1 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:10,080 Speaker 1: Diversion audio. 2 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:16,800 Speaker 2: A note this episode contains mature content that may be 3 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 2: disturbing for some listeners. Please take care and listening. Eunice 4 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:35,839 Speaker 2: Hunting Carter sat in her little coby of an office 5 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 2: at the Manhattan DA scribbling down notes. She couldn't count 6 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 2: the number of people she'd interviewed at this point, sex workers, 7 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,480 Speaker 2: concerned citizens who happened to live next door to brothels, 8 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 2: paroles like this one Francis Kleinman, who were seeing very 9 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 2: alarming things happening at the edges of the law. Francis 10 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 2: said there was a gang in her neighborhood. They sold 11 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 2: drugs and roped women into sex work. She might have 12 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:09,039 Speaker 2: gone to the police, but she was worried that if 13 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:12,759 Speaker 2: she informed, the police wouldn't do anything to help. They 14 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 2: just put her in jail again and nothing would change. 15 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 2: Unice saw the real fear in frances eyes. She heard 16 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:25,679 Speaker 2: it in her voice. It was fear of the gang, 17 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 2: but also fear of the police, fear that the police 18 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:36,319 Speaker 2: weren't on her side, but on the side of the criminals. 19 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,199 Speaker 2: Unice wrote down every word. She never took sloppy notes 20 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 2: because no one else was listening to these people and 21 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 2: What she was learning from listening all by herself was 22 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 2: that their stories were important. Their stories were her key 23 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 2: to taking down the biggest boss in the city, Lucky Luciano. 24 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,919 Speaker 2: Welcome to the greatest true crime stories ever told. I'm 25 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 2: Mary Kay mcbraer. I'm a writer of true crime, which 26 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:33,640 Speaker 2: means I live inside the research wormhole. I'm constantly reading 27 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 2: about every aspect of crime, from the blood baths to 28 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 2: the forensics to the justice system. But whatever I'm exploring, 29 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 2: the thing that keeps me hooked is always the people 30 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 2: behind these stories and what we can learn about society 31 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 2: by looking at their experiences. That's what I explore here 32 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 2: every week when I dig into crimes where a woman 33 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:01,760 Speaker 2: is not just a victim. She might be the detective, 34 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 2: the lawyer, the witness, the coroner, the criminal, or a 35 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 2: combination of these roles. As you probably already know, women 36 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 2: can do anything. Today's episode is called sex Worker's Tip Line. 37 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 2: It's Eunice Hunting Carter's story. She was one of the 38 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 2: first black female lawyers in America. She also single handedly 39 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 2: figured out how to take down one of history's most notorious, 40 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:38,760 Speaker 2: powerful and feared mafiosi, the man who was widely considered 41 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 2: to be the father of organized crime in America. Lucky Luciana. 42 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 2: All right, I feel like I should start with an 43 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 2: apology because I love mob shit. I really do. There's 44 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 2: no excuse. I am a total sucker. I'm a total 45 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 2: civilian sucker. I've seen every episode of The Wire and 46 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 2: The Sopranos. I can quote from Goodfellas verbatim, and I 47 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 2: tend to think that Frank Sinatra is a big old 48 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 2: baby from how he tried to get the production of 49 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,799 Speaker 2: The Godfather shut down, at least that's how they showed 50 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 2: it going down in the offer. I've even read all 51 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 2: of Selwyn Rob's Tome, The Five Families and Gay Talisa's 52 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:02,040 Speaker 2: Honor Thy Father, and I clock it every time jay 53 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:05,600 Speaker 2: Z calls himself ill Padrino or somebody's wearing a scarfaced 54 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:10,800 Speaker 2: tea in their music video. It fucking fascinates me. But 55 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 2: a lot of us, and I'm definitely including myself here, 56 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 2: we didn't grow up around complex criminal organizations that could 57 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 2: go rogue whenever they wanted and were icing cops and 58 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:26,360 Speaker 2: fellow criminals left and right. If people I knew were 59 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 2: getting laid out on the corner, and that was just 60 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 2: how I grew up. There would be no romanticizing that, 61 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,800 Speaker 2: there would be no equivocating for a different set of 62 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:43,719 Speaker 2: morals that allowed murder. In the nineteen thirties, New York 63 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:48,040 Speaker 2: City was run by organized crime. There were the gangsters 64 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 2: out on the street, controlling every illegal business like gambling 65 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 2: and the sale of stolen goods, and lots of ostensibly 66 00:05:54,960 --> 00:06:00,040 Speaker 2: legal endeavors as well, like bakeries and labor unions. The 67 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 2: stories I love paint mobsters as honorable guys in their 68 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:07,920 Speaker 2: own way. They had their own code of ethics, even 69 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:10,359 Speaker 2: if those ethics weren't the same as yours or mine. 70 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 2: For a lot of us, and I think it's fair 71 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:16,720 Speaker 2: to include myself in this too, even though I do 72 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:22,679 Speaker 2: know better. The mob represents the underdog. The running narrative 73 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 2: is the government didn't serve and protect me, so now 74 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:29,360 Speaker 2: I have to go make a new government that protects 75 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:33,479 Speaker 2: you from this corrupt system. Now kiss the ring or else. 76 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 2: In Americans, we love an underdog. It's in our culture. 77 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 2: It's one of the principles our country was founded on. 78 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 2: But in reality, these guys were not underdogs. They were 79 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,719 Speaker 2: just mean, power hungry bullies with no moral compass at all. 80 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 2: In reality, the mob controlled its business by taking from 81 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 2: those that didn't have the power to stop them, and 82 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:05,080 Speaker 2: they used violence to do it, sometimes even murder. But 83 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 2: it gets worse. In the nineteen thirties New York, the 84 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 2: mobsters weren't just on the streets. They also ran the government. 85 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 2: Back then, a lot of New York's politics were controlled 86 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:24,320 Speaker 2: by the men collectively known as Tammany Hall, Tammany Hall 87 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:26,280 Speaker 2: being the place where they all gathered to make the 88 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 2: backroom deals, take bribes, and generally ignore the crimes of 89 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 2: mobsters in exchange for payoffs. Their corruption trickled down into 90 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 2: all the cities agencies, including the police. I don't really 91 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 2: see a better term for them than organized criminals. They 92 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 2: were mostly committing white collar crimes, sure, but their willingness 93 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 2: to turn to blind eye in exchange for cash was 94 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 2: a big part of why violent mafioso's were so powerful. 95 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 2: New Yorkers at the time were getting tired of these 96 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 2: two connected problems streets run by mobsters and corrupt politicians 97 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 2: who turned a blind eye. When Franklin Roosevelt took office 98 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:13,680 Speaker 2: as New York State governor in nineteen twenty nine, he 99 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 2: read the room and committed to rooting out corruption. In 100 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 2: nineteen thirty two, he actually helped force the mayor of 101 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 2: New York City out of office for taking bribes, and 102 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 2: in nineteen thirty four, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, an anti Tammany candidate, 103 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 2: took office. So things were starting to look better on 104 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:47,199 Speaker 2: the political end, but the corruption ran deep, so deep 105 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 2: that to address this problem, Mayor LaGuardia knew he couldn't 106 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:54,360 Speaker 2: turn to anyone in the rank and file of the 107 00:08:54,400 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 2: city government, anyone could be taking bribes. Instead, he asked 108 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:06,439 Speaker 2: Thomas Dewey, a celebrated lawyer currently in private practice, to 109 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:11,719 Speaker 2: join the administration as a special prosecutor with the explicit 110 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 2: task of taking down both the mob and political corruption. 111 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 2: By the way, I'm going to call him Dewey instead 112 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 2: of Thomas, just because it's such a recognizable name that 113 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 2: I can't help but think of him that way. So 114 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 2: Dewey had exactly the same thought as LaGuardia. He couldn't 115 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,840 Speaker 2: trust anyone in the city government. He knew that there 116 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 2: were plenty of officials who would see him as an 117 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 2: inconvenience to be thwarted. The minute he took the job. 118 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 2: They'd try to make his investigation as difficult as they could, 119 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:47,480 Speaker 2: and they'd do everything in their power to make sure 120 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 2: he failed. He also knew that going after the mob 121 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 2: might lead to real personal danger for him. These were 122 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:01,280 Speaker 2: the kinds of criminals who might actually consider murdering a 123 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 2: New York City prosecutor. But Dewey also knew this was 124 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 2: the opportunity of a lifetime. If he could bypass the 125 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 2: Tammany politicians and root out the leaders of the mob, 126 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 2: he'd make a real name for himself. So he took 127 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:26,960 Speaker 2: the position with one condition. He needed total independence from 128 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 2: the existing city government, so he needed the power to 129 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 2: appoint every single member of his staff lawyers, investigators, stenographers, 130 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:47,920 Speaker 2: and clerks. Everyone LaGuardia agreed this was officially happening. Dewey 131 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:50,960 Speaker 2: was going to find the most upstanding lawyers in town, 132 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 2: the best investigators to go out and collect evidence, the 133 00:10:55,520 --> 00:11:00,640 Speaker 2: best clerks to keep the investigation going, the best of everything, 134 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:06,840 Speaker 2: and together they were going to bring down the leaders 135 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 2: of New York's underground. The process started immediately with Dewey's 136 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 2: soliciting applications for lawyers, and he got a lot of them. 137 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:33,760 Speaker 2: Three thousand lawyers applied that was one sixth of all 138 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:38,320 Speaker 2: lawyers in New York. These professionals, many of them young 139 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:41,719 Speaker 2: and ambitious, had the same thought as Dewey. While the 140 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:44,840 Speaker 2: odds were stacked against the task force and the dangers 141 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 2: to their actual lives were very real, if they succeeded, 142 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 2: the glory would be enormous. Dewey conducted each interview himself. 143 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 2: In the end, he landed on his dream team twenty 144 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 2: young lawyers, Nineteen of them were white men, although it's 145 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 2: worth noting that ninety percent of his team was actually Jewish, 146 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:12,200 Speaker 2: which at the time made them a fairly diverse bunch 147 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 2: compared to the overwhelmingly Protestant major law firms of the city. 148 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:20,840 Speaker 2: From what I could find, this appears to have been coincidence. 149 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:23,640 Speaker 2: These were just the lawyers that Dewey found the most 150 00:12:23,679 --> 00:12:28,960 Speaker 2: talented among his applicants, although it seems likely that ambitious, 151 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 2: talented Jewish lawyers may have been more likely to apply 152 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 2: than Protestants, considering they had a tougher time being hired elsewhere. 153 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,439 Speaker 2: And then there was the twentieth member of the team, 154 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 2: Unice Hunt and Carter, a thirty four year old black 155 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 2: woman lawyer living in Harlem to put Unice and this 156 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:57,760 Speaker 2: time period in some context. Three of Eunice's grandparents were slaves, 157 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:03,440 Speaker 2: the fourth was a free black woman. Her parents both 158 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:08,679 Speaker 2: managed to acquire an education against enormous odds, and they 159 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 2: built the Hunt and family into a notable clan of 160 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:17,480 Speaker 2: black intellectuals, eventually settling in New York. Unice had a 161 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,920 Speaker 2: burning ambition to make a name for herself. It took 162 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:23,680 Speaker 2: her just four years to graduate from Smith College with 163 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:27,320 Speaker 2: both a bachelor's in government and a master's in social work. 164 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:31,320 Speaker 2: She did some of the things expected of a daughter 165 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,720 Speaker 2: of black New York's prominent families, and married a wealthy 166 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:38,120 Speaker 2: Harlem dentist, one of the first black dentists in New York. 167 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:43,679 Speaker 2: But Unice wasn't satisfied with the life of a society wife. 168 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:48,200 Speaker 2: In the nineteen twenties, she started writing short stories for 169 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:52,319 Speaker 2: local magazines, finding herself at the heart of the Harlem Renaissance. 170 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 1: And then she. 171 00:13:56,120 --> 00:14:03,280 Speaker 2: Decided that, despite her success, writing wasn't her calling. She 172 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:06,280 Speaker 2: decided to fulfill a childhood promise she'd made to a 173 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 2: little friend on the beach one summer a long time ago, 174 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 2: to go to law school. In nineteen thirty two, Unice 175 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:19,760 Speaker 2: became the first black woman to graduate from New York's 176 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:26,120 Speaker 2: Fordham School of Law. Now that is all incredible period 177 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:32,720 Speaker 2: For anyone, these would be amazing accomplishments, but Unice was 178 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:35,640 Speaker 2: doing this all the time when both women and black 179 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:40,160 Speaker 2: people were considered second class citizens. She had privilege within 180 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:44,520 Speaker 2: Harlem's high society considering her family name, but don't let 181 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:48,800 Speaker 2: that minimize her accomplishments. A lot of these institutions she 182 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:53,080 Speaker 2: was moving through were predominantly white, predominantly male, or both 183 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:57,080 Speaker 2: as in like close to one hundred percent white and male. 184 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 2: In twenty eighteen, Unice's grandson, Stephen L. Carter, wrote a 185 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 2: biography of his grandmother called Invisible. A lot of the 186 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,200 Speaker 2: details of Unice's life that I'm sharing in this episode 187 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:15,000 Speaker 2: come from Stephen's book, which is full of both family 188 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:21,080 Speaker 2: lore and super thorough research. I want to shout it out, 189 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 2: especially because there's so much I won't have time to 190 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:27,600 Speaker 2: share here. So just know, if you want all the 191 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 2: details of Unice's amazing accomplishments, check out the book Invisible. 192 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:35,960 Speaker 2: There's a link in our show notes. But in the meantime, 193 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:42,360 Speaker 2: after Unice graduated from law school, Unsurprisingly, her story was 194 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:46,520 Speaker 2: not smooth sailing. Uni struggled to find enough work. She 195 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 2: split her time between what law jobs she could get 196 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 2: and social work, and topped it off with political campaigning, 197 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:59,560 Speaker 2: not to mention having a child. She was busy, but 198 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:02,080 Speaker 2: she really wanted to have a career as a lawyer, 199 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:05,520 Speaker 2: and it was frustrating that she couldn't make it a 200 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 2: full time thing. That is until Thomas Dewey put out 201 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:15,680 Speaker 2: his call for lawyers uncorrupted by Tammany Hall, looking to 202 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:18,600 Speaker 2: make a name for themselves by taking down New York's 203 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:25,760 Speaker 2: worst organized criminals, and picked Unice. She didn't know why 204 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 2: he picked her, and I don't know exactly why he 205 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 2: picked her. I mean, I'd hope it was because Dewey 206 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:35,600 Speaker 2: was just above the rampant prejudice. And actually, in later 207 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:38,360 Speaker 2: years Dewey commented on his choice and basically said that 208 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:41,840 Speaker 2: it was exactly that he could tell Unice was brilliant 209 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:43,880 Speaker 2: and talented and would be an asset to the team, 210 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:48,280 Speaker 2: so of course he hired her. At the time, though 211 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,920 Speaker 2: some people and some newspapers thought she was more of 212 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:55,480 Speaker 2: a token. They said that Dewey wanted a black lawyer 213 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 2: on his staff. To satisfy Harlem, or a woman to 214 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 2: satisfy women, or he wanted a black lawyer because he'd 215 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:05,800 Speaker 2: be targeting the numbers racket, which was especially popular in Harlem. 216 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 2: The white press seemed to think that a black person 217 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:14,800 Speaker 2: would automatically know about all of that, you know, all 218 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:18,320 Speaker 2: the old iterations of the undermining we still hear with 219 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:24,000 Speaker 2: diversity hires. The reality was that Eunice wasn't a numbers 220 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:26,920 Speaker 2: player and didn't know much about it, and Dewey Witten 221 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 2: in the end put her on the number side of 222 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 2: the investigation anyway. Regardless, Unis didn't waste time worrying about 223 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 2: whispers or even Dewey's motives. She was here and this 224 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:43,280 Speaker 2: was her moment to prove herself to a bigoted society 225 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:46,920 Speaker 2: and to change the history of crime in New York forever. 226 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 2: All she had to do now was figure out how 227 00:17:50,840 --> 00:18:05,880 Speaker 2: to prosecute one of the slipperiest men in New York's underworld. 228 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,439 Speaker 2: Eunice Hunting Carter was assigned one of the smallest offices 229 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:19,680 Speaker 2: at the far end of the busy hall, occupied by 230 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 2: Dewey's little lawyer army. That was her first annoyance, But 231 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 2: what was more galling was her assignment. Dewey split up 232 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 2: his army to look into different areas where organized crime 233 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 2: was running things like supermarkets, bakeries, and the numbers racket. 234 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 2: They were tasked with looking for any clues that could 235 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:48,080 Speaker 2: tie those industries to organized crime, and, most importantly, the 236 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:52,560 Speaker 2: organized crime to the mob bosses that ran things. Dewey 237 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 2: wasn't interested in the fixers and the heavies. He wanted 238 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:58,840 Speaker 2: to take down the king of the underworld. If you 239 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:01,680 Speaker 2: cut off the head, the body dies too, they say, 240 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:05,919 Speaker 2: and at the time, it was common knowledge that the 241 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:12,000 Speaker 2: king was mobster Dutch Schultz. Dewey's lawyers got to work 242 00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:14,960 Speaker 2: trying to prove Schultz was running half the businesses. 243 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:15,000 Speaker 1: In New York. 244 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 2: Eunice, meanwhile, was assigned the sex work angle. If you're 245 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:26,880 Speaker 2: like me, your immediate reaction to that assignment is, oh, 246 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,520 Speaker 2: fuck him. So is that why he hired her then? 247 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:38,479 Speaker 2: But the answer is actually no. Dewey didn't want to 248 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:42,080 Speaker 2: explore that angle at all. He was adamant that his 249 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 2: task force not be seen as a morality police. This 250 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:50,479 Speaker 2: was about serious crime. Sex work was not the kind 251 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:53,600 Speaker 2: of thing he wanted his name attached to. There was 252 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:57,399 Speaker 2: something petty about going after it as far as Dewey 253 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,159 Speaker 2: was concerned, And I have to agree. If he's not 254 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,840 Speaker 2: bothering with the fixers and the heavies, why focus on 255 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 2: the sex workers. Plus, he shared the common understanding of 256 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:12,840 Speaker 2: brothels as something that just kind of sprung up wherever 257 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:18,639 Speaker 2: people were. That old line. Prostitution is the oldest profession. 258 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:22,480 Speaker 2: I probably don't even have to point out to you, 259 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:25,439 Speaker 2: dear listener, that people usually fall into this type of 260 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:30,240 Speaker 2: sex work out of necessity or force. Dewey thought there 261 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:34,000 Speaker 2: was no way this organic manifestation of human vice could 262 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:37,679 Speaker 2: be any key part of organized crime. There were just 263 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:40,879 Speaker 2: too many houses and too many women for a syndicate 264 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:47,680 Speaker 2: to control. But Dewey's office had put out a call 265 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,800 Speaker 2: for tips from the public, and a lot of those 266 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:54,440 Speaker 2: tips seemed to be about brothels and other sex work 267 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:59,280 Speaker 2: related issues. So Dewey had to put someone on the job. 268 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 2: That someone was, of course, the woman in the office, 269 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:11,080 Speaker 2: the black woman in the office. Whatever noble intentions do 270 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:14,200 Speaker 2: we had or did not have when he hired Unice, 271 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:19,800 Speaker 2: the white man was popping out. Now Unice had made 272 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,840 Speaker 2: it onto the project, but still she found herself shunted 273 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 2: to the sidelines once again, though, Unice was determined to 274 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:33,000 Speaker 2: do the best with the job she'd been assigned, and 275 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:37,640 Speaker 2: what incredible resolve. She took interviews with everyone who came 276 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:40,520 Speaker 2: to the office ready to spill about anything related to 277 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:52,240 Speaker 2: sex work. She read through written tips diligently, and what 278 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:59,880 Speaker 2: she found was interesting. Many of the complaints from non 279 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:03,160 Speaker 2: sex workers were about the way the sex work industry 280 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:07,320 Speaker 2: seemed to have changed in the last few years. Brothels 281 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:11,200 Speaker 2: were raided by police, but then seemed to immediately open 282 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 2: back up, with all the women and their madams magically 283 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 2: out of jail. One Harlem woman had observed that the 284 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,600 Speaker 2: police collected payoffs from the building next to hers twice 285 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:26,600 Speaker 2: a week, like clockwork, in exchange for ignoring what went 286 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:31,520 Speaker 2: on there. Meanwhile, there were stories about the law instantly 287 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 2: squashing new competition with existing houses. Eunice wrote up reports 288 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:41,560 Speaker 2: about these stories and sent them up to Dewey. She 289 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:47,320 Speaker 2: didn't hear back. She collected more tips, she wrote more reports. 290 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 2: She still didn't hear back. Dewey just wasn't interested in 291 00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:57,800 Speaker 2: this angle, even with all the tips coming in, which 292 00:22:57,840 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 2: meant Unice was left to look at her reports at 293 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:05,200 Speaker 2: day after day. But the thing is in the quiet 294 00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:08,000 Speaker 2: of her little office, she was starting to put the 295 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:12,960 Speaker 2: pieces together. Okay, at first I was pissed that she'd 296 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 2: been relegated to this little side office, but now I'm thinking, 297 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:17,800 Speaker 2: you know what, that's exactly where I'd want to be, 298 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 2: off the beaten path, alone with my thoughts and this 299 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 2: tip line. And yeah, Dewey seems to have dismissed her, 300 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:28,600 Speaker 2: but Eunice knew better. She knew that if anyone other 301 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:32,280 Speaker 2: than her was manning this line pun very much intended, 302 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:36,120 Speaker 2: they wouldn't be getting the information she was getting and 303 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:38,800 Speaker 2: no one would be recognizing it for the serious evidence. 304 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:45,360 Speaker 2: It was either if some brothels were left alone by 305 00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:49,359 Speaker 2: the law and others were targeted, that supported the idea 306 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:54,640 Speaker 2: that the syndicate was icing whole police departments. Eunice looked 307 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:57,680 Speaker 2: into the records of the so called women's courts where 308 00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:00,680 Speaker 2: the sex workers were tried, and yes, that was a thing. 309 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:06,199 Speaker 2: The courts also sometimes tried cases related to adultery or 310 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:11,359 Speaker 2: child support there. Originally, they were founded during the progressive 311 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:14,840 Speaker 2: era with the intention of giving women a clean, safe 312 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 2: courthouse environment, but by the nineteen thirties. Of course, they 313 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:22,960 Speaker 2: were crowded, dirty, and basically the opposite of those already 314 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 2: questionable intentions. Anyway, Unice was absolutely right to look into 315 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:33,440 Speaker 2: their records because she found that in the past few 316 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:37,639 Speaker 2: years there was one lawyer who started representing a huge 317 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:42,800 Speaker 2: number of these women, women who surely couldn't afford his services, 318 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:49,440 Speaker 2: and he was getting them off every time. That suggested 319 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:53,040 Speaker 2: organized crime too to pay for the lawyer, and a 320 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:56,320 Speaker 2: corrupt judicial system to ensure the women always got off. 321 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 2: Units started talking to sex workers about their working conditions, 322 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:08,679 Speaker 2: and as the months went on, their collective picture of 323 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:11,359 Speaker 2: life in the industry was becoming more and more clear 324 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 2: to her. One thing that stuck out were the points 325 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:19,560 Speaker 2: all the sex workers had taken out of their earnings 326 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:23,720 Speaker 2: before they ever saw any money. There was the madam's cut, 327 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:26,520 Speaker 2: then a fee that went to someone called a booker, 328 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:29,399 Speaker 2: who told the women which brothels to report to on 329 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:33,200 Speaker 2: any given day. Essentially, they were freelance workers, with someone 330 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:36,160 Speaker 2: booking them at a variety of houses depending on whether 331 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:41,160 Speaker 2: it was demand. These bookers sometimes appeared to manage as 332 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:47,240 Speaker 2: many as one hundred women. They were basically pimps, but 333 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:51,200 Speaker 2: as of the summer of nineteen thirty three, the bookers 334 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:55,439 Speaker 2: also started taking an additional cut, which the women called 335 00:25:55,520 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 2: their quote bonding fee. This was the fee that got 336 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:06,639 Speaker 2: women that lawyer, the fee that got their bail paid 337 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 2: and kept them out of jail. One might think that 338 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,800 Speaker 2: perk should have been included in the other taxes, but 339 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 2: maybe that's just me. That was the fee that went 340 00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:24,479 Speaker 2: to someone they just knew as the Boss and the 341 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:35,720 Speaker 2: so called bondsman that worked for him. With that, Eunice 342 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:40,040 Speaker 2: had no doubt in her mind. These signs all pointed 343 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:44,959 Speaker 2: to one indisputable fact. The entire sex work industry in 344 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:50,440 Speaker 2: New York was run by a single point person, someone 345 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:54,360 Speaker 2: with powerful influence over the police and even the courts. 346 00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:01,960 Speaker 2: Whoever was running this racket was surely running others. It 347 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:05,840 Speaker 2: was the Boss that Dewey's task force was created to destroy, 348 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:11,200 Speaker 2: and if they put real resources behind this lead, they 349 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:17,840 Speaker 2: could get him. Unice just had to somehow convince Dewey 350 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:25,159 Speaker 2: that her lead was worth pursuing, and for that she 351 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:28,840 Speaker 2: needed to show him she had a plan, a plan 352 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:33,880 Speaker 2: to connect all this illegal activity with one central player, 353 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:41,439 Speaker 2: the Boss. But there was a problem with finding the 354 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:46,440 Speaker 2: Boss because Dewey's team didn't know who he was anymore. 355 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:53,200 Speaker 2: On October twenty third, nineteen thirty five, Dutch Schultz, whom 356 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:56,960 Speaker 2: they'd been pursuing as their primary target, was shot while 357 00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:00,879 Speaker 2: eating at an Italian restaurant in New Jersey by his 358 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:06,200 Speaker 2: own guys because he had openly threatened to kill Thomas 359 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:10,280 Speaker 2: Dewey and frankly, they didn't need that kind of heat 360 00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:12,879 Speaker 2: from a loose cannon with the law already hot on 361 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:19,440 Speaker 2: their heels. Schultz was embarrassingly sloppy, so he had to go. 362 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:25,560 Speaker 2: Schultz died in the hospital the next day, and now 363 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 2: he was beyond the judgment of the courts. 364 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:31,520 Speaker 1: Dewey did not. 365 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:33,600 Speaker 2: See the death of Dutch Schultz as a major blow 366 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:38,160 Speaker 2: to his investigation, just to set back. Now they had 367 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:42,120 Speaker 2: to identify the new mafia boss, adjust their target, and 368 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:45,040 Speaker 2: keep on looking for ways to prosecute that boss for 369 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:52,920 Speaker 2: his crimes. Still, the office was in something of an 370 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:57,920 Speaker 2: uproar because of the Schultz assassination, and perhaps because of 371 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:02,240 Speaker 2: all this chaos, perhaps because he knew his strategy had 372 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:06,360 Speaker 2: to shift, Dewey was finally willing to sit down with 373 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:12,960 Speaker 2: Unice and have a conversation with her. For Unice, it 374 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:17,080 Speaker 2: was perfect timing. She just started examining a new set 375 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:19,560 Speaker 2: of records sent her way by the rest of Dewey's 376 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:23,680 Speaker 2: uninterested staff. It was a list of brothels in New 377 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:28,240 Speaker 2: York City, compiled by exactly the kind of moral crusaders 378 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:33,720 Speaker 2: that Dewey did not want to be. But as Unice 379 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:36,920 Speaker 2: looked through these documents and compared them to the notes 380 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:39,960 Speaker 2: on brothels she'd been putting together for months, she had 381 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:46,600 Speaker 2: a realization. She now had the most comprehensive list of 382 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:52,440 Speaker 2: brothel locations in New York City in existence, which meant 383 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:58,200 Speaker 2: she knew exactly how this task force could weed out 384 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:00,719 Speaker 2: the man at the center of the sex work racket. 385 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:06,000 Speaker 2: It would take some time and some help from the 386 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,880 Speaker 2: rest of the Dewey brigade, but she had a plan. 387 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:12,640 Speaker 2: All she had to do now was use this meeting 388 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:19,880 Speaker 2: with Dewey wisely and get him on board. Unice was 389 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:23,400 Speaker 2: careful and thorough as she laid out her evidence that 390 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:28,760 Speaker 2: New York's sex work was indeed organized and run by 391 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:34,160 Speaker 2: a central criminal. If it wasn't Dutch Schultz anymore, it 392 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,040 Speaker 2: was whoever had replaced him as the top mob boss 393 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:42,160 Speaker 2: in New York. Then she showed Dewey her list of 394 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:50,520 Speaker 2: brothels and explained her plan. Dewey still wasn't enthusiastic, but 395 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 2: he listened, and he had to admit Unice had a 396 00:30:55,320 --> 00:31:01,560 Speaker 2: lot of compelling evidence. He warned her he was not 397 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:04,800 Speaker 2: going to give her much help. The rest of his 398 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:09,160 Speaker 2: lawyers would still be looking into other angles, but he 399 00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:11,520 Speaker 2: did give her the go ahead to put her plan 400 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:20,520 Speaker 2: in motion, which first things first meant wire taps, wire taps, y'all, 401 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:23,760 Speaker 2: Like in the wire These wire taps were on both 402 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:27,360 Speaker 2: the bookers and the bondsmen, and as transcripts of their 403 00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:30,840 Speaker 2: calls started to pour in, Eunice was left, as ever 404 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:36,000 Speaker 2: to read through them by herself. It was tedious work 405 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:39,440 Speaker 2: with long hours, but it did confirm a lot of 406 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:43,200 Speaker 2: what she'd surmised already from her interviews and tips about 407 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:47,320 Speaker 2: how this business worked. It also showed her that the 408 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:52,000 Speaker 2: city's bookers were less individual players and more a coordinated 409 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:56,960 Speaker 2: group that worked together to phil brothels. They even traded 410 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:01,800 Speaker 2: workers between them. This was more centralized than Eunice had 411 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:06,120 Speaker 2: even dared to hope. Still, she wasn't hearing much about 412 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:13,600 Speaker 2: a boss, and certainly nothing about a specific mafiosa. That 413 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:18,920 Speaker 2: is until January nineteen thirty six, when finally a few 414 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:24,600 Speaker 2: bookers and bondsmen started to get careless. They mentioned calls 415 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:29,000 Speaker 2: to check in with Tommy Bull, a known insider in 416 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:34,280 Speaker 2: the circle of a certain prominent mob leader, Lucky Luciana. 417 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:40,840 Speaker 2: If you've ever heard any mob stories, the name Lucky 418 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:45,000 Speaker 2: Luciano probably rings a bell. And Okay, so this is 419 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:47,800 Speaker 2: a silly little aside. But when I took a tour 420 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:52,040 Speaker 2: of New York City and all the gangsters' locations, the guide, 421 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:55,719 Speaker 2: whom I was obsessed with, I Love You Gary, pointed 422 00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:58,880 Speaker 2: out both the tenement that was one of Luciano's brothels 423 00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:03,520 Speaker 2: and his parents' house, which functioned as his permanent address 424 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 2: because he was one always on the lamb, and two 425 00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:09,560 Speaker 2: a punk ass little kid that was adult years old 426 00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:12,800 Speaker 2: and who still wanted to piss off his dad. I 427 00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:15,440 Speaker 2: actually have a picture of me posing in his dad's doorway, 428 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:17,160 Speaker 2: so there's a link to that in the show notes. 429 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:22,640 Speaker 2: As always, anyway, in these wiretaps, it wasn't just Tommy 430 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:27,160 Speaker 2: Bull that came up. Other members of Luciano's inner circle 431 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:33,280 Speaker 2: started coming up too. Meanwhile, somewhere on Dewey's team. There 432 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:39,560 Speaker 2: was a leak because certain details of Unice's investigation, specifically 433 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:42,840 Speaker 2: the nitty gritty of how the sex work industry worked 434 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 2: with organized crime running the show, showed up in the 435 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:52,480 Speaker 2: New York Evening Journal. Their journal also announced Dewey's team 436 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:55,400 Speaker 2: was preparing to make an arrest of the head of 437 00:33:55,440 --> 00:34:01,000 Speaker 2: the mafia. Obviously, you never want a leak in an investigation, 438 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:04,840 Speaker 2: and that last bit about an arrest wasn't exactly true anyway, 439 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:08,440 Speaker 2: But all that aside in this case, the article had 440 00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:12,799 Speaker 2: a powerful side effect. As soon as it was published, 441 00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:21,560 Speaker 2: Lucky Luciano fled New York City for Dewey and his team. 442 00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:26,560 Speaker 2: This was major. It meant the article had scared Luciano. 443 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:30,359 Speaker 2: It meant that he was scared by the news that 444 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:35,759 Speaker 2: the Dewey investigation was closing in on their target, and 445 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:42,920 Speaker 2: all that told Dewey's team something very important. Luciano was 446 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:47,279 Speaker 2: indeed the new boss, why else would he run. It 447 00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:50,640 Speaker 2: also suggested that the focus on sex work was threatening 448 00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:57,120 Speaker 2: enough that Luciano took the article's claims seriously. He knew 449 00:34:57,880 --> 00:34:59,879 Speaker 2: that there was a way Dewey and his team could 450 00:34:59,880 --> 00:35:03,760 Speaker 2: do use sex work to get to him. Of course, 451 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:06,160 Speaker 2: this wasn't the kind of proof that lawyers could use 452 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:09,600 Speaker 2: in a courtroom, and moments like this, it's so frustrating 453 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:12,520 Speaker 2: to me that the bad guys can use every device 454 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:14,400 Speaker 2: they can think of to get out of trouble, but 455 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:16,560 Speaker 2: to serve justice you have to go by the book, 456 00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:19,400 Speaker 2: just one more way in which it's easier to be 457 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:25,040 Speaker 2: bad than good, which makes goodness all the more special. Anyway, 458 00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:29,120 Speaker 2: Lucky Luciano's flight of terror was exactly what the task 459 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:34,160 Speaker 2: Force needed to focus their investigation. Once again, Unice and 460 00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:38,520 Speaker 2: her work were the one thing moving Dewey's whole operation forward, 461 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:44,600 Speaker 2: and how vindicating this busy work they saddled Unis with 462 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:48,680 Speaker 2: was the actual thing that would matter. It was working 463 00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:52,760 Speaker 2: better than anything else Dewey and his team were looking into. 464 00:35:54,239 --> 00:35:57,680 Speaker 2: She must have been elated. Obviously, they didn't have Luciano yet, 465 00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:01,480 Speaker 2: and it's notoriously difficult to prosecute to mafia boss, even 466 00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:04,279 Speaker 2: if you know exactly who you're looking for, because they 467 00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:08,759 Speaker 2: almost always have soldiers actually executing the crimes they're responsible for. 468 00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:14,680 Speaker 2: They rarely ever get their own hands dirty. But Unice 469 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:18,880 Speaker 2: was circling the target, and finally that January in nineteen 470 00:36:18,920 --> 00:36:23,759 Speaker 2: thirty six, Dewey had to admit he was impressed. He 471 00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:27,080 Speaker 2: had to admit that Unice's lead was their best bet 472 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:32,480 Speaker 2: for taking down the mob boss. He finally assigned more 473 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:33,799 Speaker 2: manpower to her lead. 474 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:36,000 Speaker 1: This was it. 475 00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:42,520 Speaker 2: Unice's angle was the team's angle, which meant that now 476 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:46,360 Speaker 2: it was time for phase two of Unice's plan. 477 00:36:47,640 --> 00:37:03,200 Speaker 1: The raid. 478 00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:13,040 Speaker 2: Eunice thought the best way to get the girls, Madam's bookers, 479 00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:16,400 Speaker 2: and bondsmen to talk was to arrest all of them 480 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:21,359 Speaker 2: at the same time. With everyone locked up and no 481 00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:25,480 Speaker 2: prospect of bondsmen to come bail them out, people were 482 00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:31,279 Speaker 2: bound to start talking. So that's what Dewey's team did. 483 00:37:32,120 --> 00:37:35,239 Speaker 2: On the thirty first of January nineteen thirty six, as 484 00:37:35,360 --> 00:37:38,360 Speaker 2: quietly as they could, they rounded up all the bookers 485 00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:42,000 Speaker 2: and bondsmen. Then on the following night, they had policemen 486 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:45,280 Speaker 2: wait on street corners around New York. No vice policemen. 487 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:48,320 Speaker 2: At this point, Dewey and Eunice assumed they were all 488 00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:53,280 Speaker 2: corrupt unless proven otherwise, even without the vice squad present. 489 00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:57,360 Speaker 2: Though the police were given as little information as possible 490 00:37:57,400 --> 00:38:02,279 Speaker 2: before the raid to avoid another leak, they had no 491 00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:04,960 Speaker 2: idea what their orders were as they waded out in 492 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:11,120 Speaker 2: the cold winter streets. Not until they received hand delivered 493 00:38:11,239 --> 00:38:16,120 Speaker 2: envelopes in the wee hours. They ripped the envelopes open, 494 00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:23,719 Speaker 2: and then they followed the orders to raid every single brothel. 495 00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:24,200 Speaker 1: In New York. 496 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:30,920 Speaker 2: By the end of the night, Dewey's offices were overflowing 497 00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:35,959 Speaker 2: with silk evening gowns and cheap perfume. I mean imagine 498 00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:38,160 Speaker 2: it would have been hard for me to leave that office. 499 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:43,040 Speaker 2: Nineteen thirty's glamour is my shit. The raids had brought 500 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:45,960 Speaker 2: in more than one hundred sex workers in Madam's. As 501 00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:49,120 Speaker 2: one madam would later put it, it seemed quote as 502 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:51,560 Speaker 2: though all the racket people in New York were in 503 00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:55,359 Speaker 2: and with no bondsmen to bail them out, they weren't 504 00:38:55,400 --> 00:39:00,799 Speaker 2: going anywhere, not until they talked. It took time, It 505 00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:05,640 Speaker 2: took patience and interrogation. Although ever mindful of avoiding the 506 00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:13,800 Speaker 2: image of vice warrior do we insisted interrogations stay polite. Finally, 507 00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:16,920 Speaker 2: some of the women started to talk, and some of 508 00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:20,480 Speaker 2: the bondsmen and fixers talked too. Because on a long 509 00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:25,759 Speaker 2: enough timeline, no matter what anyone tells you, everybody snitches 510 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:31,320 Speaker 2: Some connected their business to men who were known associates 511 00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:36,680 Speaker 2: of Lucky Luciano. Others said they'd heard rumors that Luciano 512 00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:41,560 Speaker 2: was the big boss. But there were three women who 513 00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:47,000 Speaker 2: provided the important direct connection between Luciano and the sex 514 00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:49,960 Speaker 2: work racket that Eunice and Dewey had been looking for. 515 00:39:51,840 --> 00:40:00,520 Speaker 2: Mildred Harris, Nancy Presser, and Kochi flow Brown up with 516 00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:01,000 Speaker 2: that name. 517 00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:01,319 Speaker 1: I know. 518 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:04,839 Speaker 2: Each of these women had dated a man in Luciano's 519 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:09,080 Speaker 2: inner circle, and each of them had been around when 520 00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:13,080 Speaker 2: Luciano mentioned the sex work industry and his involvement in 521 00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:19,319 Speaker 2: the racket that ran it. None of these women was 522 00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:22,400 Speaker 2: the kind of witness a prosecution team likes to rely on. 523 00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:28,400 Speaker 2: As sex workers, lots of jurors would consider their statements suspect. 524 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:33,800 Speaker 2: On top of that, one was an alcoholic and another 525 00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:36,839 Speaker 2: was a cocaine addict, but you can't guess which one 526 00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:41,240 Speaker 2: Kokie flow Brown. But with the mountain of other evidence 527 00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:45,000 Speaker 2: linking Luciano in the racket, Dewey and his team made 528 00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:50,480 Speaker 2: the decision. They arrested Luciano on April first, nineteen thirty six, 529 00:40:50,719 --> 00:40:54,200 Speaker 2: in Hot Springs, New York, where he'd fled in anticipation 530 00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:59,359 Speaker 2: of the arrest. The next day, he was indicted in 531 00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:04,440 Speaker 2: New York City. Unice must have expected that she'd be 532 00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:08,840 Speaker 2: on the team leading preparation for the legal case against Luciano. 533 00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:15,240 Speaker 2: She wasn't. While she and all the lawyers participated, Dewey 534 00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:22,000 Speaker 2: chose other members of his team to lead. Then, when 535 00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:26,040 Speaker 2: the trial began in May, Dewey didn't let any of 536 00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:30,440 Speaker 2: his assistants aid in the prosecution at the trial, He 537 00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:40,880 Speaker 2: did it all himself, Ugh said Eunice. I imagine she 538 00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:44,960 Speaker 2: basically single handedly made this whole case happen. She'd been 539 00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:48,719 Speaker 2: in the trenches collecting evidence all by herself, without even 540 00:41:48,800 --> 00:41:51,560 Speaker 2: the encouragement of her boss's faith in what she was doing, 541 00:41:53,239 --> 00:41:55,960 Speaker 2: and her hard work had led to the arrest of 542 00:41:56,040 --> 00:42:00,840 Speaker 2: Lucky Luciano. Who wasn't just the new mob by the way, 543 00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:04,160 Speaker 2: It would eventually become clear that he had completely changed 544 00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:08,359 Speaker 2: how the mafia worked. As the new boss, he eliminated 545 00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:10,399 Speaker 2: the system where there was a single head of all 546 00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:15,120 Speaker 2: the mafia families and instead created the council of multiple 547 00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:21,200 Speaker 2: mob bosses who worked together to share and balance the power. Basically, 548 00:42:21,520 --> 00:42:27,800 Speaker 2: he's the guy who created the modern mafia and Eunice 549 00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:35,040 Speaker 2: Carter led the investigation that resulted in his arrest. That 550 00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:42,200 Speaker 2: is an insane accomplishment. In the end, her work led 551 00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:46,800 Speaker 2: to Luciano's conviction as well. Dewey's job in the courtroom 552 00:42:46,960 --> 00:42:51,319 Speaker 2: was a success. Lucky Luciano was convicted on sixty two 553 00:42:51,600 --> 00:42:57,880 Speaker 2: counts of compulsory prostitution, which basically means coercing people into 554 00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:05,480 Speaker 2: sex work, managing, maintaining, and profiting off their labor. It 555 00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:09,880 Speaker 2: was the first time a major organized crime figure had 556 00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:15,160 Speaker 2: ever been successfully prosecuted on anything other than tax evasion. 557 00:43:16,719 --> 00:43:20,200 Speaker 2: And if we read between the lines, a little Unice 558 00:43:20,239 --> 00:43:23,400 Speaker 2: got him brought down for exploiting women. I mean, that 559 00:43:23,520 --> 00:43:26,000 Speaker 2: wasn't on his rap sheet or anything, but we fucking know. 560 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:33,640 Speaker 2: With Lucky Luciano behind bars, that didn't mean Thomas Dewey 561 00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:37,840 Speaker 2: and his team were done. Unice kept working at his 562 00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:43,920 Speaker 2: office orchestrating raids against mafiosi. When Dewey ran for governor 563 00:43:43,960 --> 00:43:48,600 Speaker 2: of New York, Unice campaigned for him in Harlem. Dewey 564 00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:54,759 Speaker 2: never once appeared in Harlem without Unis by his side. 565 00:43:54,920 --> 00:44:00,120 Speaker 2: When he won, he appointed Unice a deputy assistant district attorney. 566 00:44:00,960 --> 00:44:03,720 Speaker 2: She was the first woman, much less a black woman, 567 00:44:04,120 --> 00:44:09,600 Speaker 2: to ever hold that post. In that role, she helped 568 00:44:09,600 --> 00:44:13,160 Speaker 2: Dewey take down Jimmy Hines, the head of New York's 569 00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:20,400 Speaker 2: corrupt Tammany Hall. That to me is so dope. They 570 00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:22,759 Speaker 2: weren't just going after the corruption in the streets, but 571 00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:29,160 Speaker 2: also the government corruption that allowed organized crime to flourish. Unfortunately, 572 00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:34,200 Speaker 2: once again, prejudice eventually prevailed. Unice couldn't seem to get 573 00:44:34,200 --> 00:44:37,600 Speaker 2: a promotion in the DA's office, so eventually she left 574 00:44:37,600 --> 00:44:40,560 Speaker 2: the job. But even then, she refused to sit back 575 00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:46,680 Speaker 2: and take some well deserved rest as a Harlem society wife. Instead, 576 00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:50,520 Speaker 2: she got involved with international policy or worked for international 577 00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:53,640 Speaker 2: nonprofits and organizations like the UN for basically the rest 578 00:44:53,640 --> 00:44:57,480 Speaker 2: of her life. Bringing down Lucky Luciano might have been 579 00:44:57,480 --> 00:45:00,480 Speaker 2: the huge success that put her name in the big league, 580 00:45:01,640 --> 00:45:05,560 Speaker 2: but Eunice did amazing work throughout her entire career. If 581 00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:07,279 Speaker 2: you want to learn more about all of these other 582 00:45:07,560 --> 00:45:13,399 Speaker 2: incredible accomplishments, please read Stephen L. Carter's biography Invisible. There's 583 00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:18,319 Speaker 2: a link to it again in the show notes. When 584 00:45:18,320 --> 00:45:21,040 Speaker 2: it comes to this story, though, the story of taking 585 00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:24,480 Speaker 2: down Lucky Luciano, I want to end by highlighting what's 586 00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:27,720 Speaker 2: for me one of the most extraordinary elements of this case. 587 00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:32,840 Speaker 2: Unice was the only woman on a task force that 588 00:45:32,960 --> 00:45:36,680 Speaker 2: set out to bring down organized crime, and not only 589 00:45:36,719 --> 00:45:40,440 Speaker 2: did they pretty much accomplish that seemingly impossible goal, but 590 00:45:40,600 --> 00:45:45,680 Speaker 2: also she did it by listening to other women, by 591 00:45:45,719 --> 00:45:47,840 Speaker 2: taking them seriously when no one else would. 592 00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:49,960 Speaker 1: That is badass. 593 00:45:50,520 --> 00:45:53,560 Speaker 2: That is an example for us all, even today, almost 594 00:45:53,600 --> 00:46:24,160 Speaker 2: a century later. Join me next week on the greatest 595 00:46:24,200 --> 00:46:27,239 Speaker 2: true crime stories ever told for a case with a 596 00:46:27,400 --> 00:46:31,759 Speaker 2: very different woman at its center. Marjorie Orbin, a woman 597 00:46:31,840 --> 00:46:35,880 Speaker 2: with a complicated past and a very strange story about how, where, 598 00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:40,840 Speaker 2: and why her husband went missing. I'd also like to 599 00:46:40,880 --> 00:46:45,040 Speaker 2: shout out again Stephen L. Carter's book Invisible, which made 600 00:46:45,040 --> 00:46:49,000 Speaker 2: it possible to tell this week's story. It's incredibly thorough 601 00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:52,960 Speaker 2: and well researched. Anne brings in his unique personal perspective 602 00:46:53,080 --> 00:46:58,560 Speaker 2: as Eunice's grandson. For more information about this case and 603 00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:02,839 Speaker 2: others we cover on the show, visit Diversion Audio dot com. 604 00:47:03,480 --> 00:47:06,200 Speaker 2: Sign up for Diversion's newsletter and be among the first 605 00:47:06,239 --> 00:47:09,160 Speaker 2: to hear about special behind the scenes features with the 606 00:47:09,200 --> 00:47:13,480 Speaker 2: hosts and actors. From Diversion's podcasts, more shows you'll love 607 00:47:13,480 --> 00:47:17,480 Speaker 2: from Diversion and our partners, and other exclusive tidbits you 608 00:47:17,520 --> 00:47:22,880 Speaker 2: can't get anywhere else. That's Diversionaudio dot com to sign 609 00:47:22,920 --> 00:47:28,399 Speaker 2: up for the newsletter The Greatest True Crime Stories Ever 610 00:47:28,440 --> 00:47:33,160 Speaker 2: Told is a production of Diversion Audio. Your host is 611 00:47:33,239 --> 00:47:37,640 Speaker 2: me Mary Kay mcbraer. This episode was written by our 612 00:47:37,760 --> 00:47:42,880 Speaker 2: editorial director, Nora Battel. Our show is produced and directed 613 00:47:43,040 --> 00:47:48,120 Speaker 2: by Mark Francis. Our development team is Emma Dumouth and 614 00:47:48,239 --> 00:47:55,600 Speaker 2: Jacob Bronstein. Theme music by Tyler Cash. Executive producers Jacob Bronstein, 615 00:47:56,040 --> 00:47:58,040 Speaker 2: Mark Francis, and Scott Waxman. 616 00:48:18,239 --> 00:48:19,440 Speaker 1: Diversion Audio