are carnival workers criminals

"I hope we get through this without somebody being killed or getting raped," said Rep. Bill Black (R-Danville), who also has sponsored a failed bill. With the likelihood that carnival business books are being cooked, the Internal Revenue Services expertise would be invaluable in uncovering money trails. In 2014, a Razzle victim wrote to me about being fleeced for $7,000 at a festival in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. 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. Then, just after the child paid, I observed the grifter evasively remove the deadening ball (gaff ball) at the same time he removed the demo balls. This particular con links fraud and gambling together with a smooth-talking con artist (agent) who bedazzles his mark, and wins every time. (No, not that Cecil. 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 - I dont know how that applies to all carny workers. All embrace lucrative interests while striving for a trouble-free show, which can and does lead to tolerable criminal pursuits. Of course, one of my friends who went home from university for the summer and has no criminal record was also one of the local workers this year. 47% of Carnival Workers have a high school diploma degree, 10% major in criminal justice. At that state fair, the contracted carnival, Powers Great American Midways, could gross from $4 to $6 million, as published in Business North Carolina. Rather the way they interact with the public is a large part of what makes them different. Olivia Bray, mother of three, understands this as well as the limbs attached to her body. What the Greatest Showman Got Totally Wrong, The Bittersweet Story of Jumbo the Elephant, Carnival Workers Describe What The Life Is Really Like. 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. They were doing anything and everything illegal down here, said retired FBI Special Agent Keith Bell, who grew up on the Gulf Coast and worked on cases linked to the Dixie Mafia. The term "showie" is used synonymously in Australia, while "showman" is used in the United Kingdom.[1]. By the 1980s, the blurred lines between government officials and Dixie Mafia members had become so extreme that federal authorities designated the entire Harrison County Sheriffs Office in Mississippi as a criminal enterprise. Natasha Ishak is a staff writer at All That's Interesting. New York TimesA New York Times article on Kirksey McCord Nix Jr.s conviction for the murder of a Mississippi judge and his wife. In running background checks at five events, the Illinois attorney general's office and Cook County sheriff's department found that among 179 carnival employees, there had been 556 arrests and 125 convictions, according to a letter sent to law enforcement agencies. CBS News exposed a carnival company which was cheating soldiers and their families out of money at the 2011 Fourth of July Freedom Fest at Fort Hood, Texas, the largest military base in the country. Burbank's policy--like other municipalities'--has no teeth because it cannot stop someone with a criminal history from working at a carnival, said lawmakers and law enforcement officials advocating stronger legislation. These are people that would otherwise be homeless if not for the ability to count to 2 with both hands. 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. There are several national stories in 2013 depicting how one tubs agent had depleted a victims back account. It's the exact opposite of what most folks describe. the truth is, there is little money in it, and the rides seem to be falling apart. Carnival midways are the only venues in the United States where local police departments allow carnival lots to be free crime zones for illegal gambling, larceny, and fraud. They dont draw a line, everything is fair game.. It was a really good business for a long time, though. 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. Risky Rides: Carnival Workers' Grueling Hours May Threaten Safety. Cries for a state law started after a convicted sex offender working as a carnival worker raped and drugged a 15-year-old girl at the Illinois State Fair in 2001. 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. As a retired police officer, I continued to expose and help curb what I found to be a free-wheeling crime anomaly, by publishing several investigative accounts, including two books: Carnival Games: The Perfect Crimes (2010) and Carnival Games: $10,000,000,000 Hoodwink Racket (2012). The objective of the Razzle agent is to. There was no chance they would win at some of the games, said Keteyian. For a carnival owner or manager to deny responsibility is like saying I didnt run you over, my car did! When it comes to interviews, carnival owners and managers will act outraged while feigning ignorance about the rigged game and its perpetrator. Do a little googling on carnies and carnival workers and youll find thats a common assessment. Barton County District Judge Mike Keeley on Friday also sentenced Christine Tenney, 40, of La Marque, Texas, They will always refer to any bad guys as independent contractors and not employees of the carnival even when they are paying the carnival owner for the privilege of occupying cheating space. This style eventually migrated into wrestling, hip hop, and other parts of modern culture.[4]. Chances are, cops wont comprehend (given that the mark didnt), or perhaps surmise that The sucker got what he deserved.. They never went anywhere and interacted at least occasionally with normal society. Civilized folks are always suspicious of transients, and it goes back a lot further than Gypsies. The Dixie Mafias territory stretched all over the South, from Georgia to Oklahoma. They primarily operated in Biloxi, Mississippi, but the groups reach soon stretched from Atlanta, Georgia to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Work until your rides set-up, which can take up to ten hours of ass busting dangerous work. The midsummer small spots were nice because the hours were short, but the end of the season and the state fairs are where the big money's at. Im more afraid of the patrons than the carnies. Yes, they are scraping by and yes they are poor, but labor ready hires anyone who is there to work at 6am in the morning . Repeat for nine months. Not an easy life. 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 Razzle agent, known as a flatty, carnival jargon for the operator of a crooked big-dollar table game called a flat joint or flat store, is a professional con man with an enticing appeal. Most carnies are just people with nowhere else to go - usually no family to speak of orskills to get them a career. I dont know if it compares, but I do know that some people there worked the shady angle purposefully. Here is the story of Edgar Allen Gregory Jr., who in 1993, was captured on film during a Dateline NBC hidden camera investigation for operating a racket-show while displaying several big-dollar-fraudulent gambling games on his mobile carnival midway at the North Tennessee State Fair. During my 30-40 minute survey for Thomas, I counted 166 attempts by hoodwinked teens at $2 a shot. I had a black-sheep uncle who did carny work, as well as tons of other transient jobs. He died broke shortly thereafter. Im not sure what other highly-transient, blue collar labor force[s] youre alluding to, but I disagree that carnies only seem different from such groups because of where and how they interact with the public. 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. Cops taking the bribes are also in violation of RICO and similar state statutes. For example, according to campaign contribution records, Frank Zaitshik, Wade Shows owner, his wife Melissa, and son Garrington, contributed a combined total of $11,500 to the Michigan Democratic Central Committee on September 5, 2002, one month before Democrat Jennifer Granholm was elected governor of Michigan. 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. On November 29, 2002, Frank peeled off $5,000 in the same Florida account only days after Jeb Bush was reelected to governor. No one has an accurate figure because much of the cash is unreported industry-wide, said Riedthaler, also a retired Cleveland Police Department detective. Powered by Discourse, best viewed with JavaScript enabled. There was also the infamous Gypsy Camp Murder in Louisiana. Some believed the word to be derogatory. They dont! Yeah, it was a great movie, but I dont get the connection to carnies. 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. With 80 yards and only having to spend $2, the mark, psyched because of such good luck, is eager to buy more spills. I had observed the tub agent cheating the youngster with a deep-rooted bait-and-switch, shenanigan, called the deadening-ball trick, a slick maneuver to covertly conceal a gaff ball at the bottom of the angled tub prior to his demonstration. Get one nights sleep and start setting up in the morning. (AP) Three carnival workers have been charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of a couple at a Kansas fair whose bodies were I would set up and tear down the merry-go-round every week with the same crew; we were each other's backbone. But he apparently believed that if he had enough money, hed be able to get out of prison. Unbeknownst to authorities, Dixie Mafia leader Kirksey McCord Nix Jr. was orchestrating an elaborate extortion scheme from behind bars. On February 6, 2015, Willie Lovett was sentenced to 7.5 years in federal prison for Conspiracy to obstruct enforcement of criminal laws and related gambling crimes. OK, you GOTTA give us details! An Arizona man has been charged with human trafficking for allegedly holding Mexican workers hostage to staff his traveling carnival. 15.5% of Carnival Workers are Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% of Carnival Workers are Black or African American, 5.4% of Carnival Workers are Asian, 4.5% of Carnival Workers are Unknown, and 0.1% of Carnival Workers are American Indian and Alaska Native. In late 1991 and 1992, the grisly murder of Ault - involving carnival workers and satanism - dominated Indiana and Ohio headlines for months. In my early years as a police officer of the Dearborn Police Department and working the information desk, a man named Steve Nowosielski walked in to complain that carnival employees were stealing from the patrons with Razzle at the city carnival only 100 yards from the police station. A separate background check by Palatine police in July turned up registered sex offender Richardo Coleman of Chicago working as a merry-go-round operator for St. Charles-based Windy City Amusements Inc. Palatine does not have an ordinance, but police request a copy of carnival employees' names to run checks. It turns out their real lives have more dimension than anyone gives them credit for. Good ol Uncle Cecil. One month later, on October 1, 2002, Frank contributed $10,000 to the Republican Party of Florida Federal Campaign Account as Jeb Bush was running for reelection to governor of Florida. Slick carnival entrepreneurs are business-savvy. When cheating for money occurs, it is no longer a game, but a crime. Also zeroed in as targets, are members of the U.S. military. As reported in the Savannah Morning News, the government contended Lovett and Randall Roach (Magic Midway carnival owner) schemed from 2004 until September 27, 2013, when Lovett retired. In an attempt to skirt responsibility for the crooks in question, playing their crooked games, Century 21 Shows manager Jeremy Bendsons acted innocent when questioned by the reporter while playing the customary independent contractor card. All states will allow honest games of chance at not-for-profit fundraisers, such as raffles or millionaire parties for charitable organizations and churches. 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. The new law, sponsored by State Senator But even incarceration couldnt stop them from committing crimes. The bill would increase fines for amusement companies for failing to check the criminal history of new hires. For other uses, see. The mark will pay $4 for the next play, than $8, then $16, then $32, and so, every time 29 is tallied. Festival carnivals are usually sponsored by charitable service organizations such as Kiwanis, Jaycees, Shriners, or neighborhood churches, which lend legitimacy to the for-profit midway games. Its not a gig where they ask too many questions about your personal or employment history or your plans for the future. 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. 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