> Bob Cooley . .. . > Butch Petrocelli . > Tony Spilotro
> Pat Marcy . . . . .> Judge Maloney .. > Count Dante
> Harry Aleman. ..> Judge Wilson . . ..> Ed Genson
> Marco D'Amico ..> Alderman Roti. .. > Guest Appearances
> John D'Arco Sr ..> John D'Arco Jr

Criminal defense attorney Edward M. Genson in 1998. He faced Cooley in more Gambat trials than any other lawyer.

Eddy started to sputter, realizing what he had done. He demanded to know why I didn’t bring this story up during my direct examination. I answered, “I was told I couldn't unless I was asked on cross-examination.”

Before long, Eddy was whacking the defense table with his cane. “This is totally improper,” he shouted, “and I move for a mistrial.”

Now Johnny was on his feet and yelling, “This is ridiculous. He’s absurd.”

Judge George Lindberg sent the jury out of the courtroom. But Johnny still wasn’t done with his tantrum. He slammed his chair against the table and yelled at the prosecutors, “Slander my name all over the world – you!” Then he marched out of the courtroom, leaving his wife behind to bawl her head off.

Eddy next staggered over to the bench, one hand clutching his chest and the other pointing at me. “This man is a legal assassin,” he hissed. “Every time he opens his mouth he plunges another dagger into my client.”

Photograph by Bob Black as published in the Chicago Sun-Times, Inc. © 2004 by Chicago Sun-Times, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

When Corruption Was King © 2004 by Robert Cooley and Hillel Levin


     
   
 
  From 1986 to 1989, criminal defense attorney Robert Cooley wore a recording device and developed criminal cases against mobsters and corrupt officials. His investigation led to nine federal trials in the Nineties and convictions or guilty pleas for twenty-four.  
 
 

“Bob is every bit the hero because he didn’t have to
do what he did.”

Tom Durkin, former First
Assistant U.S. Attorney

“The man is a paragon of corruption. The man is
walking slime.”

Criminal Defense Attorney
Edward M. Genson

Never has a federal investigation accomplished
so much, and never has an investigation revolved as
much around one man. But
to this day, the reasons why Cooley decided to cooperate with federal authorities remain a mystery.

 
 
 
 
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