

rpo

se of seek

-ing M

accello's support for a proposed business venture of theirs. (221) (391)

Beck

er was referred

to in

a secon

d F

BI rep

ort o

f No

vem

ber

21, 1962, which dealt w

ith an alleged counterfeiting ring and a Dallas

lawyer w

ho rep

orted

ly h

ad k

now

ledge o

f it.(222) T

his rep

ort. n

oted

that. B

ecker was being used as an "inform

aret2Lby a private investiga-

tor in

the in

vestig

ation(2

23) an

d w

as assisting to

the ex

tent th

at he

beg

an receiv

ing ex

pen

se money

.(224) T

he L

os A

ngeles F

BI o

ffice n

oted

that th

e inv

estigato

r wo

rkin

g w

ith B

ecker h

ad "ad

mitted

that

he could be supporting a con game for living expenses on the part of

Beck

er * *

* b

ut th

at he d

ou

bted

it," as he h

ad o

nly

pro

vid

ed B

ecker

with lim

ited expenses.(225) (392)

Th

e No

vem

ber 2

1, 1

96

2, B

ureau

repo

rt no

ted fu

rther th

at B

ecker had once been associated with M

ax Field, a crim

inal associate o

f Mafia lead

er Josep

h S

ica of L

os A

ng

eles.(22

6) A

ccord

ing

to th

e rep

ort "It ap

pears th

at Beck

er * *

has b

een feed

ing all ru

mors h

e has heard plus w

hatever stories he can fit, into the picture."(227) (393)

On

No

vem

ber 2

0, 1

96

2, B

ecker w

as interv

iewed

by

the F

BI

in co

nn

ection

with

its inv

estigatio

n o

f the B

illie So

l Estes case o

n

wh

ich B

ecker w

as then

also w

ork

ing

as a priv

ate inv

estigato

r.(22

8)

Becker told the B

ureau of his recent trips to Dallas, T

ex., and Louisi-

ana, and informed them

of the information he, had heard about counter-

feiting in

Dallas. (2

29) A

t that p

oin

t, Beck

er also b

riefly d

iscussed

C

arlos Marcella :

Ho [B

ecker] W

ised th

at on tw

o o

ccasions h

e has acco

m-

pan

ied R

oppolo

to N

ew O

rleans, w

here. th

ey m

et with

one

Carlo

s Marcella, w

ho is a lo

ngtim

e friend o

f Roppolo

. He

adv

ised th

at Ro

pp

olo

was to

ob

tain th

e finan

cing

for th

eir prom

otional business from M

arcella. He advised that he knew

nothing further about M

arcel4o.(230)

(394) B

ecker w

as briefly

men

tion

ed in

ano

ther B

ureau

repo

rt, of

Novem

ber 2

7, 1

962, w

hich

again

stated th

at he alleg

edly

mad

e up

"stories" an

d in

ven

ted ru

mo

rs to d

erive "p

ossib

le gain

" from

such

false in form

ation.(231) (3

05

) T

hree d

ays later, o

n .N

ovem

ber 3

0, 1

962, an

oth

er Bureau

rep

ort o

n th

e Billie S

ol A

tes case made reference to B

ecker's trip to D

allas in Septem

ber and his work on the case.(230) T

he report. noted th

at Beck

er was ap

paren

tly asso

ciated w

ith v

ariou

s sho

w b

usin

ess in

T.;<

, (:?

1?) V

iirtlwr

a m

art w

ho !ia

rl been

81

acqu

ainted

with

Beck

er had

referred to

him

as a "small-tim

e con

m

an."(234) (3

96

) In an

Ap

ril 11

, 19

63

, FB

I repo

rt, Beck

er and

his frien

d R

op

-polo w

ere referred to once, again.(235) The report. had been w

ritten by agent. R

egis Kennedy of the N

ew O

rleans office in response to a directiv

e issued

shortly

after Beck

er info

rmed

the B

ureau

that R

op-

polo had accompanied him

to two business m

eetings with M

arcello. (236)

The N

ew O

rleans o

ffice had

been

instru

cted to

determ

ine if

Roppolo w

as in fact acquainted with M

arcello, as advised by Becker.

(237) T

he A

pril 1

1, 1

90

3, rep

ort co

nclu

ded

that R

op

po

lo d

id in

all likelihood know

the New

Orleans M

afia lcader.(238) A source had in-

formed the N

ew O

rleans office that the Marcello and R

oppolo "fami-

lies were q

uite clo

se at one tim

e as they

came fro

m th

e 'old

country

' at ap

pro

xim

ately th

e same tim

e and liv

ed as n

eighbors in

New

O

rleans." (239) (3

97

) Th

is repo

rt furth

er stated th

at the sam

e sou

rce do

ub

ted

wh

ether R

op

po

lo h

imself co

uld

secure fin

ancial b

ackin

g fro

nt M

ar- cello

for a b

usin

ess ven

ture, d

ue to

Roppolo

's alleged

reputatio

n as

som

eone "rath

er shiftless."(2

4(1

) Roppolo

was reg

arded

as "a pro

b-

lem," a person w

ho "is always trying to prom

ote something."(241)

(398)

Wh

ile the co

mm

ittee was u

nab

le to d

evelo

p m

ore sp

ecific in

form

ation reg

ardin

g th

e relationsh

ip b

etween

I3eck

er's associate,

Roppolo, and M

arcella the comm

ittee did receive information indicat-

ing a clo

ser relationsh

ip th

an w

as indicated

in th

e April 1

963 F

BI

report.. The N

ew O

rleans Crim

e Com

mission, in various analyses and

charts o

f the M

arcello o

rgan

ization

, had

for y

ears been

iden

tifyin

g

Lillian R

oppolo as an associate of Carlos M

arcello. (242) Aaron K

ohn, noted

the rep

orted

relationsh

ip b

etween

the tw

o fam

ilies and stated

that L

illian itoppolo "was considered to be som

ething of a courier for M

arcello."(243) A C

rime C

omm

ission file on the Roppolos indicates

that sh

e had

an ev

en clo

ser perso

nal relatio

nsh

ip w

ith M

arcella in

additio

n to

the alleg

ed co

urier an

d b

usin

ess activitie.s.(2

44) D

urin

g

his appearance before the comm

ittee on .January 11, 1978, Marcella

him

self bro

ug

ht u

p h

is app

arent fam

iliarity w

ith th

e Ro

pp

olo

s wh

en

he w

as questio

ned

about h

is know

ledge o

f a perso

n h

avin

g a sim

ilar sounding surnam

e.(245) B

ecker's statem

ent to

the co

mm

ittee (3

99) D

urin

g its ex

amin

ation o

f Reid

's publish

ed acco

unt o

f the

alleged Marcello discussion about assassinating P

resident, Kennedy,

the co

mm

ittee received

a mo

re detailed

accou

nt fro

m B

ecker o

f the

allegatio

ns an

d in

form

ation

he o

rigin

ally p

rov

ided

Reid

. Beck

er 57

in

1979 to

ld tl

omm

itte 10 tte

16 a

mt h

is accou

nt o

f the m

eeting_ an

d d

is- cu

ssion w

it Marce to

m

-4

) tru

.

was

neon an n

ow

, was t m

ere."

e main

tained

that "th

e FB

I—th

eir agen

ts in

r1 T

iigele

s—lrrv

e trie

l- to d

iscredit m

e. Th

ey'v

e do

ne ev

ery-

thin

g ex

cept in

vestig

ate the in

form

ation

I gav

e Reid

. Th

ey ap

par-

ently

hav

e alway

s said it w

as not th

e truth

, but th

ey'v

e nev

er in-

vestig

ated it to

arrive at th

at. jud

gm

ent."

(247) B

ecker in

dicated

a w

illingness to

support h

is truth

fuln

ess in

oth

er

ways.(248)

(100) B

ecker stated

that h

e was b

orn

in C

aliforn

ia and raised

in

New

Haven. C

onn. (249) His early years of em

ployment had included

publicity work for several S

an Francisco nightclubs and, subsequently,

82

writin

g a co

lum

n fo

r two C

aliforn

ia new

spap

ers. (250) D

urin

g later

rears he h

ad d

one fu

rther w

ork

in th

e entertain

men

t field, m

anag

ing

t singer, as w

ell as writin

g an

d p

roducin

g p

rogram

s for telev

ision in

Los A

ngeles during the early 1950's. (251)

(401) B

ecker said

he b

ecame a p

ublic relatio

ns m

an fo

r the R

iviera

Hotel an

d C

asino in

Las V

egas in

1955, w

ork

ing clo

sely w

ith G

us

Greenbaum

,(252) the Riviera m

anager and well-know

n gambling fig-

ure w

ho w

as the v

ictim o

f a much

publicized

underw

orld

killin

g in

1957. (253) B

ecker stated

that h

e "was th

en trav

eling in

som

e pretty

fast circles. I was certain

ly n

ot th

e cleanest p

erson aro

und."(2

54)

He further m

aintained that while he "w

as always out to m

ake a buck,

he was never enga(*ed in any significant crim

inal activity. (255) Becker

noted

that h

e had

twiceb

ecom

e the su

bject o

f crimin

al investig

ations,

(256) the first resulting in his conviction on misdem

eanor charges for

hav

ing sto

len "aro

und $

900" fro

m a n

ightclu

b p

hoto

grap

her w

ith

whops he w

as acquainted. (257) 1

Ie was in his tw

enties at the time and

served 60 days in jail. (268) (4

09) B

ecker stated

that in

1959 h

e had

also b

ecom

e involv

ed w

ith

two m

en w

ho w

ere "runnin

g a co

n d

eal involv

ing lau

nderm

ats and

stolen credit ca yds" (2.59) and that one of the two m

en was an associate

of Los A

ngeles Mafia leader Joseph S

ica. (960) rfr-w

as the subject of

an S

EC

desist o

rder in

conju

nctio

n w

ith th

e 1959 in

vestig

ation. (2

61)

(403) B

ecker to

ld th

e com

mittee th

at he h

ad w

ork

ed as a p

rivate

investigator during the years since, coordinating undercover investiga-

tive w

ork

for co

rporate clien

ts,(262) as w

ell as work

ing o

n v

arious

org

anized

crime eases.(2

63) D

urin

g th

e early 1

900's, h

e was d

oin

g

investig

ative w

ork

for Ju

lian B

lodgett, a p

rivate in

vestig

ator an

d

forme i.F

B I agent. (264)

(404) B

ecker to

ld th

e com

mittee th

at he an

d R

oppolo

had

met w

ith

Marcello

in late 1

962 to

seek h

is finan

cial back

ing fo

r an o

il additiv

e

pro

duct th

ey w

ere planning to market. (265) D

ue to Roppolo's close

relationsh

ip w

ith M

arcello, th

e meetin

g w

as arranged

with

out d

iffi-

culty

. (266)

(405)

Becker stated that he and R

oppolo met w

ith Marcello on three

or fo

ur o

ccasions in

connectio

n w

ith th

e pro

posed

busin

ess deal an

d

that M

arcello m

ade h

is com

men

ts about P

residen

t Ken

ned

y d

urin

g

the first o

r second m

eeting. (2

67) T

he m

eetings tran

spired

betw

een

som

etime in

Sep

tember 1

962 an

d ro

ughly

January

1963.(2

68) O

nly

the th

ree of th

em h

ad b

een p

resent d

urin

g tw

o o

r three o

f the m

eet-

ings, b

ut a M

arcella aide .n

amed

"Liv

crde," a b

arber, h

ad also

been

present once. (269)

(406) B

ecker stated

that, M

arcello h

ad m

ade h

is remark

s about th

e

Kennedy brothers after B

ecker said something to the effect that "B

ob-

!by K

enned

y is really

giv

ing y

ou a ro

ugh tim

e."(270) H

e could

not

recall the ex

act word

s Marcello

used

-in th

reatenin

g P

residen

t Ken

-

ned

y. b

ut b

elieved

the acco

unt in

Reid

's book "is b

asically co

rrect."

( 211 ) M

arcello \ v ; p-i very angry and had "clearly stated that lie w

as

goin

g to

arrange to

hav

e Presid

ent K

enned

y m

urd

ered in

seine

way." (272) M

arcello's statement had been m

ade in a serious tone and

sounded

as if he h

ad d

iscussed

it prev

iously

to so

me ex

tent.(2

73)

Becker com

mented that M

arcello had made som

e kind of reference to

Presid

ent K

enned

y's b

eing a d

og an

d A

ttorn

ey G

eneral R

obert K

en-

83

nedy the dog's tail,(274) and had said "the dog will keep biting you if

you only cut off its tail," but that if the dog's head were cut off, the dog

would (lie. (2

75)

(407) B

ecker stated that. Marcella also m

ade some kind of reference

to th

e way

in w

hich

lie alleged

ly w

anted

to arran

ge th

e Presid

ent's

murd

er.(276) M

arcello "clearly

indicated

" that. h

is ow

n lieu

tenan

ts

must not be identified as the assassins,(277) and that there w

ould thus

be a n

ecessity to

hav

e them

use or manipulate som

eone else to carry

out the actual crime. (2

78)

(408) B

ecker said that Marcello's alleged rem

arks about assassinat-

ing th

e Presid

ent. lasted

only

a few m

inutes d

urin

g th

e course o

f the

meeting, w

hich went 1 to 2 hours. (279) M

arcello -'had spoken in Si-

cilian p

hrases d

urin

g p

arts of th

e meetin

g an

d h

ad g

row

n an

gry

at

one point in the discussion of their proposed business deal. (280)

(409) B

ecker said that although he and Roppollo m

et with M

arcello

on tw

o o

r three o

ccasions fo

llow

ing th

is meetin

g, th

ey n

ever ag

ain

discussed President K

ennedy. (281) (B

ecker ad

ded

that th

e oil ad

di-

tive business business deal never came to fruition. (2

83))

(410) B

ecker to

ld th

e com

mittee th

at while lie b

elieved

...Marcell°

had been sest -

-wan -tug-

16e-- P

resident- as-

sasstiiiired, he did

not b"3"4741

el. '1..et ..3.fatia, leader w

as eapable_of carry=

ing it o

ut o

r ha th

e opportu

nity

_to

ilaso.(2

83)-lle--em

phasiialk

at

while h

e was d

isturb

ed b

y M

arcello's remarks_at_the tim

e,_he_ had

g row-Tram

-us tun led to he axingsriM i nal ligu res- m

ake-Ihreatsjiga inst

adversaries. 8.4)-

-

ec ter stated th

at the o

nly

error in

Reid

's publish

ed acco

unt

of the meeting related to the statem

ent that Becker had inform

ed two

Govern

men

t investig

ators o

f it. (285) B

ecker said

that h

e nev

er told

any Governm

ent - investig

ator o

f Marcello

's remark

s about P

residen

t

Ken

ned

y ; (2

86) h

e "would

hav

e been

afraid" to

repeat M

arcello's

remarks to anyone during that period, out of concern that M

arcello or

his associates might learn he had done so. (2

87) B

ecker suggested that

Reid m

ay have incorrectly inferred that he told the FB

I of the alleged

Marcello

threat w

hen

he w

as interv

iewed

by ag

ents reg

ardin

g th

e

Billie S

ol Estes case in N

ovember 1962. (288) B

ecker also stated that he

was never interview

ed by the FB

I about the alleged Marcello m

eeting

in the years since Reid first reported it, a fact borne out by the com

mit-

tee's examination of B

ureau files on Becker.

(412) B

ecker fu

rther stated

that th

e only

perso

n o

ther th

an R

eid

whom

he m

ight h

ave in

form

ed o

f Marcello

's remark

s was h

is close

associate Ju

lian B

lodgett, w

ho em

plo

yed

him

durin

g th

at perio

d as

an investigator. (289)

(413) B

lodgett, a fo

rmer F

BI ag

ent an

d ch

ief investig

ator fo

r the

district attorney of Los A

ngeles County, inform

ed the comm

ittee that

he can

"vag

uely

remem

ber so

meth

ing" ab

out B

ecker's h

avin

g m

et

with M

arcello. (290) B

lodgett stated

that h

e "can v

erify" th

at Beck

er

traveled to New

Orleans in S

eptember 1962, but could not recall any

specific acco

unt o

f Beck

er's meetin

g w

ith M

arcello. (290

Blodgett

told the comm

ittee lie regarded Becker as an honest person w

ho was

one of "the most know

ledgeable detail men" in the private investiga-

tion business. (292) W

hile noting that Becker "has been a controversial

guy," Blodgett stated that he personally w

ould believe Becker's account

of the alleged Marcello m

eeting. (293)

84

(414) B

ecker fu

rther to

ld th

e com

mittee th

at follo

win

g P

residen

t K

enned

y's assassin

ation in

Dallas, h

e quick

ly cam

e to b

elieve th

at C

arlos Marcello had in fact probably been behind it. (294) H

e reached this opinion because of factors such as L

ee Osw

ald having been from

New

Orleans, as w

ell as Jack Ruby's alleged underw

orld associations. (2

95) B

ecker stated that "it was generally thought in m

ob circles that R

uby was a tool of sonic m

ob group." (206) B

ecker fu

rther stated

that

he had learned after the assassination that "Osw

ald's uncle, who used

to run some bar, had been a part of the gam

bling network overseen by

Marcello. lie w

orked for the mob in N

ew O

rlea.ns."(297) (415)

Din

ing h

is appearan

ce befo

re the co

mm

ittee on Jan

uary

11,

1978, Marcello

questioned about Reid's account of the m

eeting at w

hich

he alleg

edly

spoke o

f assassinatin

g P

residen

t Ken

ned

y. (M

I) M

arcello firmly denied that the m

eeting and discussion ever took place an

d stated

that h

e was fam

iliar with

the R

eid b

oo

k : "T

he w

ay th

e pap

er puts it an

d th

e books p

ut it in

there, it m

akes it lik

e you h

ad

som

e kin

d o

f secret meetin

gs, b

ecause I h

ave h

eard th

e bo

ok

abo

ut

what you are telling m

e." (299) (416)

Marcello testified that w

hile he had heard that Robert K

ennedy w

as a stron

g ad

vo

cate of in

tensify

ing

the in

vestig

ation

of o

rgan

ized

crime fig

ures. an

d h

ad b

een so

even

bek

te beco

min

g A

ttorn

ey G

en-

eral, -1 d

idn't p

ay n

o atten

tion to

it at that tim

e."(300) A

sked

when

he did begin to pay attention to R

obert Kennedy's intentions, M

arcello testified, "W

hen he got to be Attorney G

eneral. (3

01) W

hile recalling th

at Atto

rney

Gen

eral Ken

ned

y "said

he w

as goin

g to

get o

rgan

ized

crime an

d all th

at kin

d o

f stutl,"(3

02

) Marcello

stated th

at "the o

nly

t hue I really know

e(i about it" was w

hen he was arrested and deported

from

the C

ountry

."(303) A

sked

if he p

laced an

y p

articular b

lame o

n

the A

ttorn

ey G

eneral fo

r his d

eportatio

n, M

arcello testified

, "No, I

do

n't, h

e just d

on

e wh

at he th

ou

gh

t was rig

ht., I g

uess."(3

04

) (417)

Marcello

furth

er testified th

at he co

uld

not recall h

avin

g

any d

iscussio

n at h

is Church

ill Farm

s estate about th

e Ken

ned

y

adm

inistratio

n's in

tensificatio

n o

f Fed

eral efforts ag

ainst o

rgan

ized

crime. (3

05)

Marcell° stated

that C

hu

rchill F

arms w

as no

t a place

where h

e would

conduct a m

eeting; th

at the estate w

as only

used

fo

r limitin

g an

d w

as the lo

cation o

f vario

us d

uck

blin

ds. (3

06

)

Marc

ello

furth

er te

stified th

at h

e (lid

not h

ave to

disc

uss h

is d

epo

rtation

with

associates b

ecause "E

very

bo

dy

in th

e Un

ited S

tates k

no

wed

I was k

idn

aped

. I did

n't h

ave to

discu

ss it . . . I told

the

wh

ole w

orld

that it w

as un

fair. An

yb

od

y w

ho

talked

to m

e said it

was u

nfair." (3

07

) ( 41.9—

When- asked- if-he-had-ever- m

ade - any- th

real— aiiiiist Atto

r-ney .G

eoeral Kennedy-or turd

- spoken

of tak

ing an

y p

hysical actio

n

ago-belt him, M

arre- tRigtated, "N

o sir; I nev

er said an

yth

ing lik

e that-Z

-(.3408) Wrie.n_asked of he had ever_spok -eTn.--o

Tta'llin

g-su

elr-action

against P

resl -Frit7

iF inery ar- had threatenedhim in any w

ay, Mar-

io stated

, "- Positively nZ

i- t, nev

er said an

yth

ing

like th

irt," -(309)

AN

AL

141S O

F T

HE

E1M

EN

CE

(41

91

T

he acco

unt o

f the, alleg

ed M

arcello d

iscussio

n set fo

rth b

y

Becker and R

eid presented a number of serious issues, som

e of which

85

it. (31

0)

(420) U

pon learn

ing in

1907 o

f the B

ecker acco

unt o

f the alleg

ed

Marcello rem

arks about assassinating President K

ennedy, the Bureau

did

not m

ake an

y effo

rt to in

terview

Beck

er about th

e info

rmatio

n,

nor d

id it in

stitute an

y actio

ns to

seek elab

oratio

n, els rilicatio

n, o

r co

rroboratio

n o

f the in

form

ation. In

stead, th

e allegatio

n w

as merely

circu

lated to

the B

ureau

's most sen

ior o

fficials, inclu

din

g D

irector

J. Edgar H

oover,(3

//) while th

e Bureau

's ow

n files o

n B

ecker co

n-

tained

several p

ieces of in

form

ation th

at should

hav

e been

the su

b-

ject of careful review. T

he Bureau's files from

Novem

ber 1962 noted th

at Beck

er had

in fact. trav

eled th

rough L

ouisian

a durin

g th

at p

eriod

and

had

also trav

eled to

Dallas. (312)

The B

ureau

's ow

n

No

vem

ber 2

6, 1

96

2, in

terview

repo

rt. on

Beck

er no

ted th

at he h

ad

info

rmed

the B

ureau

of tw

o b

usin

ess meetin

gs w

ith M

arcello th

at he h

ad atten

ded

with

Carl R

oppolo

in recen

t week

s. (313)

A su

b-

sequen

t report, d

ated A

pril 1

1, 1

963, co

nclu

ded

that, R

oppolo

may

w

ell have known M

arcello and that. the Roppolo and M

arcello fami-

lies had

long b

een asso

ciated. (3

14)

(421) In

1967, in

notin

g th

at Beck

er had

not to

ld th

e Bureau

of

the alleg

ed M

arcello th

reat. durin

g h

is 1962 in

terview

with

agen

ts; th

e Bureau

seemed

to reach

the co

nclu

sion th

at the sig

nifican

ce of

the alleg

ed B

ecker in

form

ation

was g

reatly u

nd

ermin

ed as a resu

lt. L

ikew

ise., the B

ureau

's apparen

t view

that B

ecker's b

ackgro

und o

f crim

inal asso

ciation

s un

derm

ined

the p

ossib

ility th

at he h

ad in

fact m

et with

Marcello

—rath

er than

strength

ened

that p

ossib

ility—

was

indicativ

e of th

e Bureau

's deficien

t appro

ach to

the m

atter. In its

handling of the allegations about Mai-cello, the B

ureau did not carry out an

y su

bstan

tive ex

amin

ation an

d ev

aluatio

n o

f the so

urce w

ho

had

set forth

the in

form

ation; o

nly

the stan

dard

exam

inatio

n o

f v

ariou

s crimin

al info

rman

ts and

un

derw

orld

sou

rces was m

ade to

d

etermin

e the sp

ecific natu

re of th

eir mo

tivatio

ns, cred

ibility

and

activities. (422)

Sim

ilarly, there was no evidence that the F

BI m

ade any effort to investigate the allegations from

the other direction—front the spe-

cific travels and activities of Marcello during the period or periods in

qu

estion

. Patrick

Co

llins, th

e agen

t cov

ering

Marcello

's activities at

the time, inform

ed the comm

ittee that. he "was never asked to investi-

gate it in any way."(,115) W

hile he later read of the alleged Marcello

threat in the press, he "never saw any directive on it" or heard of any

Bureau

interest. in

the m

atter.(316) H

e stated th

at he w

ould

in all

i klihood have been aware of any such B

ureau directives or interest had there been any. (3

17)

(423) T

he evidence shows another aspect of the B

ureau's perform-

ance. FB

I files clearly Oldie:lie a high level aw

areness that the Bureau

was in

volv

ed in

tryin

g to

"discred

it" (the term

used

in a B

ureau

m

emorandum

) the source, of the information, E

dward B

eeker.(318)

had

hig

hly

distu

rbin

g im

plicatio

ns reg

ardin

g th

e perfo

rman

ce of

the F

BI in

investig

ating th

e possib

ility o

f Mafia co

mplicity

. um

_

evilence indicate` that the FB

Es--fo

rritItibC

of th

e allegatio

ns an

d

mffi-nration about. M

arcello was characterized by a less than vigor-

ous e o

- e

'low

, •

' .thaliniR

TT

4Threll u

s a stron

g d

esire to

"discred

it" the in

form

ation w

ithout litiV

irie actually

to in

vestig

ate

br

As n

oted

earlier, the files sh

ow

that a L

os A

ng

eles FB

I agen

t partici-

pated

in th

e effort, an

d w

ithout h

avin

g ever investigated the M

arcello allegations. (3

19) F

urth

er, the Ju

ne 5

,'19

67

, FB

I mem

oran

du

m o

n th

e m

atter ( which

wen

t. to D

irector H

oover h

imself, as w

ell as to h

is clo

sest aides) clearly

ind

icated th

at the "p

urp

ose" o

f the v

isit to R

eid

was "to

discred

it Beck

er to R

eid in

ord

er that th

e Carlo

s Marcello

incident w

ould be deleted from the book by R

eid." (320) (424)

l'he F

BI files also

con

tain rep

eated referen

ces to th

e Bu

reau's

use o

f allegatio

ns ab

out B

ecker receiv

ed fro

m S

idney

Korsh

ak, an

alleg

ed asso

ciate of v

arious o

rgan

ized crim

e leaders.(3

2/) T

he files

indicate a h

igh lev

el awaren

ess at Bureau

head

quarters th

at the L

os

Angeles F

BI office w

as usino.b the in

form

ation receiv

ed fro

m K

orsh

ak

in an

eit:d.t. to

persu

ade R

eid n

ot to

publish

the M

arcello alleg

a-tions. (3

22) T

here was, how

ever, no reference in the files to Korshak's

own possible background and activities, nor to his possible m

otives in su

pp

lyin

g th

e info

rmatio

n at th

at time. (3

23)

(425) T

he ev

iden

ce show

s that th

e FB

I's failure to

investig

ate the

allegatio

n th

at Marcello

had

discu

ssed assassin

ating P

residen

t Ken

-n

edy

con

stituted

a vio

lation

of th

e Directo

r's pro

mise to

inv

estigate

all circum

stances su

rroundin

g th

e Presid

ent's m

urd

er even

after the

official W

arren C

om

missio

n in

vestig

ation

had

end

ed in

19

64

. In h

is ap

pearan

ce befo

re the C

om

missio

n o

n A

fty. 6

, 1964, F

BI D

irector

J. Edgar H

oover h

ad p

ersonally

affirmed

that p

rom

ise, stating:

I can assu

re you so

far as the F

BI is co

ncern

ed th

e case w

ill be co

ntin

ued

in an

open

classification fo

r all time. T

hat

is, any in

form

ation co

min

g to

us o

r any rep

ort co

inin

g to

us

from

any so

urce w

ill be th

oro

ughly

investig

ated, so

that w

e w

ill be ab

le to eith

er pro

ve o

r disp

rov

e the alleg

ation

. (32

4)

(426) T

he FB

I's failure to take seriously the alleged Marcello threat

was all the m

ore disturbing given the time at w

hich the Bureau learned

of an

d d

iscarded

the alleg

ation

—less th

an 2

mo

nth

s after the lead

er-ship of the B

ureau had been faulted by President Johnson him

self for not p

ursu

ing an

oth

er allegatio

n b

y an

underw

orld

info

rman

t that

Mafia fig

ures an

d C

ub

an ag

ents m

igh

t secretly h

ave b

een in

vo

lved

in

Presid

ent K

enn

edy

's assassinatio

n.(3

2,5

) In th

at instan

ce, as de-

tailed b

y th

e Sen

ate Select C

om

mittee o

n In

telligen

ce in 1

976, F

BI

Directo

r Hoover an

d h

is top d

eputies h

ad learn

ed o

f the in

form

ation

from L

os Angeles M

afia figure John Roselli's law

yer, Edw

ard P. M

or-gan. (326) only to decide on F

ebruary 15, 1967, that "no investigation w

ill be m

idu

cted reg

ardin

g th

e allegatio

ns." (327)

(427) O

n M

arch 1

T, 1

96

7, u

pon

learnin

g o

f the R

oselli alleg

ation

and

of th

e Bu

reau's failu

re to in

vestig

ate it, Persid

ent Jo

hn

son

per-

son

ally in

terven

ed an

d o

rdered

the B

ureau

to in

terview

Mo

rgan

, p

ursu

e the in

form

ation

and

repo

rt its find

ing

s to h

im. (328)

Subm

itted b

y :

G. R

OB

ERT B

LAK

EY,

Chief C

ounsel and Staff Director.

GA

RY

T. C

OR

NW

EL

L,

Deputy C

hief Counsel.

MIC

HA

EL

EW

ING

, R

esearcher.

RE

FE

RE

NC

ES

(1) A

ttorn

ey G

eneral's C

on

ference o

n O

rgan

ized C

rime, R

epo

rt of F

ebru

-ary 15, 1950, p. 20; hearings before the S

elect Com

mittee to Investigate O

rganized C

rime in

Interstate C

om

merce, U

.S. S

enate, 8

2d

Co

ng

ress, Janu

ary-F

ebru

ary

19

51

, part 8

( Wash

ing

ton

, D.C

.: U.S

. Go

vern

men

t Prin

ting

Office) • (h

ere-in

after cited as K

efauver C

om

mittee h

earings an

d rep

ort) ; h

earings b

efore th

e S

elect Com

mittee o

n Im

pro

per A

ctivities in

the L

abo

r and

Man

agem

ent Fields,

Stith

Congress, 2

6 S

ess., March

1959, p

art 48 ( W

ashin

gto

n, D

.C.: U

.S. G

ov-

ernm

ent P

rintin

g O

ffice, .1959) (h

ereinafter cited

as McC

lellan C

om

mittee) ;

hearin

gs b

efore th

e Perm

anen

t Su

bco

mm

ittee on

Inv

estigatio

ns o

f the C

om

-m

ittee on G

overn

men

t Operatio

ns, U

.S. S

enate, 8

7th

Congress, G

amblin

g an

d

Org

anized

Crim

e, August-S

eptem

ber 1

961, p

arts 2 an

d 3

(Wash

ingto

n, D

.C.:

U.S

. Govern

men

t Prin

ting O

ffice, 1961) (h

ereinafter cited

as Perm

anen

t Investi-

gatio

ns S

ub

com

mittee) ; th

e Presid

ent's C

om

missio

n o

n L

aw E

nfo

rcemen

t and

th

e Ad

min

istration

of Ju

stice, Task

Fo

rce Rep

ort : O

rgan

ized C

rime (W

ashin

g-

ton, D.C

.: U.S

. Governm

ent Printing O

ffice, 1967), (hereinafter cited as Organized

Crim

e Com

mission R

eport). (2) S

ee ref. 1, testim

ony o

f Aaro

n M

. Kohn, A

ug. 3

0, 1

961, P

erman

ent In

vesti-

gatio

ns S

ubco

mm

ittee. ,(3

) Ibid

. (4)

Ibid

. (5)

Testim

ony of Aaron M

. Kohn, M

ar. 23, 1959, McC

lellan Com

mittee p. 17221.

(6) Ib

id.

(7) Ib

id.

(8) Ib

id.

,(9)

Ibid

. (10)

Kohn testim

ony, Aug. 30, 1961, P

ermanent Investigations S

ubcomm

ittee. (11)

Ibid

. (12)

Ibid

. (13)

Testim

ony of Aaron M

. Kohn, M

ar. 29, 1959, McC

lellan Com

mittee, P

P.

17222-23. (14)

Ko

hn

testimo

ny

, Aug. 3

0, 1

961, P

erman

ent In

vestig

ations S

ubco

mm

ittee; K

efauver Com

mittee, pp. 77-78; M

cClellan C

omm

ittee, pp. 17221-22. (15)

McC

lellan Com

mittee, pp. 17221-22.

(16) K

ohn Testim

ony, Aug. 30, 1961, P

ermanent Investigations S

ubconunittee. (17)

Ibid

. (18)

Ibid

. (19)

Ibid

. (20)

Statem

ent o

f Aaro

n M

. Ko

hn

, Jun

e 11

, 19

70

, ho

use Ju

diciary

Co

mm

ittee S

ubcomm

ittee No. 5, June 11, 1970.

(21) T

estimo

ny

of C

arlos M

arcello, Jan

. 25

, 19

51

, Kefau

ver C

om

mittee, p

p.

36-55. (22) K

efauver Senate C

omm

ittee report, p. 90. (23)

Id. at p

. 82

. (24) Id

. at p. 8

3.

(25) See ref. 20.

(26) K

ohn testimony, A

ug. 30. 1961, Perm

anent Investigations Subcom

mittee.

(27) M

cClellan

Sen

ate Co

mm

ittee repo

rt, No

. 11

39

, pp. 48

7-8

8; h

earing

s, pp

. 11213-14.

(28) M

cClellan C

omm

ittee, Mar. 24, 1959, pp. 17257-69.

(29) Id. at p. 17265. (30) Id. at p. 17266. (31)

Id. at p. 17267. (32)

Bill D

avid

son, "N

ew O

rleans : C

osa N

ostra's W

all Street," T

he S

aturd

ay

Evening P

ost, Feb. 29, 1964.

(33) Ib

id.

• (34)

Ram

sey Clark., "C

rime In A

merica" (N

ew Y

ork : Pocket B

ooks, 1971), pp. 56-57.

(35) H

ou

se Select C

om

mittee o

n C

rime, h

earing

s, "Org

anized

Crim

e in

Sports," June 1, 1972, pp. 970-71. (36)

FB

I report, Oct. 24, 1972, L

a Cosa N

ostra file, Bureau N

o. 92-6054-3176. (37)

Ibid

. (38)

Dep,sition of A

aron I:01m, N

ov. 7, 1978, House S

elect Com

mittee on A

s-sassin

ation

s, p. 4

0.

(391

Interv

iew o

f Patrick

.7. C

ollin

s, House S

elect Com

mittee o

n A

ssassina-

tions, Nov. 15, 1978.

88

(40) Ib

id.

(41) ib

id.

(42) Ibid

. (43) N

ew Y

ork Tim

es, Sept. 23, 1966, S

ept. 24, 1966; see ref. 20.

(44) Ibid

. (45)

The A

ssassinatio

n o

f John F

. Ken

ned

y an

d O

rgan

ized C

rime, co

nsu

ltant's

report, this volume.

46) Imm

unized testimony of C

arlos Marcell°, Jan. 11, 1978, H

ouse Select C

om-

mittee o

n A

ssassinatio

ns, p

. 110.

(47) N

ew O

rleans T

imes P

icayune, O

ct. 1, 1

966, O

ct. 2, 1

966.

(48) See ref. 20.

(49) Ib

id.

(50) Ibid. (51)

Ibid

. (52)

Ibid

. As d

etailed b

y th

e New

Orlean

s Crim

e Com

missio

n, th

ose w

ho ac-

tively

sought clem

ency

on M

arcello's b

ehalf in

cluded

one sh

eriff, one fo

rmer

sheriff, one S

tate legislato

r, two fo

rmer S

tate legislato

rs, two fo

rmer S

tate police

com

man

ders, o

ne p

residen

t of a w

aterfront lab

or u

nio

n, o

ne b

ank p

residen

t, two

ban

k v

ice presid

ents, o

ne fo

rmer assistan

t district atto

rney

, one ch

ief Juven

ile

pro

batio

n o

fficer, one fo

rmer rev

enue ag

ent, th

ree insu

rance ag

encies, fiv

e real-

tors, fiv

e physician

s, one fu

neral d

irector, an

d six

clergym

en.

15.3) Ibid. (54)

"The M

ob," part 1, LIF

E, S

ept. 1, 1997.

(55) Ibid

. (56)

Ibid

. (57 ) "T

he Mob," part 2, L

IFE

, Sept. 8, 1967.

•

(5;'.)

Warren

Rogers, "T

he P

ersecutio

n o

f Clay

Sha‘r," L

OO

K, A

ug. 2

6, 1

969.

(59) U

nited

Press In

ternatio

nal n

ews d

ispatch

, Mar. 1

, 1970.

(60‘ Ib

id.

(61) N

ew O

rleans States-Item

, Mar. 2, 1970.

(62) ' T

he L

ittle Man

Is Big

ger T

han

Ever," L

IFE

, Apr. 1

0, 1

970.

(6.3) 164 a S

yndicated

colu

mn o

f Victo

r Wesel, M

ay 5

, 1970.

(85) Ib

id.

86.) L

os A

ngeles T

imes, S

ept. 4

, 1970; W

all Street Jo

urn

al, Oct. 1

4, 1

970.

(67) See ref. 35.

(88) Id

. at p. 9

76.

(89) Id

: at p. 9

78.

(70) Id

. at p. 9

64.

(71) Id

. at p. 9

69.

(72) Id. at p. 9S5.

(73) Ibid

. (74) F

BI L

a Cosa N

ostra file, 1961, Bureau N

o. 92-6054.

(75) New

Orleans S

tates-Item, D

ec. 28, 1960.

(76) F

BI report, M

ar. 3, 1961, Carlos M

arcello file, Bureau N

o. 92-2713, Sec. 4.

(77) F

BI L

a Cosa N

ostra file, 1961, Bureau N

o. 92-6054.

Ibid

. (79) F

BI L

a Cosa N

ostra file, 1963, Bureau N

o. 92-6054.

(80) Ibid

. (5

1) Ib

id.

(82) Ibid

. (83) Ib

id.

) (

.5) FB

I report, Feb 13, 1961, C

arlos Marcello file.

(86t (b

7)

Interv

iew o

f A

ssassinatio

ns.

(SS

) Ibid

. (5

9) [b

id.

(90) Ib

id.

(91) Ib

id.

(P- 2) see ref. 37, pp. 65-66.

(9.1

i ibid

. 91 !,; ln

terv

i,• ,c of P

atric

k J. C

ollin

s, Nov. 1

5,1

978, H

ouse Select C

omm

ittee on

(9 , ; 1

89

(98) F

BI rep

ort, Mar. 30, 1961, C

arlos Marcello file, B

ureau

Serials 126-202.

(99) F

BI L

a Cosa N

ostra file, 1

961, B

ureau

No. 92-

6054; N

ew Y

ork

Tim

es, A

pr. 5, 1961, A

pr. 6, 1961.

(100) Ib

id., N

ew Y

ork T

imes, A

pr. 5, 1961, A

pr. 6, 1901.

(101) Ib

id.

(10) Ib

id.

(103) Ib

id.

(104) N

ew Y

ork T

imes, A

pr. 16, 1961.

(105) Ib

id.

(106) S

ee ref. 48, p. 37.

(107) Ib

id.

(108) Id

. at p. 38.

(109) Ib

id.

(110) Ib

id.

(111) N

ew Y

ork T

imes, A

pr. 10, 1961.

(112) New

York T

imes, A

pr. 23, 1961. (113) N

ew Y

ork Tim

es, May 5,1961.

(114) New

York T

imes, M

ay 20, 1961. (115)

Ibid

. (116) N

ew O

rleans Tim

es Picayune, June 2, 1961, Ju

ne 3, 1961.

(117) New

York T

imes, June 6, 1961.

(118) New

York T

imes, June 9, 1961.

(119) New

Orleans T

imes P

icayune, July 12, 1961. (120)

FB

I report, June 16, 1961, Carlos M

arcello file, Bu

reau

Seria

ls 120-202.

(121) Ib

id.

(122) F

BI rep

ort, Ju

ly 1

3, 1

961, C

arlos M

arcello file, lab

orato

ry w

ork

sheet,

Bureau S

erials 126-202. (123)

Ibid

. (124)

New

Orlean

s Tim

es Picayu

ne, S

ept. 8, 1961.

(125) Ib

id.

(126) N

ew Y

ork T

imes, O

ct. 31, 1961. (127)

Ibid

. (128)

New

Orleans T

imes P

icayune, Dec. 21,1961.

(129) B

ureau

of Narcotics rep

ort, Octob

er 1962, Carlos M

arcello file, Wash

ing-

ton.

(130) Ib

id.

(131) Ib

id.

(132) Ib

id.

(133) N

ew O

rleans T

imes P

icayun

e, Nov. 1,1962.

(134) Ib

id.

(135) Ib

id.

(136) F

BI rep

ort, F

eb. 1

5, 1

963, h

eadquarters to

New

Orlean

s SA

C, L

a Cosa

Nostra file, 1963, 92-6054. (137)

Ibid

. (138) O

rganized Crim

e Com

mission report, pp. 17-20, 90-113; H

earings Before

the S

enate Ju

diciary

Com

mittee, 87th

Con

g., 2d S

ess., Su

bcom

mittee on

Con

sti-

tutio

nal R

igh

ts, "W

iretap

pin

g a

nd

Eavesd

rop

pin

g, S

um

mary

Rep

ort o

f Hea

r-

ings 1958-61."

(139)

FB

I La C

osa Nostra file, 1903, 1967, B

ureau No. 92-6054.

(140) Ibid.

(141) See ref. 95.

(142) In

terview

of A

l Staffeld

, Aug. 2

3. 1

973, H

ouse S

elect Com

mittee o

n

Assassinations ; deposition of A

l Staffeld, S

ept. 7, 1978, House S

elect Com

mittee

on Assassinations, p. 20.

(143) FB

I La C

osa Nostra file, 1967, B

ureau No. 92-6054.

(144) F

BI rep

ort, A

pr. 1

7, 1

963, C

arlos M

arcello file, sec. 8

, Serials 3

34-3

79,

Bureau N

o. 92-2713. (145)

Ibid. (146) N

ew O

rleans Tim

es Picayune, M

ay 28, 1963. (147) Ibid. (148) N

ew O

rleans Tim

es Picayune, N

ov. 5, 1963. (149) N

ew O

rleans Tim

es Picayune, N

ov. 23. 1963, Nov. 24, 1963.

(1.5

0) N

ew O

rleans Tim

es Picayune, July 23, 1964.

(151) N

ew O

rleans Tim

es Picayune, O

ct. 7, 1964.

( 152) Ib

id.

(153) Ib

id.

(154) N

ew

Orlean

s Tim

es Picayu

ne, O

ct. 8, 1964.

Reg

is Ken

ned

y, T

an. 6

, 1978, H

ouse S

elect Com

mittee o

n

90 9

1

(1.55) In

terview

of A

aron K

ohn, N

ov. 2

1, 1

978, H

ouse S

elect Com

mittee o

n

Assassin

ations.

(156) In

terview

of R

ex Y

oung, O

ffice of G

eneral C

ounsel, Im

mig

ration an

d

Naturalization S

ervice, Nov. 20, 1978, H

ouse Select C

omm

ittee on Assassinations.

(157) Ib

id.

(158) Ib

id.

(159) Ib

id.

(160) E

d R

eid, "G

rim R

eapers," (H

enry

Reg

nery

Co

., 19

69

), pp

. 15

7-5

9.

(161) Id. at p. 157. (162)

Interview of E

d Reid, O

ct. 20, 1978, House S

elect Com

mittee on A

ssassi-n

ation

s; see ref. 16

0, "G

rim R

eapers," p

p. 1

57-5

9.

(163) Ib

id.

(164) See ref. 160, "G

rim R

eapers," pp. 157-58. (165)

Ibid

. (166)

Ibid

. (167)

Id. at p

p. 1

58-5

9.

(168) Ibid

. (169) S

ee ref. 162, Reid interview

. (170)

Ibid

. (171)

Ibid

. (172)

Ibid

. (173)

Ibid

. (174)

Ibid

. (175)

FB

I report, M

ay 1

7, 1

967, E

d R

eid file, A

lex R

osen

to C

artha D

eLoach

, B

ureau No. 62-109060-5589.

(176) Ib

id.

(177) Ib

id.

(178) Ib

id.

(179) Ibid

. (180)

See ref. 160, "G

rim R

eapers," pp. 157-59; see ref. 16. (181) S

ee ref. 162. (182)

Ibid

. (183)

FB

I report, M

ay 1

5, 1

967, E

d R

eid file, A

lex R

osen

to C

artha D

eLoach

, B

ureau No. 62-109060-5589.

(184) Ib

id.

(185) Ib

id.

(186) Ib

id.

(187) Ib

id.

(188) Ib

id.

(189) Ib

id.

(190) Ib

id.

(191) Ib

id.

(192) Ib

id.

(193) Ib

id.

(194) F

BI rep

ort, M

ay 1

7, 1

96

7, L

os A

ng

eles SA

C to

Directo

r, Bu

reau N

o.

62-109060-5589. (19.5) Ib

id.

(196) Ib

id.

(197) Ib

id.

(198) Ibid

. (199)

Ibid. (200)

FB

I La C

osa Astra file, 1961, 1963, 92-6054.

(201) Ib

id.

(202) Ib

id.

(203) "The D

ouble Life of S

idney Korshalf : L

awyer C

alled Crim

e's Link to B

ig B

usiness," New

York T

imes, June 27, 1976.

(204) Ib

id.

(205) F

BI rep

ort, Ju

ne 5

, 19

67

, Ed

ward

Beck

er, Lo

s An

geles S

AC

to D

irector,

Bureau N

o. 92-9927-2. (206)

Ibid

. (207)

Ibid

. (208)

Ibid. (209)

Ibid

. (210)

Ibid

. (211)

Ibid

. (212)

See ref. 1

62

, Reid

interv

iew ; an

d in

terview

of E

dw

ard B

ecker, O

ct. 24

, 1978, H

ouse Select C

omm

ittee on Assassinations.

213) S

ee ref. 160, "Grim

Reapers," p. 157.

(214) F

BI rep

ort, M

ay 1

5, 1

96

7, A

lex R

osen

to C

artha D

eLo

ach, B

ureau

No

. 62-100060-5589.

(215) F

BI airtel, from

Los A

ngeles to Director, O

ct. 20, 1962, Carlos M

arcello file, sec. 8, S

erials 334-379, Bureau N

o. 02-2713. (216)

Ibid

. (217) Ib

id.

(218) Ib

id.

(219) Ib

id.

(220) Ib

id.

(221) See ref. 212, B

ecker interview, O

ct. 24, 1978. (222)

FB

I repo

rt, No

v. 2

1, 1

96

2, C

arlos M

arcello file, sec. 8

, Serials 3

34

-37

9,

Bureau N

o. 92-2713. (223)

Ibid

. (224)

Ibid

. (225)

Ibid

. (226)

Ibid

. (227)

Ibid

. (228) F

BI report, N

ov. 26, 1962, Los A

ngeles SA

C to D

irector, Carlos M

arcello file, S

erials 334-379, Bureau N

o. 92-2713. (229)

Ibid

. (230)

Ibid

. (231)

FB

I repo

rt, No

v. 2

7, 1

96

2, E

dw

ard B

ecker file, B

ureau

No

. 62

-10

90

60

-5589.

(232) F

BI rep

ort, N

ov. 3

0, 1

962, E

dw

ard B

ecker file, B

ureau

No. 6

2-1

09060-

5589. (233)

Ibid

. (234)

Ibid

. (235)

FB

I report, Apr. 11, 1963, C

arlos Marcello file, B

ureau No. 92-2713.

(236) Ib

id.

(237) Ib

id.

(238) Ib

id.

(239) Ib

id.

(240) Ib

id.

(241) Ib

id.

(242) D

epositon of Aaron M

. Kohn, N

ov. 7, 1978, House S

elect Com

mittee on

Assassinations, p. 62. (243)

Ibid

. (244)

New

Orleans C

rime C

omm

ission file on Roppolo fam

ily, staff review of

file, No

v. 8

, 19

78

, Ho

use S

elect Co

mm

ittee on

Assassin

ation

s. (245) S

ee ref. 46. (246) S

ee ref. 212, Becker interview

. (247)

Ibid

. (248) Ib

id.

(249) Ib

id.

(250) Ib

id.

(251) Ib

id.

(252) Ib

id.

(253) Ib

id.

(254) Ib

id.

(255) Ib

id.

(256) Ib

id.

(257) Ib

id.

(258) Ib

id.

(259) Ib

id.

(260) Ib

id.

. (26

1) Ib

id.

(262) Ib

id.

(263) Ib

id.

(264) Ib

id.

(265) Ib

id.

(266) Ib

id.

(267) Ib

id.

(268) Ib

id.

(269) Ib

id.

(270) Ib

id.

(271) Ib

id.

(272) Ib

id.

t273) Ib

id.

92

(274) Ib

id.

(275) Ib

id.

(276) Ib

id.

(277) Ib

id.

(278) Ib

id.

(279) Ib

id.

(2S

0) Ib

id.

(281) Ib

id.

(282) Ib

id.

(283) Ib

id.

(284) Ib

id.

(285) Ib

id.

(286) Ib

id.

(287) Ib

id.

(288) Ib

id.

(289) Ib

id.

(290) Ib

id.

(291) Ib

id.

(292) Ib

id.

(293) Ib

id.

(294) Ib

id.

(295) Ib

id.

(296) Ib

id.

(297) Ib

id.

(298) S

ee ref. 46, PP

. 36-4

3. (299)

Id. at p

p. 4

3-4

4.

(300) Id

. at p. 3

6.

(.301) Id. at p

. 37.

(302) Id

. at p. 3

8:

(303) Ib

id.

(303)

Ibid

. (8

05) Id

. at p. 4

3.

(300)

Ibid

. (307)

Id. at p

. 42.

(308) It). at p

. 43.

(309) Ib

id.

(310) F

BI rep

ort. M

ay 1

7, 1

967. E

d R

eid file, B

ureau

No. 6

2-1

09060-5

589; F

BI

report. M

ay 1

7, 1

967, L

os A

ngeles S

AC

to D

irector, B

ureau

No. 6

2-1

09090-5

589;

FB

I report, Ju

ne 5

, 1967, E

dw

ard B

ecker, L

os A

ngeles S

AC

to Directo

r, Bureau

No. 9

2-9

927-2

. (311)

Ibid

. (312)

FB

I report, N

ov. 1

2, 1

902, L

os A

ngeles S

AC

to D

irector, C

arlos A

larcon°

file. S

eria

ls 334-3

79, B

ure

au N

o. 9

2-2

713 : F

BI re

port, N

ov. 2

7, 1

962 E

dw

ard

Becker file

, Bure

au N

o. 6

9-1

09060-5

589; F

BI re

port, N

ov, 3

0, 1

962, E

dw

ard

Beck

er file, Bureau

No. 6

2-1

09060-5

589.

(313) Ib

id.

(314) Ib

id.

(313) S

ee ref. 39.

(316) Ib

id.

(317) Ib

id.

(318) F

BI rep

ort, M

ay 1

.7, 1

967, E

d R

eid file, B

ureau

No. 6

2--1

09060-5

589; F

BI

report. M

ay 1

7. 1

907. L

os A

ngeles S

AC

to D

irector, B

ureau

No. 6

2-1

09060-5

589;

FB

I m1)0

0..1

1111° 5

, 1967, E

dw

ard B

ecker, 1

,os A

ngeles S

AC

to D

irector, B

ureau

No. 92-11927-2. (319)

Ibid

. (320)

Ibid

. (321)

Ibid

. (322)

110d. (.3

23; Ib

id.

(3231 T

estimony o

f J. Edgar H

oover, M

ay 6

, 190.1

, Hearin

gs b

efore th

e Presi.

dent's C

om

missio

n o

n th

e A

ssassin

atio

n o

f Pre

sident K

ennedy (W

ash

ingto

n,

D.C

. : U.S

. Govern

men

t Prin

ting O

ffice, 1964), v

ol. V

, p. 1

00.

(.;25)

-Tim

Investig

ation o

f the A

ssassinatio

n o

f Presid

ent Jo

hn F

. Ken

ned

y :

Pertn

rnian

c , o

f In

telligen

ce Agen

cies,- b

ook V

. Select C

om

mittee to

Stu

dy

c;overn

men

t Operatio

ns w

ith R

espect to

Intellig

ence A

ctivities, A

pril 2

3, 1

976,

pp. 8

0-8

9. S

enate rep

ort N

o. 9

4-7

55.

(3.1?6) It). at pp. 83-84. Id

. at pp. 8

1-8

2.

-.„

.,

IV. O

SW

AL

D'S

EA

RL

Y L

IFE

: NE

W O

RL

EA

NS

AN

D

OR

GA

NIZ

ED

CR

IME

*

CO

NT

EN

TS

Residence in the F

rench Quarter: 128 E

xchange Alley

Charles "D

utz" Murret and the N

ew O

rleans Underw

orld

Marg

uerite O

swald

and C

lem S

ehrt

Osw

ald's Em

ployment w

ith Tu

) ague s

Marguerite

Osw

ald and R

aoul Sere

Osw

ald. David F

errle and the Civil A

ir Patrol

Marguerite O

swald and S

am T

ermine

Paragraph

(4.28) (431) (4

41

(450 (453 (457) (491)

RE

SID

EN

CE

IN T

HE

FR

EN

CH

QU

AR

TE

R: 1

26 E

XC

HA

NG

E A

LL

EY

(428) D

uring his early childhood and adolescence in New

Orleans,

Lee O

swald

lived

with

his d

ivorced

moth

er at a num

ber o

f differen

t

locations, usually in small rented houses or apartm

ents in a moderate-

to-lower-incom

e section of the city. (1) While the record of residences

is not complete, one address w

as 126 Exchange A

lley. (2) During her

testimony b

efore th

e Warren

Com

missio

n, lies. M

arguerite O

swald

indicated

that sh

e and h

er son liv

ed th

ere when

Osw

ald w

as about

15 to

16 y

ears old

, roughly

the y

ears 1955-5

6.(3

) They

were "liv

ing

nt 126 Exchange P

lace, which is the V

ieux Carr section of the F

rench

Quarter of N

ew O

rleans." (4) During her testim

ony, Mrs. O

swald noted

that "th

e pap

ers said w

e lived

over a salo

on at th

at particu

lar ad-

dress * * * that is just the French part of tow

n. It looks like the devil.

Of co

urse I d

idn't h

ave a fab

ulo

us ap

artmen

t. But v

ery w

ealthy p

eo-

ple and very fine citizens live in that part of town. * * *"(5) W

hile Mrs.

Osw

ald co

rrectly n

oted

that "w

ealthy" citizen

s resided

in so

me sec-

tions o

f the F

rench

Quarter, E

xch

ange A

lley w

as well k

now

n as th

e

location of other elements; it w

as an area notorious for illicit activities.

As the m

anaging director of the Metropolitan C

rime C

omm

ission of

New

Orlean

s, Aaro

n K

ohn recalled

, "Exch

ange A

lley, sp

ecifically

that little b

lock

that O

swald

lived

on, w

as literally th

e hub o

f som

e

of the most notorious underw

orld joints in the city.3 '(3) H

e noted

fur-

ther th

at Exch

ange A

lley w

as the lo

cation o

f vario

us g

amblin

g

operatio

ns affiliated

with

the M

arcello o

rgan

ization. (7

) Notin

g th

e

open

ness w

ith w

hich

such

activities w

ere conducted

there,(8

) Kohn

said, "y

ou co

uld

n't w

alk d

ow

n th

e blo

ck w

ithout literally

bein

g ex

-

posed

to tw

o o

r three. sep

arate form

s of illicit activ

ities and u

nder-

world operations." (9)

(429) As early as N

ovember 26,1963, the crim

e comm

ission had noted

Lee O

swald

's exposu

re at Exch

ange A

lley, w

hen

it publish

ed a

* O

swald

's late

r life, p

artic

ula

rly h

is activ

ities in

1963, is c

overe

d in

deta

il

in o

ther staff rep

orts an

d in

the co

mm

entary

.

(93)