CRIME: Putting Heat on the Sunbelt Mafia

(2 of 3)

The charges against Robert Goldwater were much the same; the reports detailed some of the sizable gambling debts he had run up at casinos. The case against Rosenzweig was considerably more serious. "He had nurtured prostitution and gambling in Phoenix for years," declared the report. Rosenzweig once owned apartments that were rented out to prostitutes whom he supplied to visiting businessmen. References to him as the "Diamond Man" were found in prostitutes' "trick books." Last year, said the report, he guaranteed a $25,000 loan to an associate of mobsters to start a private club in Phoenix. Rosenzweig does not plan to respond to the charges until the articles are completed.

The series was carried by many dailies around the country, but several papers delayed running it or published it in abbreviated form, including the New York Times and Washington Post, which had declined to participate in the group effort. Bolles' own paper, the Arizona Republic, did not run the series on the ground that it was inadequately documented. Barry Goldwater, who had refused to be interviewed for the series, responded with outrage and hinted at the "biggest ever" libel suit in U.S. history. He also challenged Robert Greene, the Newsday editor who directed the investigative group, to name one gangster living in Arizona. Greene quickly responded with the name of Joe Bonanno, who lives in Tucson, and he said he could produce another 199.

Atmosphere of Arrogance. Professional journalists generally give the IRE team high marks for thoroughness. Facts were accumulated on some 40,000 file cards; they were checked and double-checked and challenged by three lawyers. Future installments will include an examination of Arizona Governor Raul Castro's activities and an analysis of the traffic in drugs and stolen goods. Bill Hazlett, an investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times, says of the series so far: "The writing is kind of hack and it has a screaming or vigilante tone to it that detracts from the fine work the group has done. Their real purpose is not to say Barry Goldwater is a crook but to show the atmosphere of arrogance and poor regard for the law."