 Welcome to the original gangsters podcast. I'm your host Scott Bernstein quick hitter edition. We're gonna go and Take a look into what's going on in Chicago and some interesting news in the headlines there related to Bob politics bribes You know the usual stuff in Chicago But you know, I think it's there's an interesting anecdote here I think that is a cautionary tale in some ways and I have some personal insight Into the main Mob character in the story. I'm about to tell Francis Frank the German Schweiss the legendary Chicago mob enforcer extortionist hitman tied to dozens of mob murders and a lot of it steeped in mythology like the JFK has had Destination the possible Homicide of Marilyn Monroe, etc. Etc. But so this is gonna be a little bit of current news We're gonna dip back into the past and we're gonna end back here in the present. So this past week We're finding out about a local businessman in Chicago Jim Jimmy Weiss Middle-aged businessman and Got convicted back in the summer for bribing to state Representatives to push or to champion pro gambling legislation in the spring field state of Illinois's capital and He's in the sweepstakes business, which is like quasi video poker And he was looking for some legislation to get passed to help his sweet sweepstakes business And he was paying a senator something like $2,500 $3,000 a month for them to Push this this legislation through and he was convicted prosecutors are looking to put him in prison for five years and within the the pre sentence Report that was filed that made it in to the court record this past week it looks like there's some Organized crime affiliation or alleged organized crime affiliation tying into the West Side crew Grand Avenue crew and the legendary Frank the German choice who's been dead now for 15 years, I believe he died in 2008 under indictment and family secrets But this situation that came up in the court record Happened back in the summer of 2005 Schweiss is on the run as a fugitive avoiding arrest from the family secrets case. Everybody knows that landmark FBI investigation put to arrest 18 unsolved mob murders took down a number of administrators in in the mob in Chicago including acting boss Jimmy Marcello crew boss Frankie breeze Calabrese and Schweiss's boss his direct superior his close friend Joey the column part so Schweiss and Lombardo on the run and At this point Jimmy Weiss is a young business man. He owns Some massage parlors and some Russian mob guys are pushing pushing up on him trying to shake him down according to FBI wiretaps Jimmy Weiss reaches out to Frank Schweiss who's on the run and asked for help Schweiss is like Hey guy, I I got a lot of my plate right now I'm underground. He says on the wiretap, but I I'm gonna send somebody to help you out and somebody troubleshoot this for you So he sends a guy that's referred to in these court filings as individual bees identified as a made member of the Chicago mafia who fixes the situation for Weiss and according to this FBI wiretap where Jimmy Weiss's brother Joe Weiss is on This individual be the mob mobster that Frank Schweiss put him in contact with who fixed the problem with the Russians Became his partner for life has been his partner ever since and I think it's a it's a cautionary tale in the sense that If you're not one of these guys and and you go to one of these guys for a favor You know that favor is going to cost you a thousand favors in return in perpetuity You're never going to get out from from underneath it and we should say Jimmy Weiss denies any Connection to to the mob, but this is coming directly from from his brother Joe Weiss Both Joe and Jimmy Weiss are facing or were hit with obstruction charges lying to the FBI related to this and you know, Jimmy Weiss this initial Case that he had Related to the bribes really had nothing to do at least on the surface with organized crime. It seems like by him and his brother failing to Be forthright with past connections and and friendships what have you got the feds digging around and It seems possible if they just would have been upfront about it That this wouldn't be coming back to bite them. There's a whole new According to Chicago sometime. There's a whole new racketeering probe now focusing on Jimmy Weiss in addition to the bribery bribery conviction He now has a grand juries that are being convened looking into his connections with Grand Avenue West Side mob guys the type of guys that Frank twice pointed him to allegedly so You know They're like Going back a hundred years. There's this dovetailing between politics in Chicago and the outfit Jimmy Weiss whether or not, you know, however you wanted to find him And in his proximity to the Chicago mafia his Father-in-law is the former Cook County assessor Joe Berrios. So, you know, he has friends in high places And it looks like he is or the FBI might consider him now an associate of the Grand Avenue crew again, uh, Schweiss and Lombardo's old stomping grounds now, uh being Lorded over by reputed street boss of the outfit albina Um, and we're gonna finish up with this connection. According to Chicago Sun Times the guy that owns the Big piece of property on grand and in Halstead where a lot of these West Siders Grand Avenue guys A whole court including vena at his headquarters Richard's bar is owned by bobby dominick a long time uh Northside West Side Chicago mob guy in the porn rackets back in the day with Frank Schweiss as well as the guy named Mike Posner and Dominic owns this property and According to the Chicago Sun Times Dominic's name is made it into the the grand jury testimony that is being looked into Jimmy Weitz's reputed connections to the Grand Avenue crew My sources are telling me that the individual that Schweiss put Weiss with to Get the Russians away from him Was bobby dominick so uh that I have two sources telling me that and this all traces back to Jimmy Weiss not being upfront about the fact that he knew and was friendly with With frank the german and then now it is coming back to bite him and Possibly other members of the grand avenue crew possibly bobby dominick So uh, we'll be keeping tabs on it here at the og For betty behind the glass check back Later this week for another long-form edition of the og podcast was the doctor jimmy bucholato for now. I'm scott burnstein og pot out