Bonus Episode: Philadelphia Strip Club Corruption Case, Frank Antico – Pay To Play

Special thanks to Gangland Wire podcast co-hosts Gary Jenkins and Aaron Gnirk.

Gary and Aaron allowed me to re-post this episode from their show on FBI Retired Case File Review. I was interviewed on the Gangland Wire podcast in October 2017 and it was such a fun and crazy episode I thought I would share it with you here.  After  you listen to this episode, please give Gary some love and check out his podcast at GanglandWire.com or any of the popular podcasts app.

The main thing you need to know about this case is that before Harvey Weinstein, there was Frank Antico, Sr. and Boobgate. This true crime FBI Philadelphia strip club investigation featured extortion, sex, money, and more and a case review is certainly timely and relevant.  Some of Frank Antico’s antics will shock you. One important disclaimer: This was not my case, but I know it well because it inspired me to write my FBI crime thriller, Pay To Play.

Here’s a summary of the Frank Antico investigation:

Frank Antico, an official in the Philadelphia’s Department of Licenses & Inspections, was sentenced to 63 months in prison, as well as a $10,000 fine, for a 13-year-reign of racketeering, extortion, and fraud. He was convicted of racketeering for extorting money from topless bars, a check-cashing agency, a nightclub, houses of prostitution and a private businesswoman between 1983 and 1995. The jury also convicted him of defrauding city residents of his loyal services by setting up his mistress as a private consultant who could get permits and zoning quickly for clients that he sent to her. The mistress made more than $700,000 over 10 years and, in return, the L&I official didn’t have to pay her about $30,000 in child support for their two sons. Four ex-lovers of the L&I official who testified for the prosecution and other witnesses portrayed him as an oversexed, middle-aged, city bureaucrat who haunted topless bars and took anything owners gave him, including free sex, even after he became L&I’s chief inspector in the 1990s. Evidence showed that out on the town, he was treated by club owners to free booze, food, $100 bills, couch dances, a pig roast, a picnic for his pals, strippers for a deputy mayor, limo rides and Phillies tickets. All evidence of pay to play. In return, club operators could operate outside the law. (Source – Philadelphia Daily News)

The following are links to newspaper articles about the Frank Antico investigation and the release of my crime novel Pay To Play:

Philadelphia Daily News – May 12, 1999: Frank Antico Convicted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

City Paper – May, 1999:  Thanks for the Mammaries

Billy Penn – July 15, 2015: Bribes, strippers, corruption and red tape: Philadelphia’s Department of Licenses and Inspection

Philadelphia Inquirer – November 12, 2015:  Jerri Williams quits SEPTA to pen steamy crime novel

Philly Mag – November 10, 2015:  SEPTA Spokeswoman Jerri Williams Plots New Career: Crime Novelist

Pay To Play is a crime novel about a female FBI agent investigating corruption in the Philadelphia strip club industry. It was inspired by the Frank Antico case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jerri Williams

View posts by Jerri Williams
Jerri Williams, a retired FBI agent, author and podcaster, jokes that she writes about the FBI to relive her glory days. After 26 years with the Bureau specializing in major economic fraud and corruption investigations, she calls on her professional encounters with scams and schemers to write police procedurals inspired by true crime FBI cases in her Philadelphia FBI Corruption Squad crime fiction series featuring flawed female FBI agent Kari Wheeler. Jerri’s FBI for Armchair Detectives nonfiction series enables readers to discover who the FBI is and what the FBI does by debunking misconceptions about the FBI in books, TV, and movies. Her books are available as ebooks, paperbacks, and audiobooks wherever books are sold. She’s also the host of FBI Retired Case File Review, a true crime podcast with more than 300 episodes available on all popular podcast apps and YouTube.

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