When Corruption Was KingWhen Corruption Was King

Bob Cooley was the Chicago Mafia's "mechanic"--a fixer of court cases. During the 1970s and '80s, he bribed judges, juries, and cops to keep his Mob clients out of jail. Paid handsomely for his services, he lived fast and enjoyed the protection of the men he served. Yet by the end of the '90s, without a pending conviction, he became the star witness in nine federal trials that took down the most powerful Mafia family in the history of organized crime. When Corruption Was King is the story of a Mob lawyer turned mole with a million-dollar contract on his head who vacillated between sin and sainthood--a turbulent youth, a stint on the police force, law school, and then the inner sanctum of Chicago's wise guys. In a startling act of conscience, Cooley helped convict the very Mafia overlords who had made him a player. This is the personal story behind the federal government's most successful Mafia investigation.