Investigating America's Most Notorious Strip Club: The FBI, The Gold Club, and the Mafia

by Mark Sewell

Overview

"Fans of true crime will praise this in-depth account of a notorious organized-crime case." - Library Journal, Starred Review

"Sewell sheds new light on a high-profile case in this exciting and superbly told history." -Booklist

Retired FBI Special Agent Mark Sewell was a rookie in 1997 when he was assigned to investigate mafia associate Steve Kaplan and his enormously successful Atlanta strip club; the largest single money maker for the Gambino Crime Family. Accompanied by a small team of investigators, the hand-picked unit followed a money trail, that wound up implicating a Gambino Captain, police officers, strippers, and many of the most recognized professional athletes in America. The subsequent 2001 trial was covered nationally by the leading media outlets, from television newscasts to late night talk shows and nationally published magazines pushing new, sensational headlines daily. Sewell was at the center of the storm that dominated media headlines in the summer of 2001 and provides a never-before seen inside view of the FBI’s most successful financial win against an organized crime family in the agency’s history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538190975
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	06/18/2024
Pages:	266
Sales rank:	232,504
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.35(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Mark Sewell is a Marine veteran and a retired FBI agent, having worked violent crime investigations his entire 20-year career. From arresting outlaw bikers in North Georgia to helping capture radical terrorists in the mountains of Afghanistan, Mark began his career in 1997 by successfully investigating and prosecuting organized crime members. Today, he continues to provide law enforcement instruction and share his experience with agencies around the world.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Introduction

Part I: The Investigation

1. The Methodology

2. The Search Warrants

3. The Grand Jury

4. Corruption?

5. The Athletes

6. The Indictment

7. The Director and the Wristwatch

8. Kastigar and the Ex-Girlfriends

9. The Mafia

Part II: The Trial

10. The Stage is Set

11. Opening Statements

12. Videotape Drama

13. May’s Witnesses—The Mafia

14. June’s Witnesses—The Insiders

15. July’s Witnesses—Closing the Gap

16. August’s Witnesses—The Plea

17. Closing Arguments

18. Sentencing Day

19. But, It Is Not Over…

Index

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Sewell puts the reader in a ring-side seat at the biggest federal criminal trial in Atlanta’s history. His thorough chronicle of the FBI’s takedown of the Gold Club empire brings you face-to-face with mobsters, famous athletes, exotic dancers, and dozens of other colorful characters.

Robert McBurney

Retired FBI agent Mark Sewell’s true crime memoir, Investigating America’s Most Notorious Strip Club, chronicles a complex investigation in a way easily understood. Mark describes the case in great detail, the investigative logic and techniques, as well as the rules and procedures governing the ensuing federal trial. A must-read for the connoisseur of true crime.

R. Scott Decker

Who says prostitution is a victimless crime? In this outstanding book retired FBI Special Agent Mark Sewell pulls back the cover on this myth to reveal the real power players and money makers, the notorious Gambino Mafia family.

David Nadolski

A vivid account of the FBI's crusade to rid the criminal underground of its ground zero in Atlanta known as "The Gold Club," as well as take down senior members of the Mob in NY and Miami. True crime at its finest!

Michael Santini

When Sewell joined the FBI in 1997, he didn't know that his assignment to the Atlanta field office would be a baptism by fire. He was partnered with a senior agent on his first job, which involved an infamous gentleman’s club called the Gold Club…. Sewell sheds new light on a high-profile case in this exciting and superbly told history. His insider status puts readers right there, alongside agents working to topple an organized crime fiefdom through enigmatic paper trails, shady informants, and covert surveillance without tipping their hands to their targets.

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Booklist

This book has it all: Wiseguys, celebrities, professional athletes, strippers, sex, drugs, and the FBI. You won’t be able to put it down. Outstanding work, Special Agent Mark Sewell!

Joaquin "Jack" Garcia

Mark Sewell's first-hand meticulous account of his investigation into this major organized crime operation is a true crime lover's dream.

Anthony Amore

★ 07/26/2024

Retired FBI agent Sewell guides readers through the investigation of Atlanta's Gold Club, an ultra-successful strip club that was found to be a significant source of income—with annual revenues of as much as $20 million—for the Gambino organized-crime family. The book shows how entrepreneur and mafia associate Steve Kaplan bought the club in 1994 and built it into an establishment that attracted numerous professional athletes and other celebrities. In 1996, the FBI started investigating the Gold Club for allegations of prostitution, credit card fraud, obstruction of justice, extortion, money-laundering, bribing police, and paying protection money to the New York-based Gambino family. Sewell, a rookie FBI agent at the time, was assigned to the case in 1997 and eventually became the lead investigator due to his ability to cultivate informants. His book is divided into two parts. The first fascinating section follows the FBI's methodical approach to investigating the Gold Club, including its use of surveillance, search warrants, and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division. Part Two uses trial transcripts and media coverage to bolster Sewell's acerbic commentary on the fate of the Gold Club. Two Gold Club-associated defendants were acquitted, but Kaplan eventually pled guilty to racketeering, paid a multimillion-dollar fine, and closed the club. VERDICT Fans of true crime will praise this in-depth account of a notorious organized-crime case.—Harry Charles

Library Journal