Rick Porrello - Bombs, Bullets, and Bribes: The True Story of Notorious Jewish Mobster Alex Shondor Birns

Bombs, Bullets, and Bribes

The True Story of
Notorious Jewish Mobster
Alex "Shondor" Birns

Rick Porrello

Next Hat Press
P.O. Box 23
Novelty, OH 44072

www.rickporrello.com

Copyright 2020 Rick Porrello

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper or broadcast.

Cover and interior design by JD&J Design and Rick Porrello

Library of Congress Control Number:2019909279

Publisher's Cataloging-In-Publication Data
(Prepared by The Donohue Group, Inc.)

Names: Porrello, Rick, author.
Title: Bombs, bullets, and bribes : the true story of notorious Jewish mobster Alex Shondor Birns / Rick Porrello.
Description: First edition. | Novelty, OH : Next Hat Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: ISBN 9780966250848 | ISBN 9780966250831 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Birns, Alex, 1907-1975. | Gangsters--United States--Biography. | Jewish criminalsUnited States--Biography. | Organized crimeUnited States-History--20th century. | LCGFT: Biographies.
Classification: LCC HV6248.B565 P67 2019 (print) | LCC HV6248.B565 (ebook) | DDC 364.106092--dc23

Second Edition

Also by Rick Porrello

To Kill the Irishman
The War that Crippled the Mafia
(Next Hat Press, 1998)

The story of bold Irish-American racketeer Danny Greene, who took on the Mafia in a 1970s bombing war. The book was adapted for the 2011 motion picture Kill the Irishman, directed by Jonathan Hensleigh and costarring Ray Stevenson, Vincent D'Onofrio, Val Kilmer, and Christopher Walken.

Superthief
A Master Burglar, the Mafia
and the Biggest Bank Heist in US History
(Next Hat Press, 2005)

A raw and candid accounting of burglar and Mafia associate Phil Christopher's life, with focus on the 1972 United California Bank heist. As the biggest in US history, the UCB burglary has been featured in documentaries on Court TV and the Discovery Channel. Superthief is a second-place true crime winner in ForeWord Magazine's 2005 Book of the Year Awards. It is currently in development for film.

The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia
Corn Sugar and Blood
(Barricade Books, 1995)

This is the author's first book, which was conceived out of curiosity about the Prohibition-era killings of his grandfather and three uncles, Mafia leaders who fought the powerful Lonardo family for control of corn sugar, a lucrative bootleg ingredient. Angelo "Big Ange" Lonardo avenges his father's murder and survives the ruthless battles to become a mob boss. Facing a life sentence, he causes havoc in the underworld when he agrees to testify against his associates and becomes the highest-ranking Mafia turncoat in US history.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This is a true story. Occasionally I formulated conclusions based on facts. Quotes were usually taken from the source material. On occasion I crafted dialogue based on a documented summary. Rarely, I created a quote based on theory supported by related facts. Also on rare occasion, I edited quotes for clarity or adjusted the timelines of conversations or other events to help form a cohesive story. End-notes provide additional information.

Rick Porrello
July 2019

I dedicate this book to law enforcement officers everywherethose men and women who face danger daily in their commitment to protect and serve community or country.

Acknowledgements

After working on this project for ten years, I thank the following individuals and organizations, and those persons who wish to remain anonymous, for their contributions and assistance.

Tom Armelli; Sandy August; Bruce Ballash; Phil Barragate; William C. Barrow; Avi Bash; Mike Baumiller; Beverly Beuck; Gina Drake Busch; Chuck Cabot; the Call and Post; Bob Cermak: Judith Cetina; Cleveland Magazine; the Cleveland, Ohio Police Department; the Cleveland Plain Dealer; the Cleveland Police Museum; the Cleveland Public Library; the Cuyahoga County Archives; Kenny Davis; Russell Davis; Tom Doyle; Gary Eisner; Sr. Barbara Eppich, OSU; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Rebecca Ferlotti; Sarah Flinn; Steve Gleydura; Jerry Gold; Marisa August Heidt; Mark Hetrick; the Kent State University; Thomas Kirk, Lisa Lewis; Dick Lillie; Jim Lynsky; John Luskin; the Mary Ferrell Foundation; Chris Mathers; Allan May; John McCaffrey; Brian Meggitt; Ryan Miday; Frank Monastra; Joe Mosbrook; The National Library of Israel, Jerusalem; Dennis Nicklas; the Northeast Ohio Broadcast Archives -John Carroll University; Mike O'Mara; Len Orcino; Richard Peery; the Perrysburg Twp., Ohio Police Department; Dave Piekarczyk; Lejune Pier; Beth Pollack; Rocco Pollutro; Danielle Randolph; Bill Riedthaler; Cherie Rohn; Harry See; Mutawaf Shaheed; Henry Sto-ken; John William Tuohy; the US National Archives and Records Administration; James Willis; Howard Wise

Thank you to the newspaper and magazine reporters, editors, and photographers whose coverage of Shondor Birns, from the early 1900s through the 1970s, helped make this book possible.

Forrest Allen, George J. Barmann, William C. Barnard, Bus Bergen, Powell Caesar, III, W. Joseph Campbell, Louis Clifford, Richard T. Conway, J.C. Daschbach, Van Dillard, Anthony J. DiSantis, Robert Dolgan, Christopher Evans, Joseph M. Gambatese, Pat Garling, Marvin L. Greene, Thomas H. Greer, John Griffith, John F. Hagan, Ann Hellmuth, Robert J. Holmes, Marion Hopwood, Christine J. Jindra, George E. Jordan, Clayton Knipper, Rosemary Kovacs, Ron Kuntz, Frank Kuznik, Jerry Kvet, Brent Larkin, Paul Lilley, Jim Marino, Samuel F. Marshall, Fred McGunagle, Dick McLaughlin, Roy Meyers, W.C. Miller, Fred Mollenkopf, Larry Nighswander, Bernie Noble, Doris O'Donnell, Philip Porter, Ted Princiotto, Robert Quinlan, Karl J. Rauschkolb, Marty Richardson, Michael D. Roberts, Herman Said, Terence Sheridan, Todd Simon, Robert E. Tidyman, Sanford Watzman, Edward P. Whelan, Bob Williams, Brian Williams, Mairy Jayn Woge, Glenn Zahn.

Special thanks to my editor, Laurie Viera Rigler, and my copyeditor, Kim Bookless, for their fine services and enthusiastic support.

Rick Porrello
August, 2019

It's not surprising that no one has written a biography of Shondor Birns. What's astonishing is that no one has composed an opera about this larger-than-life gangster.

John Stark Bellamy II, author of The Killer in the Attic

Contents

PART 1

CHAPTER ONE

A lex Shondor Birns. Public Enemy Number One. The city's most-arrested and least-convicted criminal. He was a respected ally of powerful Jewish and Italian mobsters and a trusted partner of black gambling racketeers. Race, religion, and ethnicity were non-factors. It was loyalty above all by which Shondor measured a man. Or a woman.

Brought here as an infant, Shondor was never naturalized. As a non-citizen, he still loved the United States. It was the only home he knew, and in his own way, he was patriotic.

Life as a powerful racketeer brought him many adversaries. The cops wanted him in prison, immigration officials wanted him deported, and IRS investigators wanted his house, nightclub, car, and cash. Some black gangsters emboldened by the civil rights movement wanted the old white man out of the numbers gambling racket. And then there were attempted coups by rogue associates like Mervin Gold. After decades of beating cases and dodging prison, Shondor's freedom would come down to the loyalty of this former friend and protg.