Organized crime in Minneapolis

Organized crime in Minneapolis first attracted national attention in 1903 when mobster Mayor Doc Ames (1842-1911) was exposed by Lincoln Steffens in the book, The Shame of the Cities. Steffens account and subsequent trials revealed a police department recruited from ex-felons shaking down the Minneapolis underworld on the Mayor's behalf. Ames later fled the state, spending a short period as a fugitive before being arrested and extradited to Minnesota. He was convicted of receiving a bribe and sentenced to six years in prison. His sentence was later appealed and overturned.

In 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution transformed American crime, shaping small-time hoodlums into major organized crime figures. In Minneapolis, the underworld was dominated by local gangs of the Irish mob, flanked by Jewish gangsters, and corrupt cops and politicians from the Republican, Democratic, and Farmer-Labor Parties.

Romanian-Jewish immigrant Isadore Blumenfeld, alias Kid Cann (1900-1981), was changed overnight from a nickel-and-dime pimp and bookmaker from the Northside, Minneapolis into a respected godfather with close ties to both the Chicago Outfit and the Genovese crime family. Assisted by his brothers Jacob and Harry, Kid Cann's "Minneapolis Combination" dealt in bootleg booze, trucking distribution routes, illegal gambling, and real estate deals throughout the American Sun Belt. He was the most notorious gangster in the city’s history.

Rival crime families were run by David Berman, Thomas W. Banks, and "Big Ed" Morgan. These gangsters tended to cooperate on business and avoid turf wars by appealing to the mediation of the National Commission. In the process, Minneapolis became a major center of bootleg booze, gambling, brothels, and unbridled corruption.

Deuce Casper(1936-2003) was a Baldy street gang founder and boss. In Minneapolis, during Casper's time, more than 1,000 thugs roamed the streets from 1955 to 1975, creating mayhem and fear. Casper robbed banks, jewelry stores, and armored cars, while his associates robbed commercial businesses and ran large drug-dealing operations.

The most notable Baldy was Perry (The Scholar) Millik (1944 – 2003), who ran commercial burglary rings and drug-manufacturing houses, was involved in widespread real estate frauds and was the front man for real estate purchases for the infamous Alexander Brothers (porn and prostitution kings).

Currently, the Capra/Patterson syndicate controls all nationally organized crime activities in the Twin Cities. Gambling is their primary source of income, and they are sanctioned to work under the auspices of the old Genovese Mafia Family from New York City. (2011)

See also

• Crime in Minnesota

References

Book: Minneapolis Organized Crime (1900-2000)