Nelson Johnson - Boardwalk Empire - The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City

86 “Prohibition didn’t happen in Atlantic City.”Interview with Murray Fredericks, Esquire.

87 “Everybody helped out. If you worked for the city …”Interview with Richard Jackson.

87 “You gotta understand, nobody did it the way we did here.”Interview with Murray Fredericks, Esquire.

89 “There never really was a second political party in Atlantic City … everyone was on the same team.”Interview with Richard Jackson, confirmed by many, including Patrick McGahn Esq., Lori Mooney, Mildred Fox, and Harold Finkle Esq.

93 “I went to my first World Series with Nucky … He sure knew how to have a good time.”Interview with Murray Fredericks, Esquire.

94 The quote by the retired detectivewas made to me by a friend of Richard Jackson who requested anonymity.

96 “Remember, there aren’t any cemeteries in Atlantic City—it’s an island.”Interview with Richard Jackson.

97 The futile efforts of the Committee of One Hundred were reported on by Jack Alexander in “Boss on the Spot” in The Saturday Evening Post , August 26, 1939.

99 The “Seven Group” and Nucky Johnson’s involvement with Lucky Luciano is discussed in “Boss on the Spot,” Ibid.

100 A hurried call to Nucky Johnson …Martin A. Gosch and Richard Hammer, The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano , (Little, Brown and Company, 1974).

101 1 told them there was business enough …Kobler, Ibid., p.265.

102 The story of Nucky’s kidnapping by Tony “the Stinger” Cugino was reported on seven years later by Alexander Kendrick in the Philadelphia Inquirer on May 19, 1939. Despite the span of time between the incident and Kendrick’s news article, it is a credible story, especially given the company that Nucky kept.

Chapter 6: Hard Times for Nucky and His Town

The story of the investigation into Nucky Johnson’s empire, his indictment, and conviction are an epic. This chapter attempts to capture that story and relies on the formal report prepared by William E. Frank, the Special Agent assigned to lead the investigation. The report is entitled, “The Case of Enoch L. Johnson, a Complete Report of the Atlantic City Investigation.” Prepared by William E. Frank, Special Agent, Intelligence Unit, Treasury Department, and Joseph W. Burns, Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. Notwithstanding the title, and the fact that it was written by FBI Agents, it’s an entertaining read.

Securing hard evidence on Nucky was a difficult task for the FBI. The agents faced many obstacles. The resistance was broad-based and represented most of the community. They received virtually no cooperation from anyone with knowledge of how Nucky’s empire was organized. As you read the report, you can feel the growing anxiety and near paranoia as they move closer to Nucky and are frustrated by rampant perjury and jury tampering. But for Joseph Corio’s carelessness it’s likely the FBI would never have had the evidence needed to obtain a conviction. The report is exciting stuff. I recommend Agent Frank’s report to anyone interested in the “nuts and bolts” of what it took to convict Nucky Johnson. The Report was completed in 1943. It is referred to hereinafter as Report of W. E. Frank.

103 The confrontation between Nucky Johnson and Ralph Weloff was recounted to the author by Richard Jackson’s friend, a retired Atlantic City detective. He also told me that it was in the lobby of the Ritz that Nucky first made acquaintance with James Boyd. Boyd was Nucky’s protégé on administering the operations of the Republican organization. He got his start as a bellhop at the Ritz. This fact was confirmed by several persons.

104 “Losin’ Prohibition really hurt …”Interview with Patrick McGahn, Esquire, relating events told to him by his father.

104 “A bartender I knew … all that trouble over a broad.”Interview with Richard Jackson, confirmed by Patrick McGahn, Esquire. Rumors, and the myth that grew out of them, that “Two Gun Tommy Taggart” was somehow behind the charges against Nucky are without basis. Taggart was a loyal player in the Republican organization and despite his ambition, he would not have done anything to undermine Nucky’s power.

105 “Hearst was tight with FDR …”Interview with Richard Jackson, confirmed by Patrick McGahn, Esquire. Hearst’s newspapers had been critical of Nucky for years. And it’s true that they had more than one confrontation during the times Hearst was in town. With Nucky’s and Hearst’s fondness for the ladies what it was, the story of Hearst’s involvement is credible.

105 The wide-open nature of Atlantic City’s gambling operations is discussed in the Report of W. E. Frank , pp. 24–30.

105 The discussion of the details of the investigation into Nucky’s organization is derived from the Report of W. E. Frank.

110 “Joe Corio surprised everybody …”Interview with Murray Fredericks, Esquire.

111 The discussion of the details of the investigation into Nucky’s organization is derived from the Report of W. E. Frank.

113 The whores hung in there—they were tough old girls.”Interview with Richard Jackson.

113 Nucky was Boss because he delivered …Interview with Murray Fredericks, Esquire.

114 Only the very best people went to Babette’s …Interview with Mary Ill.

115 “If you went to the corner store … a business wrote numbers.”Interview with Richard Jackson.

116 The quote from Special Agent Frank at Report of W. E. Frank, p. 60.

121 “We admit that we received money … we did not report for taxes.”Walter Winne as quoted in Report of W. E. Frank , p. 136.

122 “Nucky sure knew how to throw a party.”Interview with Mary Ill.

Chapter 7: Hap

When I began my research, I perceived Hap Farley as a corrupt political boss who had contributed to the fall of Atlantic City. I quickly learned that my uninformed assessment of Farley’s career was naïve and that he could not be dismissed so easily. Frank Farley was a complicated person. There is no doubt he was deeply involved in the workings of a corrupt organization. He couldn’t have become and remained the boss any other way. But Hap was also a skillful legislator, tireless public servant always looking to improve his community, and a loyal friend. In many ways, he was a role model for an aspiring politician. Any attempt to measure him outside of the system in which he worked yields an incomplete portrait.

The transfer of power from Nucky Johnson to Frank Farley is a complex story involving many players. It required many interviews and follow-up discussions, after learning another piece to the puzzle, in order to confirm important details and pull together the entire story. In writing this portion of Chapter 7, I relied on the differing perspectives of both players and observers as told to me by Richard Jackson, Murray Fredericks, Frank Ferry, Robert Gasko, Bill Ross, Skinny D’Amato, Mary Ill, Florence Miller, Lori Mooney, Harold Finkle, and Patrick McGahn. I believe I’ve told the complete story.

126 “What can I say? He liked boys, young boys.”Interview with Paul “Skinny” D’Amato. Skinny D’Amato was an Atlantic City original. He was proud to have been a protégé of Nucky’s and had fond recollections of him. My interview of Skinny took place in his bedroom, in late afternoon, with him still in pajamas. He was in poor health at the time, and I have his nephew Paul D’Amato to thank for arranging the meeting.