The Cooley Account: Recent Episodes
Neal Edelstein
This is the story of a man who did the impossible, he brought down the Chicago Outfit and decapitated Al Capone's mob. Bob Cooley tells his life story from scratching pennies together as a 6 year-old to making millions gambling and working as a lawyer for the mob. He divulges never before told details about the inner workings of the Chicago Machine. Colorful characters, the machinations of mobsters, politicians, judges and the police, Bob tells it all in this multi-episode podcast.
The final chapter and conclusion of the Bob Cooley journey. Thank you all for listening and stay connected as we will release some outtakes in the coming months.
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Pat Marcy is indicted and brought into court on corruption charges, his co-defendant is Aldermen Roti. Bob is the first witness and before the proceedings begin, things go sideways. This conversation details the end of Pat Marcy and Fred Roti.
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Bob has to leave Chicago for good as the FBI fans across the city with subpoenas and indict a cadre of politicians and organized crime members. Also in this conversation Bob details wearing a wire on Fred Roti and how he escaped a death test that Pat Marcy tried to trap him in. There’s also the details about how he set-up John D’Arco Jr into nearly passing an insurance law in return for a bribe. This conversation is the stuff Chicago politics is known for, enjoy!
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Growing frustrated with the Feds, Bob begins to build his own cases against the 1st Ward and the Chicago outfit. He wears a wire on Pat Marcy and hatches a plan to bring down Johnny D'Arco Junior by passing legislation for a bribe. There's also a sting operation that goes sideways in Wisconsin when Bob and the FBI set up some mobsters with the opportunity to rob a 1 million dollar poker game.
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Bob leaves the Crime Task Force office knowing his life has changed forever. Days later the FBI shows up at his office with the objective of trying to see if his claims are real and ask him to wear a wire on a bookie. As usual events spiral toward a dangerous conclusion.
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At the behest of Pat Marcy Bob defends a man accused of assaulting a female cop. Bob's encounter with Marcy after the trial is the spark that sends him to visit the Organized Crime Strike Force and turn on the 1st Ward and the mob.
We also touch upon gambling operations at the local horseracing tracks in the Chicagoland area.
Questions? Comments? Find Neal on Twitter at @NealEdelstein. Thank you for listening!
Bob is introduced to members of Chinese organized crime by Chicago Alderman Fred Roti.
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There's a hit put on Bob which he tries to diffuse but it's the beginning of the end for him and the 1st Ward. Bob also discusses the disappearance of Karen Lee Koppel, a woman who goes missing after her tryst with the head of the janitors union goes sideways, (this was a cold case but I have discovered it was reopened and is now an active investigation). We end this conversation as Bob enters a new world of corruption when he is hired by the Chinese mafia.
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This conversation details the murder of Carol Jean DiPasalegne and how the 1st Ward fixed the case so her husband would walk and in turn the machine could steal the insurance money on a double indemnity clause. Bob also explains in detail how Pat Marcy gained control of the 1st Ward and exerted his ruthless power.
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We continue our conversation about the Harry Aleman murder trial and detail how Bob fixed the case. The stakes are life and death for Bob as Judge Wilson wavers about his conclusion because of threats in the papers toward the judge and his family. This case is truly unprecedented in the annals of the American legal system.
Questions? Comments? Find Neal on Twitter at @NealEdelstein. Thank you for listening!
This conversation injects us into the inner sanctum of Chicago’s 1st Ward. A shadow government within a government that controlled the state of Illinois. Two men control the levers of power, both of whom started as gunmen for Al Capone. One is John D’Arco Sr. who needs Bob to take his wayward son under his wing and teach him how to be a lawyer (despite him being a state senator). The other is Pat Marcy, a man of near-mythical proportions who had the presence of a stone-cold killer. Marcy needs Bob to fix the Harry Aleman trial. Aleman is a hitman who’s been charged with murder and his trial becomes unprecedented legal history.
Here we are seven conversations in and now we begin to enter the tangled hall of mirrors that is Chicago's 1st Ward.
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Bob details his work as a defense attorney as he takes on two high-profile murder cases and mounts the Jagoff Defense in the Joey Airdo trial. His early success catapults him on a trajectory toward becoming known as a fixer in Chicago but he's also collecting enemies inside the FBI and the Chicago Police Department.
We also discuss a run-in with the notorious Tony Spilotro and a tip from a reliable source about betting on select Ivy League basketball games that are guaranteed winners. It's all ramping toward Bob’s entry into the 1st Ward inner circle and the mysterious Pat Marcy.
Questions? Comments? Find Neal on Twitter at @NealEdelstein. Thank you for listening!
A strange character named Count Dante enlists Bob for legal help. The Count is being charged with murder for attacking an opposing dojo whose owner is siphoning the his clients. Bob finds himself entangled in the Count's bizarre world which he has to break away from when the Count turns up dead. Bob then discovers evidence that the Count was involved in the Purolator Armored Express Heist. The crime remains a mystery to this day and at the time was the largest cash heist ever. Bob also discusses the Chop Shop Wars and an accumulating body count of mobsters that seems to follow him. Sit back and enjoy this wild episode!
Questions? Comments? Find Neal on Twitter at @NealEdelstein. Thank you for listening!
This conversation folds back before Bob's near-fatal accident to explore blatant corruption in the courts when he was approached with a bribe from The Candyman. This malfeasance inspires him to go to law school as he eventually becomes one of the few if not only cops and lawyers in Chicago. Bob also further deatils his relatinoship with mob cop Rick Borelli who introudces him to the web of mob gambeling operations that spreads into the western suburbs of Chicago.
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Bob becomes a cop and applies his street smarts to rise rapidly through the ranks of CPD. His encounters at the criminal courts inspire him to go to law school, but his world is shattered when he's left for dead after being run over by another cop while trying to save a woman from being mauled by a gang.
This conversation is the third and final pillar of Bob's youth as the foundation is set for his journey into the world of Chicago's underworld.
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Always send us feedback, follow Neal on Twitter at @NealEdelstein. Thank you for listening!
This conversation takes us to Bob’s scholarship at Marquette that ends abruptly because of his fighting and money schemes. Bob moves back home and bounces between odd jobs before he takes the Chicago Police examine. Once on the force, he teams up with a cop who’s in the mob and Bob now has his first taste of the Chicago Machine.
Always send us feedback, follow Neal on Twitter at @NealEdelstein. Thank you for listening!
Bob starts at the beginning of his life and details his family history, which includes two Grandfather's who were cops, both killed in the line of duty, one killed by Capone's mob.
Always send us feedback, follow Neal on Twitter at @NealEdelstein. Thank you for listening!