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Jerry Lisner - part one

“Jerry was a flamboyant braggart, a scheming little weasel of a guy. He contacted me one day and told me he had a deal working with a guy in Florida who had a lot of money. The way he explained it, it was a money laundering scam. Jerry was going to tell this Florida person that he had some money, about four-hundred thousand, that he had to wash [launder] because of the serial numbers being in sequence. He’d say that he’d swap his money for a hundred and seventy-five thousand of clean money. Once the guy bit, we’d pull the scam. He said he had a brother-in-law that was a cop in Washington, D.C. who would work with us.

 

“My job would be to help him set it up, and then go with him to D. C. to deliver an attaché case with a row of one-hundred dollar bills on top of stacks of singles. A casual inspection of the case would give the impression that it held a lot more money than it did. I’d flash [briefly show] the money to the other guy, take his case with the hundred and seventy-five grand and we’d leave. As the guy is walking away with the case he got from us, Jerry’s brother-in-law arrests him. He confiscates the money and then turns him loose. The victim is thankful he didn’t end up in jail; we get our flash money back plus the other guy’s money. The victim would never realize what happened, and we’d all be clean.

   

“I asked what he needed me for, why he didn’t just do it himself. He said his target was slightly connected in Florida, and he [Lisner] knew I was connected to Tony Spilotro. He figured involving me would give him some credibility and make it more likely the guy would go for the deal. I told him I didn’t .know how he thought I was tied in with Tony, and didn’t admit that I was. I said I needed some time to think over his proposal.

 

“I went to Tony and told him Lisner’s pitch. He said, ‘Sounds a little corny, doesn’t it?’ I agreed. Then Tony said, ‘On the other hand, some people are so greedy they’d go for a deal like that. But us? As much as I love money, we’re a little sharper than them guys. We wouldn’t go for a deal like that. We’d know right away this guy was trying to shaft us. Here’s what I want you to do. Go back and tell him you thought it over and it sounds like a good idea. Whatever you do, don’t tell him you talked with me about it. Tell him you want seventy-five thousand dollars because you have to take care of your people [kickback money]. He can have the hundred [thousand] and take care of his people. If he don’t want to go for that, tell him to go screw himself.’

 

“I got back to Lisner and told him I was in. I explained the money situation and he gave me some static, and then he went for it. He said the Florida guy was coming to town and would be staying at Caesars Palace. We could meet in his room and work out the details. I said to pass on meeting in the room because you never knew when they might be bugged. He said he hadn’t thought of that, and that he’d bring the guy to the Jubilation to meet.

 

“A couple of days later we had our meeting; his name was also Jerry. He was a typical New York – Florida guy, and talked out of the side of his mouth. He asked where the money came from. I said I couldn’t tell him, but that it [the supposed theft of the money] hadn’t been noticed yet. I wanted to move it as soon as I could, but the sequential serial numbers were a problem. I told him if he wanted to go for it, fine. If not, he could go screw himself and we’d find somebody else.

 

“Florida Jerry said he had to talk to his father and he’d let Lisner know. I told him to do what he had to do, but I wanted to get this done within a week. The next week Lisner and I were in D. C. We stayed at a big hotel for almost three hundred dollars a night waiting for Florida Jerry to arrive.

 

“The second day Lisner called the guy in Florida. He started to give us the runaround, wanting to put up less money. Lisner went back and forth with him. I finally said to do it the way he wanted, we weren’t going to give the guy any money anyway, so what difference did it make? We agreed and then he still wouldn’t go for it. I told him to go to hell and Lisner and I flew back to Vegas. I was pissed.

 

“While we were on the plane Lisner cried on my shoulder about how sorry he was. He thought I was mad at him. I was, but I gave him the story that I was just disappointed. We’d spent the time and money for nothing. He said he had other things going and offered to cut me in on a Quaalude deal. I told him I didn’t handle drugs. He said there were a lot of outs for them and I wouldn’t have to touch them. He’d get me five-thousand Quaaludes for five grand. I’d be able to sell them for ten, doubling my money. It sounded pretty good, so I said okay.

 

“The next day I had the Quaaludes. I told Tony about them and he said to get rid of them quick; he didn’t want any drugs around. I sold them to a local kid for ten grand. I gave Tony five and I kept five. I didn’t pay Lisner for them and he wasn’t happy. I told him I had to dump them because the cops were on me. I don’t think he believed me, but there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.”

 

Next: Jerry Lisner – part two