The Gangland History Podcast: An Organized Crime & Mafia History Podcast Jacob Stoops

In this episode, featuring myself and Australian lawyer Tony Taouk, we discuss the life and times of George Remus who was famously dubbed, "The King of the Bootleggers" in the 1920's.

George Remus, born in 1878, was a German-born American lawyer who was probably most famously well-known as a bootlegger during the early days of Prohibition, and who later became even more infamous for the murder his wife Imogene, for which he was acquitted.

In popular culture, many believed that George Remus served as the inspiration for The Great Gatsby, and he was even famously portrayed on the HBO series, Boardwalk Empire.

In this episode, we discuss:


Remus birth in Landsberg, Germany in the 1870's and his arrival in the United States in the 1880's


The Remus family's beginnings in Chicago, Illinois


Remus' early experience working at his uncle's pharmacy, as well as his attendance of the Chicago College of Pharmacy, where he became a certified pharmacist


George Remus' collegiate attendance of the Illinois College of Law in which he gained admittance to the Illinois Bar, specializing as a defense attorney


Remus' involvement in the 1914 murder trial of William Cheny Ellis, and the first successful use of the "transitory insanity" defense in the history of the United States


Remus' beginnings as a bootlegger after he was able to exploit a loophole in the Volstead Act, allowing him to grow his bootlegging business on a technicality


Remus' move from Chicago, Illinois to Cincinnati, Ohio and the growth of his bootlegging empire in the 1920's, run from his sprawling property on the west side of Cincinnati, dubbed "Death Valley"


Remus' divorce from his first wife, and marriage to socialite Imogene Holmes (later Remus), as well as the extravagant mansion, "The Marble Palace"


The eventual arrest of Remus for violations of the Volstead Act and his prison sentence


The collapse of Remus' marriage to Imogene after a cheating scandal with a Bureau of Investigation agent, Franklin Dodge


The murder of his wife Imogene in October of 1927, the subsequent trial in which Remus again pleaded "temporary insanity," and his acquittal after just 19 minutes of jury deliberations


The remainder of Remus' life and his ultimate legacy in the annals of the underworld


The truth of Remus' peculiar tendency to talk about himself in the third-person


Remus' death in 1952 of natural causes in Covington, Kentucky

In this episode, we again discuss Joseph Barbara Sr., the mobster who famously hosted the ill-fated Apalachin Mob Meeting in Apalachin, New York. Part Three covers the events leading up to the disastrous Apalachin meeting in 1957 and the fallout.

Part One: https://youtu.be/NGHgoGlYOgw
Part Two: https://youtu.be/2h1ERPB0sCU

In this final installment of a three-part series, we discuss:

00:00 Start
01:27 Opening Remarks
05:38 Events directly preceding the Apalachin meeting
13:12 Who ordered the Apalachin meeting
13:58 The Apalachin meeting gets raided by police
19:27 Law enforcement's previous suspicions of Barbara
26:32 The history behind Edgar Croswell's initial interest in Barbara
34:09 The "sick friend" excuse and real reasons for the meeting
38:18 Barbara's ill health and becoming a recluse
40:12 The law catches up with Barbara and his company
41:15 Barbara sells Canada Dry Bottling Company
41:55 Barbara sells famous estate
42:50 Barbara subpoenaed to testify in front of grand jury
43:40 Barbara indicted for tax evasion
44:34 Barbara's last public appearance
45:32 Barbara's death and funeral
51:10 Joseph Barbara's mob legacy
54:27 Closing remarks

We sat down to talk with Gary Jenkins, who is a retired Kansas City Police Detective, lawyer, as well as the host of the extremely popular mob podcast, Gangland Wire.

In this episode, we discuss the following topics:



His early years, family, and upbringing
What made him want to join the Kansas City Police Department
His promotion to Detective within the KCPD
The composition of the Kansas City Mafia in the 1970's
The key players in the Kansas City Mafia including Nick Civella, Carl "Cork" Civella, and Carl "Tuffy" De Luna
His many stories of surveilling the Kansas City Cosa Nostra family
Kansas City's involvement in the Las Vegas skim
His work surveilling and the wiretaps related to the Las Vegas skim
Comparisons of real life versus the movie Casino
Bringing down the Kansas City mob
The Spero-Civella war in the late 1970's and early 1980's
Retiring and becoming a lawyer for 20 years
Starting and running his popular podcast, Gangland Wire

Links to Gary's documentaries, podcast, website, and YouTube channel:


1) Brothers Against Brothers: The Spero-Civella War: https://www.amazon.com/Brothers-against-Civella-Spero-War/dp/B081ZHB17X

2) Gary's Website: https://ganglandwire.com/

3) Gary's Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gangland-wire/id984020877
https://open.spotify.com/show/1kGMUAUanWOv3UAbW4RVPk

4) Gary's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdoYdPBGwXdsQGkvX4yovvQ

In this episode, we again discuss Joseph Barbara Sr., the mobster who famously hosted the ill-fated Apalachin Mob Meeting in Apalachin, New York.

In this second of a three-part series, we discuss:


Barbara's move towards legitimate business and establishment of several bottling companies including the Endicott Beverage Company, the Mission Beverage Company, and the Canada Dry Bottling Company
Barbara's ascension within the Northeaster Pennsylvania and Southern New York mob
The changes in leadership of what would become the Bufalino Crime Family
Barbara's relationship to top Pittston mob leaders Santo Volpe, Russell Bufalino, Anthony F. Guarnieri, Emanuel Zicari, as well Pat and Sam Monachino
Barbara's issues with the State Liquor Authority (SLA) that nearly drove him out of business in the early 1950's
The 1956 meeting between Barbara, Joe Bonanno, Frank Garofolo, John Bonventre, and Carmine Galante in Binghamton, New York

Part Three will cover the events leading up to the disastrous Apalachin meeting in 1957 and the fallout.

Part One: https://youtu.be/NGHgoGlYOgw

In this episode, we discuss Roy Marcus Cohn (1927-1986) with professional attorney, Tony Taouk of Magna Carta Lawyers in Sydney, Australia.

Tony and I walk through Roy Cohn's history, and Tony brings an attorney's perspective to some of Cohn's vicious tactics, personal life, as well as areas where he displayed both pure brilliance and borderline diabolical evil.

We cover:


Cohn's upbringing and early life
Cohn's involvement in the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg trial in the early 1950's
Cohn's involvement in the McCarthy investigations of the 1950's during the Cold War and Communism scares
Cohn's eventual fall from grace after his misconduct was discovered and re-emergence as a private practice attorney
Cohn's legal representation of various mobsters including John Gotti, Tony Salerno, and Carmine Galante
Cohn's representation of various celebrities including Donald Trump
Some of Cohn's brilliant and vicious tactics
We debate Cohn's legacy and a top mob lawyer

In this episode, we discuss Joseph Barbara Sr., the mobster who famously hosted the ill-fated Apalachin Mob Meeting in Apalachin, New York.

In this first of a two-part series, we discuss the beginning of Barbara's mob career including:


His birth in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Italy
His immigration to the United States in 1921
His first jobs in and around Endicott, New York as well as Old Forge, Pennsylvania
His introduction to the Pittston mob of Northeastern Pennsylvania (more famously called the Bufalino Crime Family)
How we gets started in the rackets during the 1920s
His relationship to top Pittston mob leaders Santo Volpe, Charles Bufalino (the uncle of Russell Bufalino), Angelo Polizzi, and more
His involvement in up to four murders in the Northeastern Pennsylvania area in the early 1930s


Additionally, we located a long-buried photo of a young Barbara that we do not believe has been widely surfaced.

Part Two will cover his ascension to leadership within the Northeastern Pennsylvania & Southern New York Mafia, and of course the events leading up to and after the Apalachin meeting in 1957.