by David Howard
“opened a new curtain”: Interview with Fuller.
more than nineteen hundred telexes: Robert Hodierne, “A Con Man Gets Stung at His Own Game,” Charlotte Observer, December 24, 1978.
Chapter 24: Hobson’s Choice
I pieced together Kitzer’s plight in jail partly through his lawyer’s court filings and through inferences made from Frank Oliver’s three-page letter in November 1977, referenced below. Another key piece came from Jack Elliott’s testimony in the Orange County trial of Vince Carrano and Jack Fulton. And, of course, Brennan and Wedick met him a few weeks after his arrest and saw his condition firsthand. Various legal motions and correspondence cited in this chapter—including the Oliver letter—are part of the case file in U.S. v. Kaye and Calandrella. To read about trial highlights, see Bill Osinski’s stories in the Louisville Courier-Journal, including “FBI Agent Describes His World Travels with Con Artist,” February 17; and “Con Man Testifies About Promoting Costly Fraud Schemes,” February 18, 1978.
set Kitzer’s bond: U.S District Judge Charles M. Allen’s bail order for Kitzer is part of the case file in U.S. v. Kaye and Calandrella.
“told me that he was broke”: Testimony of Jack Elliott (California v. Carrano et al.). Elliott testified that he sent Kitzer money a couple of times before losing contact with him. On October 23, 1977—a few days after Kitzer’s arrest—Joe Cordero wrote a story in the Orange County Register about Elliott’s own legal troubles in London (“OC Man Charged in London Forgery Case”) in which Elliott is quoted as saying, “I’ve never seen Kitzer do a dishonest thing.”
Phil kept no books: See Kitzer’s testimony in U.S. v. Kaye and Calandrella.
phony birth certificates: “Illegal Donations Admitted,” Northwest Indiana Times, November 10, 1977.
forty-six phone calls: From court filings in Louisville (U.S. v. Kaye and Calandrella).
He had no one representing: Kitzer’s testimony in U.S. v. Martell.
“They conned me”: Kitzer’s testimony in U.S. v. Gerhardt and Andornato.
“Listen to these names”: Nick Coleman, “Ellendale Wondered About Phil Kitzer,” Minneapolis Tribune, March 12, 1978.
“a rip-off artist”: From transcript of Louisville trial (U.S. v. Kaye and Calandrella).
“they would have him under”: Paul Redmond’s statements transcribed in Louisville (U.S. v. Kaye and Calandrella), during a pretrial chambers conversation.
Chapter 25: The Phil Kitzer Road Show
For a comprehensive summary of the Louisville case against John Kaye and John Calandrella, see the appellate decision of the United States Court of Appeal, Sixth Circuit, decided on August 31, 1979. The Docket Nos. are 78-5341 and 78-5342.
“damaging testimony”: Bill Osinski, “Two Men Convicted for Involvement in Fraud Scheme,” Louisville Courier-Journal, March 8, 1978.
He received his ten-year: “Two Sentenced for Attempt to Defraud,” Louisville Courier-Journal, March 11, 1978.
“without peer as a con”: Steve Hamilton, “How the FBI Cracked the $110,000 Con Game,” True Detective, September 1979, p. 76.
“world’s greatest con man”: “The Ultimate Con,” Knight-Ridder Newspapers (Ellensburg Daily Record), August 7, 1981.
“King of Scam”: Walter Wright, “King of Scam Royally Conned Pigeons Until FBI Caged Him,” Honolulu Advertiser, May 9, 1980.
a “genie” who could: Evan Maxwell, “Genie Flitted Around Swiss Vaults but His Bottle Was Corked,” Los Angeles Times, July 17, 1978.
“master con artist”: Assistant U.S. Attorney David Everett used the phrase in chambers during the Louisville trial (U.S. v. Kaye and Calandrella).
“going up against Dr. J”: Greg Edwards, “Witness in Fraud Trial Sticks to Story,” Kansas City Times, December 8, 1978.
“too smooth a talker”: From Kitzer’s testimony in U.S. v. Gerhardt and Adornato.
“smiles and says it was”: Robert Hodierne, “A Con Man Gets Stung at His Own Game,” Charlotte Observer, December 24, 1978.
“the Phillip Kitzer method of finance”: Maxwell, “Genie Flitted.”
“the absolute highest levels of”: Evan Maxwell, “A Con Man Falls Prey to FBI’s Sting,” Los Angeles Times, March 13, 1978.
“probably very conservative”: Evan Maxwell, “Fraud Suspect May Be Linked to Vault Theft,” Los Angeles Times, October 21, 1977.
“led to discovery”: Richard Hanning memo to David T. Ready, U.S. attorney, Northern District of Indiana, November 16, 1977.
Even after the FBI informed: Walter Wright, “How Undercover Pair Pulled Plug on Scam,” Honolulu Sunday Star-Bulletin & Advertiser, January 6, 1980.
“And that is what you have put away?”: This exchange took place during Kitzer’s Louisville testimony (U.S. v. Kaye and Calandrella).
In June 1978: This document is part of the case file in the Hammond trial (U.S. v. Chovanec).
“The witness protection”: Interview with Tom Baker.
“apparent willingness to state”: From Oliver’s affidavit dated July 18, 1978, filed in Charlotte, North Carolina, as part of U.S. v. Oliver. For more on Oliver’s arrest, see John O’Brien, “Tax-Evading Chicago Lawyer Indicted in Bank-Fraud Scheme,” Chicago Tribune, June 7, 1978.
“You son of a gun”: Letter courtesy of Wedick.
all received five-year sentences: Theodore A. Driscoll, “D’Amato Receives Sentence in Fraud,” Hartford Courant, February 21, 1979. Bendis’s sentence was later reduced to one year because of family hardship.
“I had never been out shopping”: Interview with Allen Ezell.
That same year, the FBI: Joseph D. Pistone with Richard Woodley, Donnie Brasco: My Life in the Mafia (New York: New American Library, 1987), p. 28.
“I got the impression”: Interview with Dan Bent.
“dapper, tanned, and dark-haired”: Walter Wright, “A Con Artist Explains the ‘Condo Caper,’ ” Honolulu Advertiser, May 7, 1980.
“If ever a case required”: Walter Wright, “Iuteri Gets 15-Year Prison Term in ’77 Loan Swindle of Kealoha,” Honolulu Advertiser, July 8, 1980. For more on Iuteri’s past, see Walter Wright’s “Iuteri Tied to Murder, Beatings” in the Advertiser on July 3, 1980, and “Iuteri Called a Killer for Mafia” on July 8, 1980.
“one of the main members”: Letter from Elaine Hurni, examining magistrate, Geneva, to the FBI director, July 13, 1979. Provided by Wedick.
“sudden and dramatic change”: Final report of the Select Committee to Study Undercover Activities of Components of the Department of Justice, December 15, 1982, p. 1.
That night, the accrued: Kitzer described his ordeal with his ulcer in U.S. v. Gerhardt and Adornato.
Chapter 26: One More Thing
Kitzer, by necessity, flew under the radar as an FBI operative. The Barron’s story cited below is one of the few instances when he was publicly named in this capacity.
“I would be capable”: From Kitzer’s testimony in U.S. v. Gerhardt and Adornato.
the newspaper ran: Jim Drinkhall, “Paper Pirates,” Wall Street Journal, March 23, 1981.
$4 million cooking crystal: “Suspects in Drug Lab Case Denied Bond,” Mobile Register, December 20, 1985.
$36,000-a-year informant: Brennan and Wedick described Kitzer’s work as informant, but this came from Barbara Conway, “Alabama Sting: World-Class Con Man Meets His Match in Mobile,” Barron’s, June 27, 1983.
Mobile Municipal Airport: “Two Sentenced in Drug Case,” Mobile Register, August 2, 1986.
Epilogue
a theatrical supply house: Robert Hodierne and Mary Walton, “The Sting: From New York to Florida to New Jersey to Washington to Philadelphia,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 10, 1980.
“If not for those guys”: Interview with Myron Fuller.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DAVID HOWARD is the author of Lost Rights. He has written for the New York Times, Outside, Men’s Journal, Travel + Leisure, and Bicycling, among other outlets. He lives in Pennsylvania with his
wife and son.
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