Evening star., 1936-10-18
WHITE SLAVE NET
. SHARES TWO MEN
One Suspect Confederate of
Pair G-Men Took Here
Recently.
BY REX COLLIER.

A dragnet thrown over wide front
by the Federal Bureau Of Investigation
in a move to block the annual migra-
ton of white slave traffickers to Win
ter resorts in the South yesterday had
caught two alleged "big-shot" rack
eteers-one of them a confederate OF
two men recently captured by G-men
in the Washington area.
= All four prisoners have been arrested
in the past in Miami, Fla, where, 1t
Is alleged, they made their headquar-
tiers during the Winter season.
j. Edgar Hoover, director Of the F.
3. l., has called for the assistance OF
'public-spirited citizens" in co-operat-
ing with the bureau in its efforts ito
stamp out the interstate traffic in
women" Vigilance of his agents for
violators of the Federal Mann act has
been increased all along the line.
Both Are Ex-Convicts.
In custody Of F. B. I. agents In
widely separated parts Of the country
yesterday were Dave Marcus. alias
Marks, and Paul Nahas. both ex-con-
victs with police records dating back
several years. The latter Is reputed
head of the so-called "Nahas gang"
in Michigan City, Ind.
Marcus, arrested early yesterday in
Miami, Fla, and Nahas, arrested Fri
day in South Bend, Ind, are charged
with transportation of women from
Indiana to Florida for immoral pur-
poses.
Nahas, according to Hoover, has been
"closely associated" with James Mel
son Ostrander. alias Million Dollar
Jimmy" and Dan Cassetta, convicted
drug peddler, who were arrested dur
ing an F. B. I. raid on an inn at
North Beach, Md, September II last.
Ostrander and Cassetta are under
indictment in the District of Columbia
for transporting two women from
the Maryland resort to local apart
ment houses, in violation of the Mann
act. Both have served sentences in
Miami and Ostrander is listed in F.
B. I. records as a member Of the
''Nahas gang"
Operates Night Clubs.
Nahas, Hoover said, long has been
an operator of night clubs in Michigan
City. He was convicted of operating
a house of i'll fame in Jackson, Mich,
in 1927. He served 30-day term for
vagrancy in Miami in 1884. He is 81.
Marcus, 36, is we'll known in Miami
as a booker of prostitutes, Hoover
said. He and Nahas have been in
dicted by a Federal grand jury at
Orlando for white slavery in connec-
ton with the transportation of two
women from South Bend to Miami
lin 1888.
Marcus served a year at the Fort
Leavenworth Disciplinary Barracks in
1919 for larceny.
Coincident with the arrest here Of
Ostrander and Cassetta, special agents
of the F. B. l. rounded up number
of members of an extensive white
slave ring in Connecticut, bringing
to % the number of prisoners held in
that State on Mann act charges.
Among those taken were Alexander
De Nicola, Joseph Ferrara and Joseph
y ("Bethany Joe'D Saledonis, accused
of being ringleaders of a gang i'm
porting women into Connecticut from
New York, New Jersey and other
States.
During the fiscal year which ended
July l, the F. B. I. secured 298 con-
victions of Mann act prisoners. Sen
tences totaled 835 years and fines ag-
gregated s42,830. During June Of this
year there were more white slave
convictions than in any month sdur-
ing the last three years.