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Alleged 'drug kingpin' eluded the law for decades, feds say. Then he needed a passport
The alleged leader in a nationwide conspiracy to smuggle narcotics on a railroad line had eluded authorities for decades. Howard Farley Jr. was considered to be the “drug kingpin” of the Southern Line, but he escaped arrest while 73 others faced indictments by a Nebraska federal grand jury in 1985, officials say. Known as “Big H,” Harley organized a drug ring to ship cocaine north from Florida, the Lincoln Journal reported at the time. Investigators turned their attention to Harley during a probe of a Peru man and two University of Nebraska students convicted of dealing cocaine, the newspaper ...
The Kansas City Star
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Federal prosecutors charge 15 alleged Philly mobsters with racketeering, drug dealing and extortion
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia mob has limped along on life support for the past decade, its former leaders, Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi and Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino, out of the picture after high-profile federal prosecutions.But reports of La Cosa Nostra’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, according to a federal grand jury indictment unsealed Monday by U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain. In fact, the mafia was adding new soldiers to its ranks as recently as 2015, prosecutors say, in ceremonies overseen by veterans of those former regimes.Fifteen mobsters have been indicted on racketeeri...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Trump's lawyer puts Philadelphia mobster 'Skinny Joey' Merlino at center of election conspiracy
Reputed Philadelphia mob boss “Skinny Joey” Merlino wants no part of President Donald Trump’s desperate efforts to flip the results of his loss to President-elect Joe Biden.A lawyer for Trump retweeted a bizarre allegation that the Mafia veteran was ready to cooperate with authorities and reveal a $3 million scheme to forge ballots in Philadelphia for Biden — prompting an adamant denial Tuesday from the famously close-mouthed wiseguy.“My client categorically denies all the allegations and Joey would rather die than ever be a snitch,” said attorney John Meringolo about the report asserting that...
New York Daily News