ORGANIZED CRIME AND USE OF VIOLENCE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 1980 U.S. SENATE, PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 11:30 a.m., pursuant to recess, in room 357, Russell Senate Office Building, under authority of Senate Resolution 361, dated March 5, 1980, Hon. Sam Nunn (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Members of the subcommittee present: Senator Sam Nunn, Democrat, Georgia; Senator Thomas Eagleton, Democrat, Missouri; and Senator Charles H. Percy, Republican, Illinois. Also present: Senator John C. Danforth, Republican, Missouri. Members of the professional staff present: Marty Steinberg, chief counsel; LaVern Duffy, general counsel; W. P. Goodwin, Jr., staff director; Michael Levin, deputy chief counsel; Peter Sullivan, assistant counsel; Jack Key and Donald Zell, investigators; Myra Crase, chief clerk; Mary Donohue, assistant chief clerk; Joseph G. Block, chief counsel to the minority; Charles Berk, general counsel to the minority; Howard Marks, investigator to the minority; Lynn Lerish, executive assistant to the minority; Ira Shapiro, chief counsel, Governmental Efficiency and District of Columbia Subcommittee; Peter Levine, general counsel, Intergovernmental Relations Subcommittee; Janet Studley, counsel, Federal Spending Practices and Open Government Subcommittee; Alan Bennett, counsel to the minority, Governmental Affairs Committee; Peter Roman, investigator, Federal Spending Practices and Open Government Subcommittee. Chairman NUNN. The subcommittee will come to order. [Members of the subcommittee present at time of reconvening: Senators Nunn and Eagleton.] Chairman NUNN. Before we begin, it is the custom of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to swear in all of our witnesses. Would each of you who is going to testify or answer questions this morning please stand and raise your right hand. Do you swear the testimony you will give before this subcommittee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? Mr. DEFEO. I do. Mr. CARON. I do. Mr. McWEENEY. I do. TESTIMONY OF MICHAEL DeFEO, ATTORNEY IN CHARGE, KANSAS CITY STRIKE FORCE, KANSAS CITY, MO.; CHIEF NORMAN A. CARON, CHIEF OF POLICE, KANSAS CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT, KANSAS CITY, MO.; WILLIAM OUSELEY, SPECIAL AGENT, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, KANSAS CITY FIELD OFFICE, KANSAS CITY, MO.; AND SEAN MCWEENEY, SPECIAL AGENT-SECTION CHIEF, FBI HEADQUARTERS Chairman NUNN. Senator Eagleton, we are delighted to have you here with us this morning and I understand you have an opening statement that you would like to make and we will be delighted to receive that. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR EAGLETON Senator EAGLETON. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman. As the subcommittee begins its investigation this morning of the River Quay situation in Kansas City, I would like to make a few comments as a "homestate" Senator. Unfortunately, the role of organized crime in the River Quay area is well known, having been exhaustively reported in the newspapers. The subcommittee has chosen a valuable case study for consideration. River Quay offered the city of Kansas City the charm, ambience, tourist attraction, and downtown revival potential that Boston has seen in its popular Quincy Market and that San Francisco provided in Ghiradelli Square. Once a thriving riverfront area, River Quay, like so many other American waterfronts, had deteriorated over the years. Structures were abandoned; streets, lights, sidewalks, and sewers were left unrepaired; street crime pervaded the area. Nonetheless, the original charm of the historic streets and structures remained, and in the midsixties, this charm was discovered by small artisans, restauranteurs, and counterculture businessmen, who, with no major financial backing, moved into River Quay, renovated buildings, and revived the area. By the early 1970's, the revival of River Quay was well underway. The city government began promoting the area as a tourist attraction and furnishing free shuttle bus service to attract shoppers and patrons from the nearby downtown area. By late 1974, the area included 68 rental establishments representing a popular mix of art galleries, restaurants, informal theatres, antique stores, boutiques, and specialty stores. Also in 1974, indicative of the area's commercial potential. a New Orleans developer, Joseph C. Canizaro, later to develop Canal Place in New Orleans, announced plans to invest $30 million in River Quay. City participation in redevelopment was promised, with city funds to be committed for street, light, and sewer repairs. At the same time, however, organized crime recognized that the area was going to make money, so it decided to grab some of the action-specifically, take over some restaurants so it could introduce go-go girls and prostitutes in the area. Employing its standard operating procedures-pressure on public officials, muggings, murder, bombings, arson-the mob moved in. The legitimate businesses-the restaurants, speciality shops, art galleries, and boutiques-soon were on the way out. According to developer Canizaro: After we started our attempts to restore the area, we ran straight into the face of girlie joints and bars and those kinds of things that began becoming prevalent in the area. The criminal element was moving in and we had indicated long before that that would result in the death of the Quay. It did. Canizaro pulled out; the city let its plan die. Today River Quay is an area of vacant, bombed, burned-out buildings. A promising development which would have added to the lives of thousands of Kansas City residents and visitors extinguished. I commend Senators Nunn and Percy for bringing this subcommittee forcefully back into investigating organized crime. They have recruited a highly dedicated and qualified staff for the subcommittee, and the searching nature of these hearings attests to the professionalism of the staff and the commitment of the chairman and the ranking minority member. Like so many problems facing us today, organized crime submits it no simple solution. It derives great strength from a solid foothold built over decades; through strong loyalties of participants; iron internal discipline; the calculated and cold-blooded use of violence to intimidate; the utility of enormous profits to both reward mobsters and corrupt others. But unlike the early 1960's, when this subcommittee first focused attention on the nature and extent of organized crime, the Federal Government is facing up to the challenge. Where J. Edgar Hoover refused for years to acknowledge the existence of organized crime, the FBI, under Judge Webster, has committed 22 percent of its investigative resources to this area. The largest single activity of the Justice Department's Criminal Division is the fight against organized crime. The Department's witness security program has achieved some success in responding directly to the terrible problem of witness intimidation. By passing the "Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organization" statute, Congress gave the Department a valuable weapon in attacking organized crime. Through these hearings, the subcommittee will produce a picture of the present nature of organized crime in this country and our current efforts to deal with it. Like other subcommittee members, I strongly support the Federal Government's effort against organized crime and want to respond legislatively where steps can be taken to strengthen the effort or to remove roadblocks to effective law enforcement. I think that Phil Heymann's testimony for the Justice Department explained eloguently the need for the Federal Government to fight organized crime. The most evident harm caused by organized crime is fear. And in the areas where fear is generated by the mob, individuals become insecure and institutions lose their sense of legitimacy and integrity. Heymann went on: We are fearful of organized crime because when we are confronted with its capability for intimidation and extortion, there seems to be no recourse. In this respect, organized crime is almost like a government in that in certain sectors its coercive power makes it nearly a final authority. In this country, what Heymann calls the coercive power of government is exercised only according to law and due process. That is the great advantage of our form of government. To permit others to wield coercive power outside the law does violence to our system of government and negates the value of living in a democratic society. We should not underestimate the difficulty of combatting organized crime, but we cannot underestimate the importance of doing so. I thank you. Chairman NUNN. Thank you very much. I want to thank you on behalf of the subcommittee for being a stalwart backer of our investigation from the very beginning. We have been involved to some extent in the organized crime investigation in the past, not to the extent we are now, but with your considerable experience in law enforcement when you came to the Senate and your continuing interest in that has been of immeasurable help to this subcommittee and we thank you for it and of course we welcome your participation. I also know that Senator Danforth is probably going to be participating in this hearing and Senator Danforth has also been cooperative with this subcommittee and a valuable member of the full committee. So we welcome his participation also. Before we begin this morning, Chief Counsel Steinberg would like to insert exhibits for the record. We will be referring to them later and I ask him to make that presentation. Mr. STEINBERG. Mr. Chairman, some of the witnesses will refer to the following exhibits: Exhibit F-1 is a Kansas City Crime Commission, Spotlight One, Organized Crime in Kansas City; Exhibit F-2 is a letter from the Kansas City Crime Commission transmitting a sealed crime commission report, Spotlight Two, on Organized Crime in Kansas City to the subcommittee. The letter also describes William Cammisanos position in the Kansas City outfit. F-2 also contains the Kansas City Crime Commission's report, Spotlight Two on Organized Crime. Exhibit F-3 is a Kansas City Crime Commission report of the U.S. Strike Force Prosecutions from 1971 to 1979. Exhibit F-4 is the Justice Department's detailed briefing booklet with pictures of the River Quay investigation, not previously released. Exhibit F-5 is the Kansas City Police Department report on 16 mob-related violent incidents in the Kansas City area. Exhibit F-6 are 49 pictures prepared by the Kansas City Police Department relating to the Kansas City River Quay investigation and recent mob murders. Exhibit F-7 are FBI affidavits filed in the Federal court to intercept conversations of Kansas City mob members. Chairman NUNN. Without objection, they will be entered in the record. [The documents referred to were marked "Exhibit Nos. 2 through 9," respectively, for reference. Exhibits 3, 5, 7, 8, and 9 may be found in the files of the subcommittee; exhibit 4B is sealed; exhibits 4A, 6 and excerpts from exhibit 8 follow:] EXHIBIT No. 4A Re William Cammisano, Sr. Mr. MARTY STEINBERG, KANSAS CITY CRIME COMMISSION, Chief Counsel, U.S. Senate, Permanent Subcommittee On Investigation, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. STEINBERG: This correspondence is in reference to your letter of March 25, 1980 regarding a recent characterization of William Cammisano, Sr. Currently, William Cammisano, Sr. is serving a Federal prison sentence for extortion in the River Quay area of Kansas City. Organized crime involvement in the River Quay area was the end result of a considerable amount of violence which included bombings and at least eight homicides which were listed as suspected gangland slayings committed between July 22, 1976 and May 16, 1978. Two other victims were shot during one of the murders in this period of time. None of these crimes to date have been cleared through arrest or prosecution. During the latter part of 1979 I observed and listened to the testimony, presented in the U.S. District Court of Western, Missouri, during the trial of William Cammisano's brother who was charged in the same River Quay extortion case, During this trial one witness testified as to William Cammisano's reputation of violence. This witness testified that he believed his father had been a member of the Mafia or an organized crime figure. The witness testified that when he was younger he overheard his father and William Cammisano discussing murders when they did not know he was around. From the conversations he overheard the witness was convinced that William Cammisano, Sr., had killed at least six persons. The witness named five of those victims. The witnesses father was a victim of a gangland murder during the River Quay troubles. The witness testified that from conversations he had with his father, just before he was murdered, he believed that William Cammisano, Sr., had killed him. This testimony further corroborated the information collected by many law enforcement officers over the years regarding William Cammisano's tendency towards violence. My background and experience in law enforcement related jobs in the Kansas City area dates back to 1953. During the past 23 years I have had a special law enforcement related interest in organized crime. During this time I have maintained a constant trustworthy relationship with criminal justice officials working in the organized crime field. In my opinion based upon law enforcement related experience, investigations, interviews, discussions with organized crime oriented law enforcement officials and various court records and public documents I believe William Cammisano, Sr. to be among the "Organized Crime Hierarchy" in the Kansas City area. Within this elite group it would be my opinion that he would be ranked in importance and stature somewhere between number three and number five. Enclosed is a copy of our non-published Spotlight II on Organized Crime in the Kansas City Area. Our Board of Directors did not approve this research for publication but did allow me to let interested law enforcement personnel come to the office and review the material. A copy of this report is being sent to you with the understanding it would be submitted into the record as a sealed document relieving the Commission of any liability. The exception would be that portion which relates to William Cammisano, Sr., which would be entered into the public record. If the Commission can provide additional information which will be helpful to your staff or the Senate Permanent Subcommittee On Investigations, please advise our office. Sincerely, Enclosure. FRANK MAUDLIN, EXHIBIT No. 6 THE RIVER QUAY PROSECUTION On August 10, 1979, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri found Joseph Cammisano guilty of interfering with interstate |