Johnson called previous proposed legislation discriminatory. I paid Argo $9 and missed all five shots. I've worked nine years at one of the largest single-unit carnivals in the country. Convicted of bank loan schemes in 1986 and never spending a day in prison, the Gregorys befriended Tony Rodham, brother of President Bill Clintons wife, and now presidential candidate, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and were awarded the contracts to operate his carnival, United Shows of America Inc., for President Clintons White House Press Picnic in 1998 and 2000. The FBI and game enforcement experts are available to present seminars to police departments. So while carnival talk did not entice people, it did help the carnies to ensure that the customers never knew about the shady back-end of things, Winter says. I had a black-sheep uncle who did carny work, as well as tons of other transient jobs. The mark will pay $4 for the next play, than $8, then $16, then $32, and so, every time 29 is tallied. That would surely subject them to a false arrest claim and a possible headline about their rip-off (the kids) church festival. A prime example is the Chief Willie Lovett case. In the carnival business, the slang synonymous with rig or trick is gaff; i.e., The game is gaffed. Most operators of gaffed games combine gambling with the gaff in order to pinch as much money as possible from the unwitting customer. For me, it's more of a family tradition, and I also can't stand staying in one place too long. The carnies of Reddit have answered some questions about what lifes really like when theyre on the road.. I remember a lot of late nights when my mom would come home to our trailer late after the fairgrounds had closed. Lists about the strange, fascinating, and horrifying history of circuses and carnivals in America and around the world. The ball crazily bounces and rolls until it comes to rest on one of the 96 holes. Back on topic, I never did carnivals, but I have worked a freak show / side show. Moreover, the practice of carnival owners paying police departments direct is risky and, if unchecked, sets up a dubious relationship which tends to defeat the mission of law enforcement. "I think it's unfair that this industry is singled out," Johnson said. Nix and later Halat were both convicted in the conspiracy that led to the judges death. The last two victims also withdrew money from the ATM. As part of a self-serving marketing ploy, some carnival owners publicize their plans to make donations to local charities, in an attempt to present themselves as compassionate people in order to gain respect and support of citizens they plan to flimflam. I disagree. From murdering authority figures to burning down buildings to creating elaborate extortion schemes, the Dixie Mafia was known far and wide as an anything-for-a-buck gang. While they were initially based out of Biloxi, Mississippi, it didnt take long for their reach to spread all across the South. He would work hard when he worked, but then would go on benders. I worked the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul last year and was averaging over $30 per hour - cash, no taxes - which was phenomenal. [3] As words are assimilated into the culture at large, they lose their function and are replaced by more obscure or insular terms. A continuing criminal enterprise is an example of organized crime. All 12 rims on the North American Midway Entertainment (NAME) carnival midway measured 10.5-by-17 inches on elliptical axes. This complaint and the 2011 complaint to Richardson vanished and both verbal and written statements were never filed in police records. Meanwhile, the Dixie Mafia received hundreds of thousands of dollars during this time. Carnys got nothin! No roots, no stability. Argo was arrested on May 5, 2001 in the City of Taylor, Michigan, for operating fraudulent gambling machines. The Dixie Mafias territory stretched all over the South, from Georgia to Oklahoma. But despite the massive crackdown on former members that followed, many believe that the group is still secretly active today. Here, lets see if my charm works on you, Back on topic, I never did carnivals, but I have worked a freak show / side show. In 2014, a Razzle victim wrote to me about being fleeced for $7,000 at a festival in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. This trickery employs a miscall or miscount known as carnival fairbanking, which is a duplicitous scheme, i.e., the flatty misguides the mark through alluring favoritism as an inducement to draw his prey further into the costly illusion of winning a luxurious prize and enormous cash. Gaffed and chance-based games travel to thousands of carnival lots and fairs each year, raking in billions of dollars in ill-gotten gains with virtual impunity. Theyre Other, therefore theyre not to be trusted. Add to that the fact that their livelihood is specifically and directly derived from extracting money from members of said society, and it shouldnt be surprising that there is some shadiness there. So, I singled out a known scam artist operating one of the basketball games, Kenneth David Argo, a 12-year game agent for Huston. In 2012, a financial advisor from New York City, who read about Razzle in one of my books, wrote to inform me that he was swindled for a total of $11,000 as a result of playing Razzle at a Manhattan street fair. WebThe criminal Justice system acts as a carnival mirror that magnifies the threat of street crime while minimizing the harms from occupational hazards, health care, chemicals and poverty. A report by the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform concluded that United Shows of America, Inc. paid Rodham $240,000 for undocumented consulting services. Youll win it this next time for sure. Carnivals/fairs are a lot of hard work. Its a fundamental divide in human society, and the sedentary city-folks have mostly won. Carnival owners, workers, and agents, known as carnies, who own, manage, or operate these chance-based games and share in the take, are conspiring to promote gambling. So usually, we don't tell townies that we are carnies because they immediately judge us for it. Its only nickel and dime! I hope this article will be an epiphany to naysayers, that this blind uninformed acceptability, enabled by politics and the absence of enforcement, will one day be a big deal. Slick carnival entrepreneurs are business-savvy. A 9-day North Carolina State Fair has grossed $9 million for the state. "For small fairs, it's very hard to even have a carnival," Ostermeier said. Well I dont think theyre shady as much as they simply look like they have come from extremely impoverished environments, or have led very harsh lives given the state of their average dental health, and their overall haggard look. Aww, you almost had it that time! Combined with the fact that fair season didn't line up well with my school's almost year-round schedule, they thought it best to quit the business. A poll conducted by Carnival Biz, an Internet link to carnival business, reveals that over 70 percent of participants feel they are cheated on a carnival midway. Theres something inherently interresting in flirting with the danger of putting your entertainment in the hands of a untrustworthy-looking stranger, and I know more than one of our crew made extra money just off of their image / appearance in that way. (Source: National Council on Problem Gambling NCPG). The various suspect games on NAMEs midway, vividly depicted in Biloxi and Indianapolis, are featured in, This game is not only fraudulent, (deception for money), it is much worse when adults steal from young kids. Bobby Reynolds? Carnival racketeering is endemic throughout the United State and has been for years. Police officers patrolling midways are evidently being paid in whole or in part with carnival money in the form of contracts from the carnival company or carnival sponsor. The total is then added up. Dishonest carnival operators generally keep two sets of books, reporting only that sum of money as necessary, with the remainder unreported, states the Michigan Attorney Generals Carnival Games Manual.This 1987 publication is an important tool for law enforcement officers and prosecuting attorneys. As such, yeah, they do sometimes attract the less than savory folks. He agrees with legislators pushing a law requiring background checks but wants to make sure the carnival industry has input, specifically regarding who will pay for the checks. Pete Halat, Kirksey McCord Nixs former lawyer who once served as the mayor of Biloxi. Now, the mark plays for another $2 and the carny adds up the marbles in a slow accurate manner which will always translate to either no yards or 29 which is the doubling-up number on the chart and often hit because of the defeating number arrangement on the marble board. Some of them love their job;some dislike it and do it to get by. Rides at America's carnivals are operated by seasonal, migrant workers who can work long, The flatty allowed this gentleman to leave and return with money retrieved from an ATM several times. Twenty-four others, mostly women and children, had stayed behind at the campsite. In the subsequent years, three suspects (not including Nix), suffered mysterious deaths that may have been caused by Pusser. I typed out my detailed fraud/gambling complaint for Richardson and provided him with a copy of the Michigan Carnival Games Manual. Also zeroed in as targets, are members of the U.S. military. Every carnival game designed has the potential to be rigged. There was no chance they would win at some of the games, said Keteyian. Testimony was that Roach paid Lovett for protection from police while Roach cheated customers through such games as Razzle Dazzle also known as Razzle, which gave players no chance to win. Lovett was also fined $50,000. In my view, what Deputy Chief Dennis Richardson did isnt much different from what disgraced former Chief Willie Lovett did for nine years: Conspiracy to obstruct enforcement of criminal laws. (Lovett probably tossed every Razzle and hoop complaint at all his cheating carnivals.). After the mob apparently ordered a hit on the judge, Sherry and his wife were murdered in their Mississippi home in 1987. I had alienated some ranking officers because I thought my job in law enforcement was to protect festivalgoers and to crack down on the crooks. To create insurance-like policies, carnival magnates often contribute to political campaigns of U.S. congressmen, senators, governors, and local politicians for a couple of reasons: in case they are interested in a state fair, county, or municipal contract and wish to develop clout; and in case carny-owners need friends in government to bail them out of trouble after a dishonest carny runs into a police officer who just wants to do his or her job. (If it isnt documented, it didnt happen.), A police officer refusing to properly address or document a crime-in-progress complaint is tantamount to constructively playing into the hands of organized crime. A wheel of fortune, seen at a nonprofit fundraiser is an example of a legal form of gambling. These sneaky tub-type games are displayed on over 90 percent of carnival midways which I had checked in Michigan, with tub-agents using the age-old deadening-ball trick on the mark. This, combined with the hoodwink nods from corrupt public servants, seems to be the big American secret at fairs and festivals. Do a little googling on carnies and carnival workers and youll find thats a common assessment. I was just a kid, so I dont know what all kinds of things he did, but I do know he had a few brushes with the law. From his prison cell in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, Nix created a lonely hearts scam that targeted innocent gay men. If you get busted for [illicit substances], youre gone. Which Animated Disney Movie Should Get A Horror Adaptation Next? He would come up to my Moms (his sisters) house and stay while he would talk to the lawyers and go to court and stuff. Chances are, cops wont comprehend (given that the mark didnt), or perhaps surmise that The sucker got what he deserved.. From 1995 to 2002, Gregory and his wife, Vonna Jo Gregory, contributed heavily to politicians in national elections. That could be anybody. Along with other costs, in most cases, a contracted carnival owner pays the contract fee, (around $1million), in advance of a long-running state fair. They dont! He begins to search for a sympathetic police officer for help. When the victims got in touch, Nix duped them into sending the mob large sums of money to pay for his legal defense. Before long, other Dixie Mafia inmates got involved in the scam, placing more fake photos in gay publications and coming up with tall tales about why they needed more money before they could leave jail (or wherever else they claimed to be). The objective of the Razzle agent is to. ". Heres my take on it - it isnt that theyre any different than anyone else in a highly-transient, blue collar labor force, its just that theyre the only ones in such a position who come into contact with average families and kids in a situation where theyre ostensibly supposed to be having fun and the environment is supposed to be happy and jolly. WebBusiness Insider asked current and former cruise-ship workers what they wish they could tell passengers but can't. They primarily operated in Biloxi, Mississippi, but the groups reach soon stretched from Atlanta, Georgia to Tulsa, Oklahoma. So - I dont know how that applies to all carny workers. They even have their own language., At least thats what people think about carnies. Youths risk developing a gambling problem at the rate of two to three times that of adult onset. This impeded rebound, giving the impression of an easy win as the grifters demo balls never bounce out. With the recent publicity on the ills of Tubs of Fun, chances are that the carnies will re-package the scam with a different look until the heat dies down; perhaps bring back the old wooden bushel-baskets instead of plastic laundry tubs and eliminate the deadening ball for one year. Now, lets go back to the first question: Have you ever played a carnival game and felt cheated? New York Cemetery Worker Buried Alive After Grave He Was Digging Collapses On Him, The Horrific Story Of William Calley And The My Lai Massacre, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. And members only had to obey one rule: Thou shall not snitch to the cops.. Civilized folks are always suspicious of transients, and it goes back a lot further than Gypsies. In the Play Football eight-marble version of Razzle, the mark agrees to use a free pass, then spills eight marbles on a board containing 143 numbered holes with values from one through six assigned to each hole. Marcello, one of the most powerful leaders in organized crime in America, operated in New Orleans around the same time that the Dixie Mafia was coming to power. She cleaned and closed up the pie stand, only to stay up into the wee hours counting money and balancing all of the cash registers' records, snatch a couple hourssleep, and get up early enough to set everything up and restock before the fair opened the next morning. We open at around 5 or 6 pm on Saturday, close at 10 or 11pm, tear down rides (about four hours), drive them to the next spot (typically about 45 minutesto an hour and a half), then set them all back up (about sevenhours). Furthermore, Lovett was convicted on two charges of extortion and two more charges of making false statements to the FBI. Ward Hall? Some Dixie Mafia members were allegedly hired to collect debts and carry out hits for him. I will usually see three to eight tubs on every midway of Wade Shows and North American Midway Entertainment. Work until your rides set-up, which can take up to ten hours of ass busting dangerous work. Unlike the traditional Mafia, this group was not united by ethnic heritage and had no known hierarchy or oath. There seems to be this very strong stereotype of carnival workers as being shady, creepy, untrustworthy, scary, or somehow deviant in some other way. With a history of crime older than the United States itself, Biloxi had first gained a reputation as a haven for illicit gambling in the 17th century. It seems to me youre putting a lot of mental effort into coming up with a high-falutin intellectual explanation, when its simpler and more accurate to say the stereotype stems from carnies who are indeed shady. Furthermore, sponsors have no way of knowing the total game profits. Not an easy life. Their goal was to cover all aspects of true crime: Read More, Contents Copyright 1998-2020 by Crime Magazine | J. Patrick O'Connor Editor | E-mail CrimeMagazine.com, Designed by Orman. How many kids want to go to a sideshow these days? With the corrupt fail-safe protection system in place, carny-owners dont have to worry about their lawbreakers ever having to face criminal charges. No state requires background checks, said Bob Johnson of the Florida-based Outdoor Amusement Business Association, a national trade group. Other blue collar labor force workers generally have a predictable place to spend the night, if only because they need to be at work the next day. In many ways, Biloxi was an ideal place for the Dixie Mafias stomping grounds. Any reported unfavorable incident during the annual festival would create bad press and taint sponsors as well as all involved, in addition to a loss of future revenue and visitors. Troops Cheated out of Money at Carnival,Armen Keteyian investigated a Texas-based company called Century 21 Shows at Fort Hood for allegedly defrauding its special guests: American soldiers returning from the Mid-east war or deploying to war. As for the OP, I second WhyNot. During the 1960s, a group of criminals known as the Dixie Mafia began to creep across cities and towns in the South. Carnival life is its own world, detached from mainstream lifestyles. WebAnswer (1 of 2): Ahh.. ciazarn. The big con: With very close examination, it is revealed that the marble board is 3s- and 4s- heavy, making 29 the eight marble average tally. My parents sold the business when I was still young, and I hated them for it because to a young kid, it was so much fun! He never held a job for long, as far as I know. (AP) Three carnival workers have been charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of a couple at a Kansas fair whose bodies were found days later in shallow graves in a national forest in Arkansas. Well, up until this year the State Fair would hire a lot of day workers from the local homeless population. FacebookKirksey McCord Nix Jr., one of the notorious leaders of the Dixie Mafia. Youll also find quite a few references to various arrests, some of which are for rape and murder. The ongoing investigation comes as police officials and some lawmakers are calling for legislation that would require background checks for carnival workers, a measure they say is vital to protecting children from transient workers with sordid pasts. Marcello tolerated the Dixie Mafias presence as long as they played by his rules and paid for his hospitality. It would be a winning proposition to bet that changes in carnival status wont come overnight. 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