{"product_id":"the-boys-from-new-jersey-how-the-mob-beat-the-feds","title":"The Boys from New Jersey: How the Mob Beat the Feds","description":"Of all the extraordinary stories to emerge about the war on organized crime  none is quite so bizarre as the U.S. governments 1988 prosecution of the notorious Lucchese crime family  the mob that claimed to \"own\" New Jersey. Federal authorities called it the most ambitious legal attack ever mounted against underworld figures--a sixty-five-page indictment capping a ten-year investigation that would take out an entire organization  from godfather to street soldier  in one knockout blow. The two-year proceeding became the longest Mafia trial in American history--but it took the jury less than two days to render its verdict: not guilty. On all counts. It was a devastating blow for the government. How did this happen? Robert Rudolph  the only reporter to cover the story from start to finish  answers that question in a book that turns courtroom drama into a rollicking theater of the absurd. At its center are defendants like Jackie \"Fat Jack\" DiNorscio  the career criminal representing himself  who began the trial by announcing  \"Im a comedian  not a gangster \" and then proceeded to turn the legal system on its ear; mob boss Anthony Accetturo  a man of almost unlimited luck  who once avoided prosecution by claiming to have Alzheimers disease  only to experience a miraculous \"cure\" when he slipped and fell in the shower after the case against him was dropped; and the philosophy-spouting underboss  Michael Taccetta  who brazenly debated his FBI nemesis on the morals of the underworld and how they applied to the teachings of Socrates and Machiavelli. And there are lawyers  like Vincent \"Grady\" OMalley  whod never lost a case until quarter-backing a government offensive that aimed too high and took too long; and Michael Critchley  who led a Mission Impossible-style defense team that succeeded in putting the government itself on trial. Here is the full story behind what should have been the governments shining hour  and how it turned into one of the most embarrassing.","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44923671380021,"sku":"ByrdShop_0813521548","price":52.31,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/ByrdShop_0813521548.jpg?v=1768648407","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-boys-from-new-jersey-how-the-mob-beat-the-feds","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}