"Letters of An Imprisoned Mobster"

Freckled face, flaming red hair, broad-boned, wickedly clever, and savagely powerful stands Seamus “Red” Halligan shoulder-to-shoulder with his attorney in Federal Court, in Newark, New Jersey. In surprised horror, they listen as the sentencing judge condemns Red to be confined in federal prison for seven to ten years for crimes he committed as a member and soldier, in one of New York’s most notorious organized crime families.

            As an unrepentant mobster, well known to law enforcement authorities and the local community, this is the first serious conviction Red has ever faced in regards to his long, illustrious, and nefarious criminal career. Never one to take an interest in legitimate, entrepreneurial endeavors, Red made a lucrative livelihood from his polished trade as a hoodlum journeyman. Infamously baptized with the nickname “The Enforcer,” Red showed great proficiency and business flair making money the old-fashioned way, by stealing.

            On the streets and in the underworld of organized crime, Red is referred to as a good earner, and this accolade he achieved through his sundry and successful criminal operations. In layman’s terms, he took in sizable profits from his illegal trade and craft, which included armed robbery, bookmaking, loan sharking, truck hijacking, extortion, grand theft, bribery of public officials, and conspiracy to commit murder. After making money from one of these scores, Red would hand over a monetary percentage of his criminal earnings to his crew boss, otherwise known as the Capo, or the Captain of the Crew. The Capo would then pay homage to the boss of the entire crime family, by turning over a monetary percentage of the ill-gotten gains.

            Red always and harmoniously forked over this arbitrary percentage of his hard-earned blood money to his crew boss. Not just as a tribute, but more importantly as payment for protection against fellow mobsters who could try to muscle in on his rackets. This monetary gesture of goodwill to the boss was one of the unwritten codes within the ranks of organized crime. It is a chief hallmark within the realm of this nearly invisible, symmetrically organized, international criminal empire.

            Similar to corporate America, organized crime is graced with its own standards and traditions. There is a dress code, formal gatherings, board meetings, social commitments, an honorable reputation to uphold, and family obligations to attend. The one major difference between corporate America and organized crime was simply this: If any one of the crime bosses is denied respect, or is shortchanged out of his financial cut by his underlings, they — the underlings — are as good as dead. Murder within organized crime is used as calculating and terrorizing discipline, administered within the criminal ranks by order of the boss as the harshest form of punishment. On the other hand, Mob bosses are not immune from assassination by ruthlessly ambitious rival mobsters, outside, or even inside, there own crime families. And were subject to be liquidated by way of treachery and betrayal by their very own Capos, without so much as a hint.

            On the streets, among the denizens of the exclusive world of organized crime, Red earned a fearsome reputation as a ruthless strong-arm for the Mob. His predatory cunning and readiness to smash in the face of an opponent at the drop of a hat only fortified his notoriety as a fierce, abrasive gunman. These cruel, inhuman traits were atavistic, stemming back to the seed, blood, and strain of his Celtic roots. The son of dirt-poor Irish immigrants, Red knew firsthand the gnawing vexation of hunger and the insatiable quest for nourishment. But there was another hunger that drove him on as if he was being constantly flogged by an invisible lash. This is the age-old hunger, as old as Time itself, which only ruthless, wickedly shrewd, and ultra-ambitious men like Red possess. It is the primordial hunger of an ancient sorrow, buried deep within the souls of the great beasts of prey.