K&A Gang
Encyclopedia
The K&A Gang also known as the Northeast Philly Mob is a predominantly Irish American
criminal network in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. The gang was started following World War II
and controlled Philadelphia's Irish criminal underworld for much of the late 1900s. The group was mainly a burglary ring for much of its early history, but shifted into loansharking and gambling. The name K&A is derived from Kensington and Allegheny
, the intersection where the gang originally started. In the 1980s many members of the gang were indicted for methamphetamine
trafficking charges which weakened the gang. Throughout the 1990s the gang's activities went on with out much notoriety and in the 2000s there was debate about the gang's activities. The gang has strong ties to the Mafia
and other American crime syndicates.
The group is known to have links to the local Italian mafia, the Irish Republican Army, Polish Mob, Jewish criminals and various independent drug and hijacking gangs of various European ethnicities. Also formerly known to have ties to the Philadelphia Roofers Union, Local 30 through president John McCullough
From the post-war 1950's to the 1970s, members of the network would be tied to robberies and operations all along the East Coast.
Their reach even extended outside the boundaries of Philadelphia as they targeted other ventures. In North Carolina
, several member were known as the "Hallmark Gang" and would collaborate with the Dixie Mafia
. They are also allegedly responsible for the infamous Pottsville Heist in 1959. George Holmes, alleges that a showgirl named Lillian Reis gave the gang the tip they needed to pilfer $478,000 in cash and jewelry from the home of John B. Rich. Lillian "Tiger Lil" Reis was a well-known nightclub entrepaneur and former showgirl whom had ties to the gangsters.
There were even reports of K&A shennanigans as far south as Miami and as far west as Texas.
During the 1980s, Philadelphia rapidly garnered a reputation as the "meth capital of the nation." It is widely held that these efforts were aided largely by the K&A Gangs' involvement in cooperation with such groups as the Pagans MC
and the Philadelphia Greek Mob
through Chelsais Bouras.
John Berkery, a man whom worked very close with Kripplebauer soon found himself at the top of the K&A Gang. Certainly not by choice, but as the most competent of racketeers. Berkery along with other began to involve themselves in the methamphetamine business. With very lucrative profits in Philadelphia's fiercely competitive drug trade, so came the guns and violence attracted. Formerly a loose coalition of mischievous cat burglars, the K&A Gang would expand into other rackets establishing it's foothold in the Northeast.
In August 1987, 23 affiliates of the K&A meth ring were indicted under federal drug manufacturing charges. At the head of the operation was Carl Jackson, whom authorities believe produced roughly ten-million dollars worth of speed in hidden labs in the Pennsylvania area. At the time US Attorney Edward Dennis, claimed in a press release that the gang is "one of the largest methamphetamine organizations in the nation." Edward Loney was to have arranged the obtaining of 50-gallons of P2P, a precursor chemical, along with Waldemar "Walter" Roeder.
In 1987, Carl Jackson, a reputed member of the K&A Gang was found guilty of methamphetamine drug trafficking. Jackson was alleged to have taken over the enterprise after John Berkery fled to Ireland
to avoid prosecution.
and Joseph Merlino
were heating up. Stanfa employed the K&A Gang as muscle against the Young Turks. It was around this time that Edward "Billy Shamrock" Harding, filled the power vacuum that Carl Jackson left behind after his 1987 arrest. Shamr
In the early 2000s, when Raymond "Long John" Martorano was released from prison. It is rumoured that he sought the aid of several local criminal outfits, along with the sanction of the Five Families in order to take over the Scarfo crime family. To this end, he enlisted the help of various biker gangs, including the Pagans and Warlocks. It was also alleged he had hired a couple dozen hitmen from the Northeast Philly Mob for the forthcoming mob war. In 2002, Ray "Long John" Martorano was gunned while he made his way to a doctor's office. Ray and former K&A figurehead John Berkery had been associates in the methamphetamine trade in the early-80s, ending with both of them being indicted. Martorano being convicted and Berkery fleeing to Ireland
In the 2000s, the group has remained very much under the radar after the testimony from informants such as the Murtaugh brothers and David Criniti and some speculate they reduced their activities immensely. When Ray Matorano was shot and killed on the way to his doctor's office, the war had ended before it got off the ground.
In 2008, at a bar called McWhitney's the body of an alleged associate of Harding's, James "Seamus" O'Niell, was found beaten and wrapped in the basement.
They have held strongholds in the Northeast, Kensington and Port Richmond. Also some area in south Philly around 2nd street.
Paddy Whacks Bar and McWhiteys Bar both in Port Richmond
While originally starting out in the neighborhood of Kensington, extended into Fishtown
They have held strongholds in the Northeast, Kensington and Port Richmond. Also some area in south Philly around 2nd street.
Paddy Whacks Bar and McWhiteys Bar both in Port Richmond
Collaborations with key members of the Dixie Mafia
in the south led to several members joining their ranks. The likes of Will Snell, Carlton Russel, and Edward Falkner specifically. When operating in Birmingham in partnership, they had begun to be known as the "Celtics", a subgroup of the Dixie Mafia
led by Carlton "The General" Russell.
Celtics", a subgroup of the Dixie Mafia
led by Carlton "The General" Russell.
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
criminal network in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. The gang was started following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and controlled Philadelphia's Irish criminal underworld for much of the late 1900s. The group was mainly a burglary ring for much of its early history, but shifted into loansharking and gambling. The name K&A is derived from Kensington and Allegheny
West Kensington, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
West Kensington is a neighborhood in the North Philadelphia section of Philadelphia. It is north of Olde Kensington. The Market Frankford El above Front Street forms the line between West Kensington and its bordering neighborhoods to the east , although its other boundaries are less well-defined...
, the intersection where the gang originally started. In the 1980s many members of the gang were indicted for methamphetamine
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
trafficking charges which weakened the gang. Throughout the 1990s the gang's activities went on with out much notoriety and in the 2000s there was debate about the gang's activities. The gang has strong ties to the Mafia
American Mafia
The American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
and other American crime syndicates.
The group is known to have links to the local Italian mafia, the Irish Republican Army, Polish Mob, Jewish criminals and various independent drug and hijacking gangs of various European ethnicities. Also formerly known to have ties to the Philadelphia Roofers Union, Local 30 through president John McCullough
Beginnings as a burglary ring
The origins of the confederation known as the K&A gang, had their humble origins in home burglaries according to Allen Hornblum's biography of Louis "Junior" Kripplebauer. In Confessions of a Second Story Man, the book elaborates how the fledgling burglary ring then known as the K&A Gang committed a series of suburban home robberies for a period of nearly 20 years. Kripplebauer was the first true leader amongst the mostly Irish-American burglars. Edward Burke, William Sears, and a young John Berkery were equally important figures whom all had their own degree of authority due to experience.From the post-war 1950's to the 1970s, members of the network would be tied to robberies and operations all along the East Coast.
Their reach even extended outside the boundaries of Philadelphia as they targeted other ventures. In North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, several member were known as the "Hallmark Gang" and would collaborate with the Dixie Mafia
Dixie Mafia
The Dixie Mafia is a criminal organization based in Biloxi, Mississippi, and operated primarily in the Southern United States, in the 1970s. The group uses each member's talents in various crime categories to help move stolen merchandise, illegal alcohol, and illegal drugs...
. They are also allegedly responsible for the infamous Pottsville Heist in 1959. George Holmes, alleges that a showgirl named Lillian Reis gave the gang the tip they needed to pilfer $478,000 in cash and jewelry from the home of John B. Rich. Lillian "Tiger Lil" Reis was a well-known nightclub entrepaneur and former showgirl whom had ties to the gangsters.
There were even reports of K&A shennanigans as far south as Miami and as far west as Texas.
1980s Methamphetamine expansion
By the late 1970s, with the advent of modern home-security technologies, the burglary racket was loosing it's luster.During the 1980s, Philadelphia rapidly garnered a reputation as the "meth capital of the nation." It is widely held that these efforts were aided largely by the K&A Gangs' involvement in cooperation with such groups as the Pagans MC
Pagans MC
Pagan's Motorcycle Club, or simply The Pagans, is a one-percenter outlaw motorcycle gang and an alleged organized crime syndicate formed by Lou Dobkin in 1959 in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States...
and the Philadelphia Greek Mob
Philadelphia Greek Mob
Philadelphia's Greek Mob, or the Greek Mafia, are a low-profile criminal organization of ethnic Greek Americans with alleged connections to the Italian Philadelphia crime family. They were formed in southern Greece by the original boss Steve Kondonyanis. Kondonyanis also had strong ties with the...
through Chelsais Bouras.
John Berkery, a man whom worked very close with Kripplebauer soon found himself at the top of the K&A Gang. Certainly not by choice, but as the most competent of racketeers. Berkery along with other began to involve themselves in the methamphetamine business. With very lucrative profits in Philadelphia's fiercely competitive drug trade, so came the guns and violence attracted. Formerly a loose coalition of mischievous cat burglars, the K&A Gang would expand into other rackets establishing it's foothold in the Northeast.
In August 1987, 23 affiliates of the K&A meth ring were indicted under federal drug manufacturing charges. At the head of the operation was Carl Jackson, whom authorities believe produced roughly ten-million dollars worth of speed in hidden labs in the Pennsylvania area. At the time US Attorney Edward Dennis, claimed in a press release that the gang is "one of the largest methamphetamine organizations in the nation." Edward Loney was to have arranged the obtaining of 50-gallons of P2P, a precursor chemical, along with Waldemar "Walter" Roeder.
In 1987, Carl Jackson, a reputed member of the K&A Gang was found guilty of methamphetamine drug trafficking. Jackson was alleged to have taken over the enterprise after John Berkery fled to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
to avoid prosecution.
Involvement in the Philadelphia Mafia Conflicts
During the 1990s, as tensions between John StanfaJohn Stanfa
Giovanni "John the Dour Don" Stanfa is a former acting boss of the Scarfo crime family. Convicted of multiple charges in 1995, Stanfa is currently serving five consecutive life sentences.-Early life and Mafia member:...
and Joseph Merlino
Joseph Merlino
Joseph Salvatore "Skinny Joey" Merlino was the boss of the Philadelphia crime family from 1994 to 1999, despite Ralph Natale being officially the boss, and was said to have led it primarily in extortion, bookmaking, drug trafficking, and loan sharking.-Family mob ties:Joseph Salvatore Merlino a.k.a...
were heating up. Stanfa employed the K&A Gang as muscle against the Young Turks. It was around this time that Edward "Billy Shamrock" Harding, filled the power vacuum that Carl Jackson left behind after his 1987 arrest. Shamr
In the early 2000s, when Raymond "Long John" Martorano was released from prison. It is rumoured that he sought the aid of several local criminal outfits, along with the sanction of the Five Families in order to take over the Scarfo crime family. To this end, he enlisted the help of various biker gangs, including the Pagans and Warlocks. It was also alleged he had hired a couple dozen hitmen from the Northeast Philly Mob for the forthcoming mob war. In 2002, Ray "Long John" Martorano was gunned while he made his way to a doctor's office. Ray and former K&A figurehead John Berkery had been associates in the methamphetamine trade in the early-80s, ending with both of them being indicted. Martorano being convicted and Berkery fleeing to Ireland
Decline and current dormancy
In the early 2000s, the Traitz brothers, whom were connected to the K&A Gang through the Roofers Union where idicted on the murder of Robert Hammond. He was allegedly assumed to be an informant on the meth operation that the Traitz brother ran in tandem with members of the K&A gang. David Criniti whom was involved in the operation soon testified against the defendants, dealing a blow to the K&A GangIn the 2000s, the group has remained very much under the radar after the testimony from informants such as the Murtaugh brothers and David Criniti and some speculate they reduced their activities immensely. When Ray Matorano was shot and killed on the way to his doctor's office, the war had ended before it got off the ground.
Recent Activity
In 2007, Edward "Billy Shamrock" Harding, died fromIn 2008, at a bar called McWhitney's the body of an alleged associate of Harding's, James "Seamus" O'Niell, was found beaten and wrapped in the basement.
Modus Operandi
While originally starting out in the neighborhood of Kensington, extended into FishtownThey have held strongholds in the Northeast, Kensington and Port Richmond. Also some area in south Philly around 2nd street.
Paddy Whacks Bar and McWhiteys Bar both in Port Richmond
While originally starting out in the neighborhood of Kensington, extended into Fishtown
They have held strongholds in the Northeast, Kensington and Port Richmond. Also some area in south Philly around 2nd street.
Paddy Whacks Bar and McWhiteys Bar both in Port Richmond
Outside of Philadelphia
During the early period of the groups existence, several key members were fairly untethered. As at that time their only pursuit was burglary, they often traveled to where the score was. This took them to North Carolina, Maine, Texas, Florida amongst other places. Oftentimes they would become more notorious in these locales rather than their hometown of Philadelphia.Collaborations with key members of the Dixie Mafia
Dixie Mafia
The Dixie Mafia is a criminal organization based in Biloxi, Mississippi, and operated primarily in the Southern United States, in the 1970s. The group uses each member's talents in various crime categories to help move stolen merchandise, illegal alcohol, and illegal drugs...
in the south led to several members joining their ranks. The likes of Will Snell, Carlton Russel, and Edward Falkner specifically. When operating in Birmingham in partnership, they had begun to be known as the "Celtics", a subgroup of the Dixie Mafia
Dixie Mafia
The Dixie Mafia is a criminal organization based in Biloxi, Mississippi, and operated primarily in the Southern United States, in the 1970s. The group uses each member's talents in various crime categories to help move stolen merchandise, illegal alcohol, and illegal drugs...
led by Carlton "The General" Russell.
Celtics", a subgroup of the Dixie Mafia
Dixie Mafia
The Dixie Mafia is a criminal organization based in Biloxi, Mississippi, and operated primarily in the Southern United States, in the 1970s. The group uses each member's talents in various crime categories to help move stolen merchandise, illegal alcohol, and illegal drugs...
led by Carlton "The General" Russell.
See also
- Kensington neighborhoodKensington, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaKensington is a neighborhood in the United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is between the Lower Northeast section of Philadelphia and North Philadelphia. Not to be confused with the former Kensington District, now commonly referred to as Fishtown, the area modernly referred to as...
- Irish MobIrish MobThe Irish Mob is one of the oldest organized crime groups in the United States, in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish American street gangs of the 19th century — depicted in Herbert Asbury's 1928 book The Gangs of New York — the Irish Mob has appeared in most...
- Bling RingBling RingThe Bling Ring, sometimes referred to as the "Hollywood Hills Burglar Bunch", "The Burglar Bunch", or the "Hollywood Hills Burglars", were a group, mostly of teenagers based in and around Calabasas, California, who burglarized the homes of several celebrities over a period believed to have been...