JOHNSTOWN, Colo. – A former Johnstown councilman has been arrested and charged with 28 felony counts, including theft, fraud and forgery under the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act.
Clair Hull served as a Johnstown Town Councilman from 2006 to 2011, and his name is on the plaque at the new Town Hall building.
Before his arrest, he was best known as the former Mormon bishop and businessman who organized the town’s BBQ Days.
Organized crime is alive and well in New Jersey, despite ongoing efforts by law enforcement, in part because there are so many criminal enterprises from all over the world operating in the Garden State.
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Why have so many Muslim states become hotbeds of organized crime? Neil Thompson’s answer looks beyond depressed economies, faltering dictatorships and human rights abuses. Indeed, he sees too many individuals that have become corrupted by the countless opportunities that conflict provides.
By Neil Thompson for ISN
Whenever a state collapses into civil war or economic anarchy, its organized crime groups find plenty of opportunities to grow in influence. This was the case in Albania in 1996-1997 when a series of pyramid schemes collapsed the economy. In the ensuing riots the government collapsed, the army and police disbanded and the mounting unrest allowed protesters to storm government arms depots. One crowd looted up to 500,000 rifles and other pieces of military equipment from the southern city of Lushnje. The stolen arms were promptly sold on the black market and the availability of plentiful supplies of cheap weapons and ammunition was a major spark for the start of war in neighboring Kosovo the following year. By 1999 transnational organized criminal gangs had helped change the supposedly sacrosanct lines of European borders. It was a seminal moment for a still under-appreciated non-state actor – globalized transnational criminal networks. The next might be provided by the Islamic world.
Emilio Parodi writes: Beyond nice wines, warm beaches, and sultry women, Italy is well-known for something less savory — the mafia. It is interesting to understand how such a powerful “machine” managed to enter society in such a strong and meaningful way, but more importantly to grasp its role alongside the central government of Italy. On the one hand, it is easy to state that the mafia and the corrupt economic system it functions within are wrong and unproductive for the country. On the other hand its presence may be of help to a country’s economy, something that is especially true in the case of Italy.
NEWARK, N.J. – (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Thursday announced the arrest of 10 members and associates of the DeCavalcante organized crime family, which has long been thought to be the real-life inspiration for HBO’s “The Sopranos.”
They’re listed on the criminal complaint with nicknames like “Knuckles” and “Whitey,” and they’re accused of plotting to commit murder, distribute drugs and promote prostitution.