When corruption was king
Subtitle: how I helped the mob rule Chicago, then brought the Outfit down
By: Robert Cooley with Hillel Levin.
Contributors: Levin, Hillel.
Publisher: Carroll & Graf
Published: 2006
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 370
ISBN-13: 9780786715831
Subjects: Cooley, Robert; Lawyers -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Biography; Criminals -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Biography; Mafia -- Illinois -- Chicago; Organized crime -- Illinois -- Chicago; Outfit (Gang) -- History
Genres: Biography.
Description: Bob Cooley was the Chicago Mafia’s fixer of court cases. During the 1970s and ‘80s, Cooley bribed judges, juries, and cops to keep his Mob clients out of jail. Paid handsomely for his services, he lived fast and enjoyed the protection of the men he served. Yet, by the end of the ‘90s, without a pending conviction, he became the star witness in nine federal trials that took down the most powerful Mafia family in the history of organized crime. When Corruption Was King is the story of a Mob lawyer turned mole with a million-dollar contract on his head who went back and forth between sin and sainthood—a turbulent youth, a stint on Chicago’s police force, law school, and then the inner sanctum of Chicago’s wiseguys. He dined with Mob bosses and shared “last suppers” with friends before their gangland executions. In a startling act of conscience, Cooley walked into the office of the U.S. Organized Crime Strike Force and agreed to wear a wire on the very same Mafia overlords who had made him a player. This book, including eight pages of memorable photographs, reveals the personal story behind the federal government’s most successful Mafia investigation.
Notes: "1st Carroll & Graf trade paperback edition 2006".

Includes bibliographical references (p. 321-359) and index.