When Corruption Was King: How I Helped the Mob Rule Chicago, Then Brought the Outfit Down

Cooley, Robert

ISBN 10: 0786715839 / ISBN 13: 9780786715831

Published by Carroll & Graf Pub, New York, New York, U.S.A., 2005

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 36997

Bibliographic Details

• Title: When Corruption Was King: How I Helped the Mob Rule Chicago, Then Brought the Outfit Down
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub, New York, New York, U.S.A.
• Publication Date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0786715839
• ISBN 13: 9780786715831
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Seller catalogs:
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About this title

Synopsis

During the 1970s and 80s, attorney Bob Cooley bribed judges, juries, and coppers for his Chicago Mob clients. Yet, without a pending conviction, he became the star witness in nine federal trials in the '90s that disabled the Chicago Outfit, the most powerful Mafia family in history. Mob lawyer turned mole with a million-dollar contract on his head, Cooley has clanged back and forth between sin and sainthood like a church bell s clapper a turbulent youth, a stint on Chicago s police force, law school, and then the inner sanctum of Chicago s wiseguys. He chased acquittals for Pat Marcy, former henchman of Al Capone who became Illinois Democratic Party leader and the Mob s key political operative; ruthless Mafia Capo Marco D Amico; and hit man Harry Aleman. He dined with Mob bosses and shared "last suppers" with friends before their executions. He helped brew a perfect storm of corruption, where the Mob controlled the law and could fend off the Feds. In a startling act of conscience, Cooley walked into the office of the U.S. Organized Crime Strike Force and agreed to wear a wire on the very same Mafia overlords who had made him a player.

About the Author

Robert Cooley receives grudging assistance from the Feds to maintain his new identity. While not in the Witness Protection Program, he remains constantly on the run. He grew up in Chicago and has recently lived in several cities around the country. Hillel Levin has been a contributing writer for The Nation, a staff writer for New York, and editor for Chicago magazine. He is the author of Grand Delusions: The Cosmic Career of John DeLorean. He lives near Chicago, Illinois.