The Barrel Mystery

by William J. Flynn

  CHAPTER IV

  COUNTERFEIT BILLS APPEAR

  In May, 1909, counterfeit two-dollar and five-dollar bills began toappear in many of the large cities, such as New York, Philadelphia,Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Chicago and Boston. Some of the bills weredistributed as far away as New Orleans. The simultaneous appearance ofthe bills in so many different cities indicated quite plainly that alarge band was operating in the distribution of the bad money.

  Ever since Lupo and Morello and his associates were arrested in 1908,and were turned out by the Police Magistrate because there was notsufficient evidence to hold them for the barrel murder, I had not lostsight of them. They were being trailed all the time, day and night. Asa result of my watchfulness, I learned many things that have sinceproven to be very useful to the government in its efforts to keep thecounterfeiting of money down to a minimum.

  Among other things, I learned that Morello made frequent trips toChicago and other cities where the counterfeit money seemed toflourish. Morello made a flying trip to New Orleans on one occasionwhen my men tracked him all the way. When his train arrived inPhiladelphia we knew he was on board; when the train reached Baltimorewe knew he was on the train, and when he arrived at Washington we knewwhere the "Black-Hand" leader was; and so on, till he arrived in NewOrleans. On his arrival there certain Italian confederates werewaiting for him and escorted their chief to a little Italian cafewhere a conference was held in a back room lasting a little longerthan two hours. Immediately after the conference was over, Morellotook the next train back to New York.

  Now enters into the story a man by the name of Antonio Cecala.Remember the name of this man, for he plays an important part in thegame for the remainder of the story. Cecala, whom we will establishhere as the third executive bandit in the Lupo-Morello group, madetrips to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Cecala proved avaluable aid to the two "Black-Hand" captains.

  Lupo was tracked by Secret Service men to cities where the counterfeitmoney was circulating. Another thread of investigation disclosed thenot unimportant fact that there were members of the Ignatz FlorioAssociation scattered all over the United States, especially in thepopulous centers where the five- and two-dollar counterfeit bills werebeing circulated. Besides, I was getting information daily from banksand merchants that the bills were being "pushed on the market" inabundance. I also learned that Italians from Corleone, Sicily, werethe only Italians who were trusted in these centers by theMorello-Lupo gang, pointing to the probability that the bad bills werebeing circulated and "pushed" through native Corleonians exclusively.

  Another clue showed that the bills were being manufactured somewherein the immediate vicinity of New York City. I fine-combed the State ofNew York upon learning this. Naturally, my attention was focused onthe Corleone Italians in New York City. In this way I gathered thatLupo had fled from his creditors, to whom he owed money in connectionwith his Italian grocery stores business. I finally succeeded inlocating him living in Ardonia, New York, which is not very far fromHighland on the Hudson River.

  Past experience with these Morello-Lupo counterfeiters had taughtme not to make an arrest until I had the net completely wovenaround the men who made the money. It is futile to arrest the"pushers-of-the-queer"--that is, the men who distribute the bad moneyamong the little Italian grocery stores and shoe shops, smallmerchants, and the like. The arrest of these men only serves to warnthe manufacturers of the bad money that the Secret Service is on thetrail. The factory then closes down, and it is moved away to anotherlocation. Even if a conviction of the distributor of the bad money isobtained, no definite information can be obtained from the convictedman. He could not tell the government anything of value even if hewished to "squeal." As a rule, all that a "pusher" or distributor cantell is where he got the bad money.

  Here is where Antonio Cecala looms up as a very important criminalfactor in the counterfeiting game as plied by the Black-Handers underthe leadership of Lupo and Morello. Remember this: _Lupo and Morelloalways remain in the background_. Cecala was the connecting linkbetween the two leaders and the "pushers-of-the-queer."

  Cecala was the man who got in touch with those who wanted to buy thecounterfeit money to circulate it at the rate of thirty-five cents onthe dollar.

  Cecala was careful to deal only with men whom he knew--men who werefrom Corleone. He would pick six of these as his deputies. Thesedeputies would choose six others, and so on. Cecala made businesstrips to other cities and took the orders for counterfeit money. Healso had the say as to whom should be the agent in each city directlyresponsible to him. These various deputies were required to give theirO. K. before any money would be sent to or given to any person byCecala.

  As soon as Cecala would receive a request from a deputy for money tobe passed to certain Italians asking for it, it was Cecala's job to goto Lupo and Morello and obtain their sanction before the money wouldbe handed along down the line from the distributing plant to theperson buying it at thirty-five cents on the dollar for the obviouspurpose of "pushing" it off on some unwary store-keeper.

  The reader can now readily appreciate that with a crafty organizationlike this the "pusher" could not testify, even if he desired, that hehad got the bad money from either Lupo or Morello. In fact, the"pusher" never even heard of either of the leaders except in someindirect way. Always, however, when the money was passed over to thepusher by one of Cecala's deputies or remote subordinates a sinisterwarning was given not to "squeal" if caught--a warning alwaysportentous with the threat of murder.

  To "squeal" meant fatal punishment. The man in the barrel is grimtestimony to that fact.

  At about this time I had pretty good evidence that the leaders of thecounterfeiting gang were none other than Morello and Lupo, as I hadsuspected from the outset. Still, the time was not ripe to makearrests that would result in dead-sure convictions. It is true the twoleaders could be arrested and charged with the making of thesecounterfeit notes, but where was the evidence connecting them witheither the passing or the manufacture of the bills?

  Let me here recite the case of Giuseppe Boscarini just to help thereader appreciate how very difficult it would be, at that juncture, toget Lupo and Morello involved in a way that would satisfy a court andjury that they were legally guilty of making and of passingcounterfeit money:

  While in Pittston, Pa., I learned that a man in that city named SamLocino knew Boscarini, a New York agent of the Black-Hand Society.After talking with Locino for some time he told me that Boscarini hadmade several trips to Pittston lately, and that Boscarini was willingto sell counterfeit money to him. When Locino mentioned Boscarini'sname I felt sure that the Pittston man was talking of one of Cecala'smost active deputies.

  In order to see how far Locino could go with Boscarini, and whetherCecala's deputy would turn counterfeit money over to Locino, I madethe latter write a letter in the Sicilian dialect to Boscarini askingthe deputy of Cecala to send a sample of the counterfeit money inorder that Locino might see what it was like and whether he thought hewould be able to get rid of some of it in Pittston.

  When Locino had finished the letter I took it over to the post office,and with the Mayor of the city and the Chief of Police as witnesses Ihad the letter registered and addressed to Boscarini. I came back onthe same train that brought the letter to New York, and when Boscarinisigned for it at the registry window, this act of his was noted downby men of the Secret Service.

  The next day Boscarini went to a sub post office on the Bowery andbought a special delivery and a two-cent stamp. He placed the stampsupside down on a large white envelope. An agent of the Service saw himbuy the stamps and place them on the envelope; also, the agent saw thefictitious return address which Boscarini put on the envelope: theagent saw this as Boscarini put the letter into the slot at thesub-station.

  I returned to Pittston on the same train with the letter and notifiedLocino that the letter was addressed to him at the General Delivery.He got the letter and opened it in my presence. It contained acounterfeit two-d
ollar bill and a counterfeit five-dollar bill of thekind made by the Morello gang.

  Then I sent Locino to New York and gave him thirty-five dollars withwhich to buy one hundred dollars' worth of the counterfeit money fromBoscarini. I saw to it that the genuine money was secretly marked forthe purpose of "getting" it on some member of the gang when the raidwould come and in which I contemplated taking Morello and Lupotogether with Cecala, Boscarini and others.

  Locino contrived to meet Boscarini at Mulberry and Prince Streets, andthe two talked it over. An appointment was made by Boscarini to meetLocino again on the same day.

  One of the things I had ferreted out meanwhile was to locate theheadquarters for the distribution of the bad money as being at No. 231East Ninety-seventh Street. Secret Service men had hired apartmentsacross the street from this place, and were watching every one thatentered and left the place. Their view was interfered with by greatboxes of macaroni and other Italian groceries piled high in thewindows of the store. My men also learned that it was here, behind themacaroni boxes, that secret conferences were being held betweenCecala, Morello, Lupo and others. A conference would never last morethan fifteen minutes. The store was run by Morello, Lupo and others.It was a wholesale store. The small Italian grocers in New York werecompelled to make their purchases there at the peril of being wreckedby a bomb if they did not. To this store went Boscarini when he leftLocino at Mulberry and Prince Streets. At the Ninety-seventh Streetstore Boscarini met Cecala and several others of the gang. Returningto meet Locino, Boscarini handed over a roll of bills to the Pittstonman. Secret Service men saw the bills handed over. Locino handed thebills to me. When the bills were examined they were found to becounterfeits of the same make as those previously sent to Locino inthe letter.

  Even then we made no arrest. It would have been a foolish piece ofbusiness at that time, for I was busy on other ends of the casepulling in valuable threads of evidence. After the lapse of a weekLocino came to New York from Pittston and purchased more of thecounterfeit money from Boscarini, giving in return genuine money,which was secretly marked.

  Finally the time arrived when the government had evidence which wasdeemed sufficient to convict most of the band. The raid was made. WhenCecala was seized and searched there was found on him two of thegenuine bills with the secret marks which I had placed on the billsgiven to Locino.

  Locino's testimony, the reader will see, was necessary in order tosecure a conviction of Boscarini and Cecala. By Locino's telling whatpart he had played in the game the government was put in position toverify the following complete chain of evidence: Locino writing theletter to Boscarini and asking for the counterfeit samples; Boscarinireceiving the letter, and receipting for it; Boscarini posting theanswering letter to Locino, the letter on which the Secret Service mansaw the stamps placed upside down on the long white envelope. Then,further, Locino receiving the letter at the General Delivery, and hisopening it in my presence and finding the counterfeit two- andfive-dollar bills. Locino could testify that he got counterfeit moneyfrom Boscarini and had given him the genuine money secretly marked inreturn for the spurious bills, thus directly connecting Boscarini withthe charge of passing spurious money. Also, Locino could verify mytestimony of secret marks being placed on the bills, so that when themarked bills were found on Cecala, Locino could identify them as theones he had given to Boscarini in return for the counterfeit moneypassed by Boscarini to him. Locino could thus connect Boscarini andCecala. Other evidence connecting Cecala with Boscarini was in mypossession, but which I need not give here. It merely served tocorroborate the testimony of Locino.

  Locino was perfectly well aware what it meant to go on the witnessstand and "squeal." He had heard of the man in the barrel. After someweeks of thinking the matter over Locino loosened up and declared thathe had an ancient wrong to right! He never explained to me furtherjust what his grievance against the "Black-Handers" was. He finallymade up his mind to take the stand and tell what he knew.

  Needless to say that Boscarini was sentenced to fifteen years in theFederal Penitentiary at Atlanta, Georgia. But it is worth mentioninghere that shortly after Boscarini received his sentence Locino wasshot twice in the back of the head at Pittston. He survived, however,and is confident that he will be able to take care of himself for manyyears to come.

  The point I want to make clear by relating this story of facts is asfollows:

  I traced the connection of Cecala with the passing of thesecounterfeit bills by finding the genuine money with the secret markson him. Nevertheless, I had not reached the leaders, Lupo and Morello,who were still in the background serenely confident that they couldnot be legally implicated in the passing or the manufacturing of thecounterfeit bills.

  True, we could prove that Cecala and Morello and Lupo had met manytimes, and that they had been to the houses of one another and eatenat the same table. Other evidence of a like nature could be produced;but such evidence was not sufficient to convict the two leaders of thecharge of either passing, having in their possession, making orcausing to be made, any of the counterfeit notes which were beingpoured into the great centers of population at one and the same time.Had I stopped with Locino's testimony, I never could have got theleaders. But the Secret Service never leaves the trail of thecounterfeiter, and the way in which the long arm of the governmentreached out for the "Black-Hand" leaders, who loomed in the shadowydistance like the silhouettes of devils incarnate, will be told herefor the first time.