Buyer Beware Of Home Improvement Fraud

Broad & Liberty ran my piece on home improvement fraud.

You can read the piece via the link below or the below text:

Paul Davis: Buyer beware of home improvement fraud

The Darby Borough Police announced on July 18 that they arrested George Cook, 42, the owner and operator of GC’s Contracting.

He was charged with PA Title 73, Trade and Commerce 517B, Home Improvement Fraud, PA Title 18, Crimes Code 3921 (a) Theft by Unlawful Taking, and PA Title 18, Crimes Code 3925 (a) Receiving Stolen property.  

Several of his customers complained that he left them with unfinished work and did not return after taking their money. One unsatisfied customer quipped that George Cook should be called “George Crook.” 

Cook, who is also facing similar charges in Media and Upper Gwynedd, was released on bail.     

“I am troubled by the recent decision to issue low bail to a defendant who is already out on bail for a prior theft charge and now faces additional allegations,” Darby Borough Police Chief Joseph Gabe told reporters. “This individual has shown a pattern of disregard for the law, and there are victims who continue to be impacted by these crimes.”

Darby Police added in a statement, “We encouraged anyone who has done business with George Cook, operating under the business name of GC’s Contracting and have not received services for payment(s) to reach out to Darby Borough Police.

“You can call 9-1-1 and ask to speak to a Darby detective or email kcollins@darbtpd.org. If you live outside of Darby, you can contact your local police department.”         

According to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office home improvement fraud occurs when:

·     A contractor intentionally provides false or misleading information to convince a consumer to enter into an agreement for home improvements.

·     A contractor receives payment and fails to provide the services or materials.

·     A contractor damages a person’s property in order to solicit an agreement for services or materials.

·     A contractor alters a contract or other documents without the consent of the consumer.

·     A contractor publishes false or deceptive advertisements.

·     A contractor misrepresents material as special-order material or misrepresents the cost of special-order material.

·     A contractor represents himself or herself as an employee of a governmental unit or public utility.

·     The contract must be in writing and include the contractor’s registration number.

·     The entire agreement between the contractor and the consumer including the date of the transaction.

·     The name, telephone number, and address of the contractor and subcontractors.

·     A description of the work to be performed including the approximate starting and completion dates of the project.

·     The total sales price due under contract.

·     The amount of any down payment plus any amount paid in advance for the purchase of special order materials.

·     The amount of liability insurance coverage maintained by the contractor.

·     The toll-free number maintained by the Bureau of Consumer Protection.

·     A notice of the consumer’s right to rescind the contract.

·     A home improvement contractor must provide you with a copy of the complete contract free of charge.

·     You have the right to rescind your home improvement contract without penalty within three business days of the signing date, except as provided under law for emergency situations.

·     A home improvement contract is not enforceable against a consumer if it does not include all of the information required by law.

·     A contractor may not demand or receive any payment for a home improvement before the home improvement contract is signed.

·     All contractors must display their official registration number on all contracts, estimates, proposals, and advertisements distributed within the Commonwealth.

·     To verify a contractor’s registration number, click here or call toll free 1-888-520-6680.

·     Contractors can include a description of the services they provide.

·     Contractors provide proof of insurance coverage at the time they apply for registration. You should check with the contractor to obtain verification that the insurance coverage is current at the time your contract is signed and the services are performed.

·     Contractors are required by law to provide certain background information in their application for registration. They must state whether they have been convicted of a criminal offense related to the following: (1) home improvement transactions, (2) fraud, (3) theft, (4) a crime of deception or (5) a crime involving fraudulent business practices. The applicant and its principals must also state whether they have ever filed a petition in bankruptcy. A further statement is required if the applicant has had a final civil judgment, related to a home improvement transaction, entered against it or against businesses in which the applicant held an interest. HICPA does not require disclosure of other types of crimes or civil actions.

·     To obtain more information about a contractor call us at 888-520-6680 or email us at hic@attorneygeneral.gov.

When it comes to home improvement work, one should do due diligence and check out the contractor before paying a down payment. 

It only took me a minute to consult the Pennsylvania Better Business Bureau (BBB) website and discover that GC’s Contracting was not an accredited business in construction services. That’s a red flag. 

Paul Davis, a Philadelphia writer and frequent contributor to Broad + Liberty, also contributes to Counterterrorism magazine and writes their online Threatcon column. His work has also appeared in the Washington Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Weekly. He can be reached at pauldavisoncrime.com  

Note: You can read my previous Broad & Liberty pieces via the link below:

 You searched for Paul Davis - Broad + Liberty 

Yesterday's Spy Writer: My Crime Beat Column On The New Batch Of Len Deighton's Reissued Paperback Spy Thrillers

When I was a teenager back in the 1960s, I was a huge fan of crime and spy thrillers (and I remain so today). 

I was weaned on Ian Fleming, and after he died in 1964 and I had read all of his James Bond novels and short stories, I looked for other spy thrillers to read, especially British spy thrillers. 

I read and enjoyed Eric Ambler, Graham Greene and John le Carre. I also read another British spy thriller writer named Len Deighton. 

Deighton’s protagonist in his first series of spy thrillers, in contrast to Ian Fleming’s high-living James Bond, was a working-class smart aleck. 

Deighton employed a first-person unnamed narrator for The Ipcress File and the other early thrillers. I liked the Deighton narrator and his sardonic voice. I also liked Deighton's clever plots and his vivid descriptions of characters, places, things and food (Deighton is an accomplished cook).   

When Michael Caine portrayed the unnamed spy in the 1960s film versions of The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain, Caine suggested to the producers that they call him Harry Palmer. I thought Michael Caine nailed the character, and I enjoyed the films nearly as much as Deighton's novels.     

Over the years I’ve read nearly all of Deighton’s novels, including his WWII military history novels and his clever alternative history novel, SS-GB, which takes place in a post-WWI Briton that the Nazis have defeated and now occupy. 

Deighton, today at 96, must be pleased that Grove Atlantic is reissuing his novels. I have copies of the reissued The Ipcress Files, Funeral in Berlin, and SS-GB, three of my favorite Deighton thrillers, and I recently reread them. I believe they hold up nicely after all these years. 

And this August Grove Atlantic will reissue Deighton’s Yesterday's Spy, Billion Dollar Brain, An Expensive Place to Die and Spy Story. 

Grove Atlantic offers descriptions of the upcoming reissued thrillers: 

Steve Champion as a flamboyant businessman, former leader of an anti-Nazi network in the Second World War and a man surrounded by mysteries. There are rumors he is still in the spying business. The Department is nervous, so Champion’s oldest wartime ally is sent to the South of France to investigate. 

It’s time to re-open the file on Yesterday’s Spy ($17 paperback, 224 pages; ISBN: 978-0-8021-6325-7; Aug. 12, 2025), even if that could mean killing an old friend.

Billion Dollar Brain ($17 paperback; 304 pages; ISBN: 978-0-8021-6327-1; Aug. 12, 2025) is a classic spy thriller of lethal computer-age intrigue and a maniac’s private cold war, featuring the unnamed narrator from The IPCRESS File. He travels from the bone-freezing winter of Helsinki, Riga and Leningrad to the stifling heat of Texas, and soon finds himself tangling with enemies on both sides of the Iron Curtain.   

In An Expensive Place To Die ($17 paperback; 240 pages; ISBN: 978-0-8021-6323-3; Aug. 12, 2025), an unnamed spy is sent to Paris to deliver a file of nuclear secrets to a French doctor but soon finds himself sucked into a twilight world of sex, blackmail and hidden motive, where friend and enemy become indistinguishable.  

After six weeks in a nuclear submarine gathering computer data on Soviet activity, the mysterious, bespectacled spy known as Patrick Armstrong is desperate to return home in Spy Story ($17 paperback; 224 pages; ISBN: 978-0-8021-6319-6; Aug. 12, 2025). But when he arrives at his London flat, it appears to be occupied by someone who looks just like him—and he finds himself propelled into the heart of a conspiracy stretching from the remote Scottish Highlands to the Arctic ice. 

Grove Atlantic also offers a brief bio of Len Deighton (seen in the above photo from the 1960s): 

At the Royal College of Art his teachers called him subversive, but it was his first novel — The Ipcress File — that sealed his reputation as an iconoclast. Ian Fleming called it his “Book of the Year.” Through humor, characters with real depth, and impeccable research, Len Deighton’s original voice revolutionized the modern spy thriller. 

The enormous success of The Ipcress File and the subsequent Harry Palmer spy films made Michael Caine an international star. Bomber (perhaps his greatest novel) calmly and powerfully narrates the horror of war. SS-GB, a dystopian alternative history of the Nazi occupation of Britain, challenges us to think about how we relate to authoritarian government. 

Deighton is best remembered for Cold War spy novels with defiant, working-class heroes, including the famed Bernard Sampson series and the Pat Armstrong Quartet. Deighton’s work has entered the zeitgeist and that influence can be seen today from Motörhead’s album “Bomber,” to Austin Powers’ glasses, to references to his work in the films of Quentin Tarantino.

Born in 1929, Deighton is acclaimed as not just one of the greatest thriller writers of the 20th Century but a military historian, cookery writer, and graphic artist. His extraordinary career spanned four decades, selling over 30 million books, being published in 20 languages, and never falling out of print. 

My Crime Fiction: 'Cabahug'

The story below is another chapter from my crime novel Olongapo, which I hope to soon publish. 

The story originally appeared in American Crime Magazine. 

You can read the previously posted chapters via the links below: 

Cabahug 

By Paul Davis 

Joselito Cabahug was a scrawny Filipino criminal known to his cohorts as Duling, the Tagalog word for crossed-eyed. But no one dared to call him that to his face, as Cabahug was short-tempered and prone to violence when insulted or angered. 

He was born in Olongapo's Barrio Barreto in the Philippines with his eyes crossed. His poor family were unable to provide medical help for him. Despite his small stature, Cabahug grew up mean and tough and he struck out at anyone who dared to ridicule or tease him about his eyes. In time, his perpetually angry, twisted face and crossed eyes took on a truly sinister look that struck fear into people.   

Cabahug joined a youth street gang in Olongapo in the early 1960s and committed numerous petty crimes, eventually graduating to armed robbery. Due to his frightening looks and his penchant for violence, he rose to be the leader of the teenage gang. He was arrested and sent to prison for armed robbery, and his reputation grew substantially after he performed a contract murder in the prison for Homobono Catacutan. 

The Olongapo gang leader was impressed with the fearless and frightening young thug, and he used bribery to get Cabahug released from prison. Catacutan recruited him and used him as an enforcer for his "shabu" crystal meth business. Catacutan’s customers and rivals, and even the police, were hesitant to confront the gang leader when he had the demented and evil-looking Cabahug at his side.      

Cabahug often backed up the gang’s chief enforcer, Tibayan. The two ferocious killers were ordered by Catacutan to hand out beatings and to assassinate rivals, cheats and police informers. 

Cabahug became legendary in Olongapo when he hunted down two of Catacutan’s shabu dealers who were cheating the gang leader. Cabahug captured the two drug dealers and took them aboard a boat. At sea, he tortured the two until they gave up the whereabouts of their stash of money and drugs. He then stabbed them to death and tossed them overboard. The two mutilated bodies late washed ashore, and the word went out to the underground that Cabahug brutally murdered them. 

Sometime later, Cabahug murdered a bar girl who was suspected of being a police informer. Like the two cheating drug dealers, Cabahug tortured the young woman until she admitted she was talking to the police. Her ravaged body was dumped in front of a police station. 

Cabahug was high on Lieutenant Colonel Rosa’s list of criminals he wanted to bring to justice, but he was unable to get anyone to testify against the notorious killer.          

Bulan befriended Cabahug when he worked as a clerk in Catacutan’s grocery store. Cabahug, who had no true friends, appreciated that Bulan was not frightened of his looks and violent reputation, and the clerk appeared to genuinely like him. Bulan, thinking ahead, wanted the notorious killer on his side when he eventually made his move to take over the gang from Catacutan. Bulan promoted Cabahug after Catacutan was murdered. Bulan from then on had his own loyal bodyguard and killer. He later ordered Cabahug to kill his partner, Tibayan. 

Some years later, Bulan sat in the Ritz, suffering from the gunshot wounds from Salvatore Lorino, the American sailor from the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, had inflicted on him. Bulan swore he would get revenge. He finally made up his mind on a course of action. He called over Cabahug and ordered him to find and kill the American sailor named Lorino.     

The following evening, as Lorino was in a hotel room with Jade, there was a knock on the door. Jade answered the door as Lorino lay in bed smoking a cigarette. Cabahug knocked Jade to the floor and rushed in. Thanks to his South Philly hoodlum instincts and criminal experience, Lorino saw Cabahug running in and he dove from the bed as Cabahug drove his Butterfly knife into the bed sheets. 

Lorino was quickly on his feet and grabbed the bedside lamp and smashed it against Cabahug’s head. Lorino was taken aback at the sight of the crazed, crossed-eyed intruder as Cabahug leaped from the bed, his knife in hand. Lorino backed into a wall and leveled a hard kick into Cabahug’s chest as the enforcer rushed in. Cabahug fell back on the bed and Lorino jumped on top of him and knocked the knife from Cabahug’s hand. Lorino brought down a slew of punches to Cabahug’s face. Lorino reared back his right hand and delivered a hard punch that stunned Cabahug for a moment. As Lorino stood up and took a breath, Cabahug recovered, leaped from the bed and ran out the door.         

Later that evening, Cabahug reported to Bulan that he failed to murder Lorino. Bulan looked at Cabahug’s bruised face and dared not reproach his chief enforcer. He simply told Cabahug to try again.    

At the Americano, Lorino told Walker about the attack. He told Walker that he and Jade were fine, although the girl was shaken. When Lorino mentioned that the attacker was crossed-eyed, Walker said, “Cabahug.” 

“Who?” 

“Joselito Cabahug, a thug who works for Bulan,” Walker said. “He’s a cross-eyed, crazy-looking bastard.”    

“I hit the motherfucker so hard, I think I might have uncrossed his eyes,” Lorino told Walker. “But he still got up and ran out the door.” 

Walker left the bar and walked over to Camama’s hotel to pass on to the Old Huk what Lorino told him about the murder attempt. The elderly gang leader had already been informed about the incident by one of his hotel clerks. Camama was furious that Bulan would dare to send the crazy killer Cabahug to his hotel to murder one of his American shabu dealers. Camama told Walker to have Duke Valle shadow Lorino for his protection. Lorino was a good earner for the Camama gang, and the Old Huk didn’t want anything to happen to him.  

The Old Huk turned to Sicat after Walker left and told his lieutenant to retaliate. Sicat nodded. Sicat and Coco Labrador, another veteran killer, roamed Olongapo hunting for Cabahug, but he appeared to go underground. But there were other targets, and the Old Huk approved of Sicat’s idea. 

Benigno Del Rosario was dapper, handsome and loquacious. He rose from being a waiter and bartender to become the Ritz’s popular manager. Del Rosario was in the Ritz working when one of his waiters told him that one of the bar girls was outside of the bar throwing up in the street. A hands-on manager, Del Rosario went outside to investigate. 

As Del Rosario stepped outside, Sicat and Labrador opened up on the bar manager and shot him multiple times. Del Rosario collapsed and died instantly. Sicat and Labrador ran down the street and leaped into a jeepney, which sped off.

Lieutenant Colonel Cesar Rosa came on the scene of the murder in front of the Ritz. Shooting people down in public in front of bars that drew in American sailors and their valued dollars was bad for Olongapo. Rosa and his officers interrogated witnesses. A bartender informed Rosa that a waiter had told Del Rosario that one of the bar girls was sick outside of the bar, which caused the manger to venture outside where he was shot and killed.

Rosa questioned the waiter, who at first denied he told Del Rosario anything. But when the waiter was dragged to the police station and harshly questioned, he confessed that Coco Labrador had threatened his family if he didn’t set up the bar manager. Rosa and his men sought out Labrador and arrested him at the Americano bar. At the police station, Labrador denied threatening the waiter and denied knowing anything about the murder. He also refused to implicate his boss, Sicat or the Old Huk. 

After Rosa left the interrogation room to urinate, Labrador punched the police officer guarding him. He took the officer’s sidearm and ran out of the interrogation room. Rosa encountered Labrador in the hall as he was fleeing, and Rosa pulled his sidearm from its holster and shot Labrador dead.      

Lorino spent the evening with Jade at the Americano. When the bar closed, Lorino and Jade left the bar and headed towards the hotel next door. Cabahug leaped from a jeepney and began firing at Lorino. Lorino pushed Jade to the ground and fell on top of her. Duke Valle came out of the shadows and shot Cabahug twice in the head. Valle placed the barrel of his gun under his nose and sniffed it like he saw so many cowboys do in the movies.          

When Bulan heard the news of Cabahug’s death, he gripped his knee in pain and cursed his luck. He did not grieve for Cabahug. Bulan would have to think of another way to pay the American sailor back. 

© 2025 Paul Davis 

Note: You can read the previously posted chapters via the link below: 

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Butterfly'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Salvatore Lorino'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: Join The Navy And See Olongapo

Paul Davis On Crime: Boots On The Ground

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The 30-Day Detail'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Cat Street'

Paul Davis On Crime: Chapter 12: On Yankee Station

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The Cherry Boy'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The Hit'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: Welcome To Japan, Davis-San

Paul Davis On Crime: A Look Back At Life Aboard An Aircraft Carrier During The Vietnam War: 'The Compartment Cleaner'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Murder By Fire'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Admiral McCain'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Hit The Head'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'A Night At The Americano'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Missing Muster'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Reeinald Bulan' 

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The Barracks Thief'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The City of Bizarre Happenings'

Philadelphia Man Admits To Gunpoint Robberies Of Three City Stores in Three Days

 The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia released the information below last week:

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Tyree Hatch, aka “Jamal Morris” and “Omar Reed,” 48, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty before United States District Judge Gail A. Weilheimer this week on three counts of robbery which interferes with interstate commerce (Hobbs Act robbery), three counts of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

In January of this year, the defendant was charged by indictment with those offenses, arising from three armed robberies of Northeast Philadelphia businesses in November 2024.

As detailed in court documents and admitted to by the defendant, on November 23, 2024, at approximately 1:12 p.m., he entered a convenience store located on the 6700 block of Castor Avenue, made conversation with an employee (Victim 1), then brandished his firearm. The defendant placed the gun into Victim 1’s back and walked him to the cash register. Hatch then grabbed money, Victim 1’s iPhone, and boxes of Newport cigarettes and fled the scene. Video recovered after the robbery showed the defendant entering a black Ford Explorer with PA tags.

On November 24, 2024, at approximately 9 p.m., the defendant entered a smoke shop located on the 2000 block of Cottman Avenue, confronted an employee (Victim 2) and demanded money from the register. During the interaction, Hatch pulled out a firearm, and, believing the gun was fake, Victim 2 tried to disarm him. The gun went off during the struggle and Victim 2 suffered a gunshot wound to the shin. Hatch then fled the store with cash from the register. Video recovered after the robbery showed the defendant driving the same black Ford Explorer as the day prior.

On November 25, 2024, at approximately 3:45 p.m., officers with the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) were dispatched to a smoke and vape shop located on the 7100 block of Castor Avenue, in response to a robbery in progress. Upon their arrival, an employee (Victim 3) informed them that the armed robber had taken cash, an iPhone, a carton of Newport cigarettes, and boxes of cigars.

Aware of the previous two robberies, PPD officers surveyed the area for the black Ford Explorer and found it parked outside the defendant’s residence. Hatch was then seen entering the home, and a barricade was declared. The defendant soon exited the residence and was placed under arrest.

Hatch is scheduled to be sentenced on November 3 and faces a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment and a mandatory minimum sentence of 24 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the Philadelphia Police Department and the FBI Philadelphia Violent Crimes Task Force and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kwambina Coker and Linwood C. Wright Jr.

Member Of Frankford-Based Drug Gang Sentenced To 75 Years In Prison For Killing Philadelphia Police Sergeant James O’Connor, Kaseem Rogers, Tyrone Tyree, And Dontae Walker, And Additional Drug, Gun, And Violent Crimes

 The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia released the below information:

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Hassan Elliott, aka “Haz” (seen in the above mug shot), 26, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Juan R. Sánchez to 900 months in prison, five years of supervised release, and a special assessment of $2,500 for the fatal shootings of Philadelphia Police Sergeant James O’Connor, Kaseem Rogers, Tyrone Tyree, and Dontae Walker, and numerous other crimes arising from the defendant’s membership in a violent drug trafficking organization known by several names, including “SG1700” and “L-Block,” which operated in the Frankford section of Northeast Philadelphia.

Elliott, along with Khalif Sears, aka “Leaf” and “Lil Leaf,” 23, Kelvin Jimenez, aka “Nip,” 34, and Dominique Parker, aka “Dom,” 34, all of Philadelphia, were charged in March 2023 by superseding indictment with conspiracy to engage in a racketeer influenced corrupt organization (RICO), violent crimes in aid of racketeering, to include murder, stemming from the killings of victims Rogers, Walker, Tyree, and Sergeant O’Connor, and numerous related offenses.

Elliott and Sears pleaded guilty this January to RICO conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracy, causing the death of Sergeant O’Connor by firearm, and multiple drug, gun, and violent offenses.

Jimenez and Parker were convicted at trial in March of all charges against them, including racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracy, maintaining a drug-involved premises, assaults in aid of racketeering, firearms offenses, and related crimes. Jimenez was also convicted of the murder of Kaseem Rogers, and Parker of the murder of Dontae Walker.

On March 13, 2020, Elliott, Sears, and others previously indicted were inside a stash house on the 1600 block of Bridge Street, when Sergeant O’Connor (seen in the above photo) and other members of the Philadelphia Police Department SWAT team arrived with an arrest warrant for Elliott for the March 2019 murder of Tyrone Tyree. As Sergeant O’Connor and his fellow officers ascended the staircase to the second floor of the residence and repeatedly announced their presence, Elliott fired a semiautomatic assault rifle 16 times, striking and killing Sergeant O’Connor.

Sears, Parker, and Jimenez will be sentenced at a later date.

“Hassan Elliott murdered a police officer who was protecting and serving his community,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “Unfortunately, Philadelphia Police Department Sergeant James O’Connor is only one of many victims of SG1700’s rampage of violence. The punishment Mr. Elliott received today is justice for these outrageous crimes, and our efforts — past, present, and future — to prosecute anyone who harms law enforcement will forever honor the sacrifice of Sergeant O’Connor.”

“Hassan Elliott is now facing justice for the murder of Sergeant O’Connor and his other victims,” said Eric DeGree, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Philadelphia Field Division. “Criminal gang members can’t hide from the mayhem they inflict, especially when their violence turns against the law enforcement officers who protect our communities. Thanks to the diligent and meticulous work in partnership with the Philadelphia Police Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office, Elliott and those who enabled him are being held accountable for these heinous crimes.”

The case was investigated by the ATF and the Philadelphia Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ashley Martin, Christopher Diviny, and Lauren Stram.

The Alto Knights - Why Did The De Niro Mob Movie Bomb?

Broad & Liberty ran my piece on The Alto Knights film. 

You can read the piece via the below link or the below text:

Paul Davis: The Alto Knights — Why did the DeNiro mob movie bomb?

I recently watched The Alto Knights on HBO. As a fan of mob movies, from Jimmy Cagney’s 1931 The Public Enemy to Martin Scorsese’s 2019 The Irishman, I had hoped that The Alto Knights would be as interesting and entertaining as the classic mob movies that preceded it.   

But I was disappointed with the film. 

Alto Knights was directed by Barry Levinson, a veteran director who also helmed Bugsy, a good mob movie. The Alto Knights was written by Nick Pileggi, who wrote Martin Scorsese’s classic mob films Goodfellas and Casino, and the film starred Robert De Niro, who portrayed classic gangsters in The Godfather Part II, Goodfellas and other fine organized crime films. 

So why did the film bomb? 

To begin with, in my view, the stunt casting of Robert De Niro portraying both Cosa Nostra bosses Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, the successors of Salvatore “Charlie Lucky” Luciano’s crime family after he was deported to Italy. 

Perhaps another reason is due to Robert De Niro’s “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” I know a good number of people who refuse to watch De Niro’s films because of his crude, insulting and often dumb comments about President Trump. 

I don’t agree. We should separate the artist from the person, and De Niro’s personal opinions and his acting are two distinctly different things.  

But I must admit that some years ago, as a Navy veteran who served on an aircraft carrier during the Viet Nam War, I refused to watch Jane Fonda’s films because of her support of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Communists. I believe her visit to North Vietnam and her posing with an anti-aircraft battery crew that had shot down many aircraft carrier pilots, including John McCain, was traitorous. 

But today I agree with conductor Arturo Toscanini, who reportedly said of composer Richard Strauss, “For Strauss the composer, I take off my hat. For Strauss the man, I put it back on.”   

Robert De Niro is a fine actor, but he should have portrayed only Frank Costello. Barry Levinson should have cast Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, or some other fine actor to play Vito Genovese. Robert De Niro and the other fine actor would have had several sit-down scenes with each other. They could have faced off like Robert De Niro and Al Pacino did in Michael Mann’s Heat. 

Another reason the film bombed was the awful title. The Alto Knights (named after a mob social club in New York) sounds more like a Knights of the Round Table movie than a mob movie. The working title was Wise Guys, the title of Pileggi’s true crime book about gangster Henry Hill, which was turned into Scorsese’s Goodfellas. 

I would have called the film The Prime Minister of Crime, which was what Frank Costello, a power broker and fixer for his Cosa Nostra crime family, was called.   

The rivalry between Costello, the racketeer and Genovese, the gangster, makes for good drama. Frank Costello’s dramatic appearance before a Congressional committee is well portrayed, as were the events of the Apalachin mob meeting in up-state New York. The aborted major mob meeting was filmed for both drama and comedy as we see the well-dressed mob bosses flee through the woods to escape the police. 

I also liked the absurd and unbelievable but true contentious court case involving Genovese and his wife, portrayed well by Katherine Narducci. I also liked Debra Messing as Frank Costello’s wife. And I especially liked Michael Rispoli as Albert Anastasia, known as “The Lord High Executioner,” who was the head of the mob’s “Murder, Inc” assassination crew. 

Cosmo Jarvis was also very good as Vincent “The Chin” Gigante, the former boxer who was ordered to shoot and kill Costello by Genevese. (Gigante later became the powerful boss of the Genovese crime family and walked around in pajamas, slippers and a robe to faint madness to avoid being arrested).  

The film opens with Gigante shooting Frank Costello in the head in the lobby of Costello’s apartment building. But Costello survived the assassination attempt and subsequently retired from mob life.   

The film captures the right look of the late 1950s, and the wardrobes and sets are spot on. Unfortunately, the film lacks the fast pace of Goodfellas and Casino, and The Alto Knights drags on at times. 

Being half-Italian and raised Italian in South Philly, the hub of the Philadelphia Cosa Nosta organized crime family, I was aware of Cosa Nostra culture from an early age. I lived a few blocks from then-mob boss Angelo Bruno. And I grew up with the sons and nephews of Cosa Nostra mobsters, some of whom also became mobsters themselves. 

As a writer, I’ve covered organized crime for many years, and I’ve interviewed a good number of current and former mobsters, such as former Philadelphia mob boss Ralph Natale, former Philadelphia mob underboss Philip Leonetti, and former New York Colombo captain Michael Franzese. 

As a student of Cosa Nostra history I believe The Alto Knights is historically accurate for the most part. Sadly, the film did not perform as well as The Godfather films or Goodfellas and Casino. 

The film bombed, but for those who are interested in Cosa Nostra history, The Alto Knights, for all of its flaws, is still worth watching.    

Paul Davis, a Philadelphia writer and frequent contributor to Broad + Liberty, also contributes to Counterterrorism magazine and writes their online Threatcon column. He also writes an online Crime Beat column. He can be reached at pauldavisoncrime.com  

My Crime Fiction: 'Reeinald Bulan'

The story below is Chapter 11 in my novel Olongapo, which I hope to soon publish. 

You can read the other posted chapters via the links at the bottom. 

The story originally appeared American Crime Magazine.   

Reeinald Bulan

 By Paul Davis 

The son of an honest and hard worker in a restaurant in Olongapo in the Philippines, Reeinald Bulan grew up in a large, happy family. 

Reeinald Bulan, however, was the only member of the family not happy with his lot. The timid, chubby, shaggy-haired boy was bullied unmercifully in school and on the streets of Olongapo. The berated, bruised and battered teenager dreamed of becoming a powerful and feared crime boss. Then, he dreamed, he would take revenge against those who tormented him. 

Bulan scoffed at his father’s work ethic and the long, hard hours he put in at the restaurant, thinking he was a fool. Instead, Bulan admired Homobono Catacutan, an elderly and gaunt criminal with a scary knife scar across his right cheek and nose. Catacutan owned the grocery store where Bulan worked as a clerk in the late 1960s. 

To Bulan, Catacutan didn’t appear to work at all. He mostly sat in a chair, drank San Miguel beer, smoked cigarettes and gave orders to his underlings. Bulan enjoyed bringing Catacutan his beer and cigarettes, and he enjoyed listening to the gang leader snap orders to his gang members. 

The Olongapo gang leader liked Bulan’s apparent cleverness as well as his subservient and slavish attitude towards the boss. Catacutan took Bulan under his wing and trained him to handle the legitimate business books as well as the illegitimate books for his criminal enterprises. 

Girls were never much interested in Bulan as a teen, but in his mid-20s he was an assistant to Catacutan, and due to that exalted role, he was able to have nearly every girl he desired. Catacutan paid him well and Bulan lived lavishly and enjoyed the night life of Olongapo with beautiful girls at his side. He moved out of his father’s modest home and took the apartment above the grocery. He paid good money to furnish the apartment well and he entertained women and Catacutan’s gang members in the apartment, suppling food, alcohol and drugs. 

Thanks to his lavish parties and his ingratiating manner towards his fellow criminals, Bulan became popular with the drug dealers, enforcers, and thieves in the gang. Catacutan did not see Bulan’s budding popularity as a threat. Rather, he was proud of Bulan. He saw Bulan as an up and comer in his criminal enterprises. He did not, however, see Bulan as a future gang leader, as he thought the portly young man was physically weak and lacked the sort of command presence that crime bosses in Olongapo needed to thrive and survive.    

The child-less Catacutan believed that he needed an heir who had brains like Bulan but also had the toughness of Ernesto Tibayan, his short, squat and not-to-bright chief enforcer. Catacutan wanted to train someone to step up as the gang leader in the event that he retired, went to prison or died. Catacutan regretted that he did not have anyone in his gang who had both skill sets needed to take over his criminal empire.    

Catacutan’s criminal empire included two hidden labs that produced shabu and a small army of dealers selling the crystal meth in Olongapo. He also employed several tough, violent men to act as enforcers. His dealers sold shabu in his bar, the Ritz, and Catacutan used his grocery store as a front to sell stolen items from the American naval base on the black market. Catacutan also sponsored and bankrolled several criminal gangs who pulled heists, kidnappings and other profitable criminal acts. 

In the mid-1960s there were several gangs selling shabu and committing other crimes, but Catacutan’s only true competitor was the Old Huk, whom Catacutan hated and feared. On several occasions, the Old Huk’s men came into conflict with Catacutan’s men. But both gang leaders were wise enough to cease the hostilities before it came to an all-out war between the two major criminal gangs. Open gang warfare in Olongapo would bring the police out in force and both businesses would suffer.    

Although he acted like an amiable toady, Bulan was secretly ambitious. He still harbored an ambition to become a crime boss, but he kept that plan to himself. He knew that Catacutan saw him as only a glorified clerk, albeit a criminal one.

So when Tibayan was ordered by Catacutan to murder a dealer whom the crime boss discovered was cheating him, Bulan asked Tibayan if he could come along and do the murder. Tibayan, who liked Bulan, agreed.

Tibayan and Bulan entered the Ritz and saw the dealer sitting at one of the tables. Tibayan walked past the dealer and motioned for him to follow him and Bulan into the men’s room. The dealer, who was soaring high on shabu, got up quickly and followed the two other men into the rest room. Once a customer in the men’s room left and the men had the room to themselves, Tibayan grabbed the dealer’s arms and held him tight. Bulan pulled out a knife and plunged it into the dealer’ midsection. The dealer struggled as Bulan stabbed him several more times.   As Tibayan dropped the dealer to the floor, Bulan laughed uncontrollably.

Tibayan told Bulan to stop laughing, calling him a gago in Tagalog. He told the young fool to wash the blood from his hands and arms. 

Tibayan reported to Catacutan that Bulan murdered the dealer, swiftly and without hesitation, but the experienced enforcer was concerned about Bulan’s odd reaction to the murder. Laughing hysterically after killing someone was peculiar and to Tibayan, a professional killer, it constituted unprofessional behavior.

Still, Catacutan was proud of Bulan for committing the murder and he gave his clerk a cash bonus. From then on, Bulan became Catacutan’s chief lieutenant.  

Bulan was now involved in all aspects of the gang’s criminal activities and Catacutan relied on Bulan’s advice.           

Bulan was happy to finally be accepted in the gang as the boss’ lieutenant, but he was in a hurry to be the boss, and he didn’t think Catacutan would retire or die anytime soon. To hedge his bets, Bulan became a police informant, providing an Olongapo police officer with information about Catacutan’s criminal activities. He hoped that the police officer would arrest Catacutan and send him to prison, opening the way for Bulan to become the boss. He also thought that it was good to have a serious professional relationship with a police officer. 

Another police officer who was on Catacutan’s payroll discovered that Bulan was an informant, and he reported this fact to the old gang leader. Catacutan was furious as well as hurt, as he had treated Bulan like a son. Catacutan lured Bulan to the back of his grocery store where he planned to have his protégé murdered. Catacutan brought along Ernesto Tibayan and he ordered the enforcer to shoot and kill Bulan. 

Thankfully for Bulan, Tibayan turned his gun on Catacutan, shooting him in the head. Tibayan told the relived and laughing Bulan that he felt Catacutan had outlived his usefulness. He said the two of them should work together and take over Catacutan’s gang and both the old gangster’s legal and illegal businesses.

Bulan quickly bought out the legitimate businesses from Catacutan’s widow. The widow, afraid that she too would be murdered, sold the bar, the grocery store and other property to Bulan at a very reasonable price. 

With Bulan’s sharp business mind and Tibayan’s fearsome reputation, the two took over the gang without complaint from the criminal underlings. One of Bulan’s first acts as the boss was to go after his chief tormentor when he was a teenager.

Rodrigo Torres went to work on the U.S. Navy’s Subic Bay naval base as a welder after he left school. Married with two young children, Torres was no longer a bullying adolescent. He had matured and was loved by his family and well-liked by his friends and co-workers on the naval base. 

Bulan assigned two of his enforcers to find out where his old classmate lived and worked. When they reported back to Bulan that Torres worked at the naval base and lived in a small home with his family, he ordered the two men to cut him down with bolo knives. Preferably, Bulan said, on a public street in front of his family to humiliate him before killing him. 

A few days later, as Torres was leaving the naval base’s gate, his young wife greeted him. The two enforcers pulled out their long bolo knives and began to attack him. The crowd in front of the gate dispersed in fear and horror from the brutal attack as Torres’ wife tried to stop the bolo-wielding killers. One of the enforcers kicked the woman hard and she fell to the ground. Two U.S. Marines at the gate came running out of the base, their M-16 rifles pointed at the killers. The two enforcers saw the Marines coming towards them and they abandoned the bloody body on the ground and took off running. 

The two Marines, unsure if they had the proper authority, did not fire at the fleeing killers. They knelt at the hacked and bloodied body, and they attempted to give Torres first aid, but he was dead. His wife stood over her husband, crying and screaming, as the Olongapo police came on the scene.   

The two enforcers reported proudly to Bulan how they butchered Torres in front of his wife and the other Filipino base workers. They neglected to tell Bulan that they ran in fear from the American Marines. Bulan was pleased. 

Another of Bulan’s initial acts was to eliminate one of the gang’s smaller competitors. Catacutan allowed Manny Bautista and his small gang to operate in Olongapo as he saw no threat or true competition from them. Catacutan also liked Bautista. But Bulan wanted to show his ruthlessness. He had Tibayan and two enforcers attack the gang’s leader in his home in front of his wife and children. Tibayan and his men entered Bautista’s home early one morning and they beat both him and his wife severely as the children cried and huddled in a corner. 

After the vicious beating, Tibayan took out his gun and shot Bautista in the head and killed him. He grabbed Bautista’s wife by her hair and lifted her up to her feet. Tibayan told her that she must leave Olongapo, or they would be back to murder her and her children. She agreed to leave Olongapo.            

The three murders in succession; Catacutan, Torres, and Bautista, cemented Bulan’s reputation as a gangster to be feared. Even the Old Huk, who in his time murdered far more than three men, took notice of the up-and-coming gang leader.

After a year of successfully running the gang’s criminal enterprises, Bulan felt he no longer needed Tibayan. Bulan now had under him other far cheaper men for muscle. So he ordered one of those cheaper killers to murder Tibayan.

Even with the Old Huk as a stern competitor, business and life was good for Bulan.

Then he met Salvatore Lorino.

© 2025 Paul Davis 

Note: You can read the other posted chapters via the below links:

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Butterfly'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Salvatore Lorino'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: The Old Huk

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: Join The Navy And See Olongapo

Paul Davis On Crime: Boots On The Ground

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The 30-Day Detail'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Cat Street'

Paul Davis On Crime: Chapter 12: On Yankee Station

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The Cherry Boy'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The Hit'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: Welcome To Japan, Davis-San

Paul Davis On Crime: A Look Back At Life Aboard An Aircraft Carrier During The Vietnam War: 'The Compartment Cleaner'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Murder By Fire'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Admiral McCain'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Hit The Head'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'A Night At The Americano'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Missing Muster' 

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The Barracks Thief'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The City of Bizarre Happenings'

On This Day In History American Writer Ernest Hemingway Was Born

As History.com notes, the late, great American writer Ernest Hemingway was born on this day. 

On this day in 1899, Ernest Miller Hemingway, author of such novels as “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and “The Old Man and the Sea,” is born in Oak Park, Illinois. The influential American literary icon became known for his straightforward prose and use of understatement. Hemingway, who tackled topics such as bullfighting and war in his work, also became famous for his own macho, hard-drinking persona. 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link: 

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ernest-hemingway-is-born?cmpid=email-hist-tdih-2017-0721-07212017&om_rid=de5e4076c942a595dbda53f758321d197499484f6d117f61b6ac5c08e0d6f0aa&om_mid=215102284&kx_EmailCampaignID=13846&kx_EmailCampaignName=email-hist-tdih-2017-0721-07212017&kx_EmailRecipientID=de5e4076c942a595dbda53f758321d197499484f6d117f61b6ac5c08e0d6f0aa  

You can also read my Philadelphia Inquirer review of Hemingway’s Letters below: 

And you can also read my Washington Times review of Hemingway at War via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2017/01/my-washington-times-review-of-hemingway.html