By Danny Fenster ticklethwire.com A top fundraiser and advisor to ex-Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich got handed a stiff sentence Tuesday in Chicago federal court for extorting millions of dollars in exchange for regulatory approval or business. Fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko was sentenced to 10 1/2 years in prison — a sentence that prompted Rezko’s daughter to…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The last of the remaining fugitives in the historical mob take down last week surrendered on Wednesday to the FBI in New York, authorities said. Joseph “Joe Dogs” Lombardi, a “made” Gambino crime family soldier, who faces extortion charges, was the last fugitive of the 127 indicted last week in what…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com A Michigan man and woman convicted of trying to extort $680,000 from actor John Stamos were each sentenced to four years in prison Friday in U.S. District Court in Marquette in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. The couple, Scott Edward Sippola 31, and Allison Lenore Coss,24, both of…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com John McNally: Hero cop or mob associate? Perhaps both. Federal authorities have filed court papers in U.S. District Court in Manhattan alleging that the retired New York cop, now 76, worked with the late mobster John Gotti’s hired gun Joseph Watts on extortion and money laundering crimes for years, the New…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com A northern Michigan man busted by the FBI on charges of trying to extort $680,000 from actor John Stamos, said his plan was to sell unflattering photos of the actor as part of a legit business transaction. He said it was not part of any extortion plot as the government claims,…
Who thought college basketball could be this exciting? The Louisville Courier-Journal LOUISVILLE — Six days after the disclosure that University of Louisville men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino was the target of an extortion attempt, a Louisville woman was charged today with extortion and lying to the FBI. According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S…
