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About The Book

"A new voice in true crime storytelling."

Wiseguys, Rabbis, and the FBI

by J.A. Schwartzman with Melvin Cooper


He was an entrepreneur. He was a loanshark. He was in big trouble. 

Mel Cooper didn't set out to become the biggest loanshark in New York City or a fugitive on the run. But his easy relationship with New York's organized crime families helped him bend the rules and take risks that led to ever-increasing chaos. 


Cooper spent his early career in business, financing equipment for New York's then-Mafia-controlled carting industry. But when he partnered with a Long Island dentist who was "mobbed up to his ears," Cooper began making illegal loans to New York restaurants, clubs, and more, easing into a multi-million dollar loansharking operation.


It all fell apart when he financed a club called The Cowboy Palace. The club attracted informants, mobsters, hustlers, wannabe tough guys, and ultimately, the FBI. When the chaos become too much, the justice department moved in; Cooper and his partner were arrested along with Mafia captains Jimmy Rotondo, Michael Franzese, and others, indicted by then-US Attorney Rudy Giuliani. In one of his first high-profile RICO trials, Giuliani accused Cooper of being a front for the Mafia. Cooper claimed it was a group of Long Island rabbis behind his loans.The trial ended in a 30 year prison sentence for Cooper and his partner. 


After only one year in jail, Cooper was accidentally released in a clerical error, and escaped his 30-year prison sentence. His escape and life as a fugitive are the highlights of his criminal misadventures.  Wiseguys, Rabbis, and the FBI is a driving tale that takes readers from New York City to an Indiana prison to Fort Lauderdale where Mel lived after his escape. It's a mirror to the schemes, mayhem, folly, and corruption that characterized the 1980s New York, and which echo to this day.  

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Meet the characters

 Below are some snapshots from Wiseguys, Rabbis, and the FBI.

1985 trial
Photo FBI agent Walter Stowe Jr.
Phtoto of Mel, Terre Haute Penitentiary.
Photo of Chaim Gerlitz
Photo Michael Franzese
Photo, Judge Leonard B. Sand
Photo of Cooper
Photo of Rudy Giuliani
Photo Mel Cooper
Photo inmates, Terre Haute
Photo of Cooper in Manhattan
Photo Jesse Hyman
Mel's friend Caspar
Photo, Ray brook
Photo, Terre Haute
Photo Mel Cooper
Cooper and brother
Vic"Little Vic" Orena
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Copyright © 2025 Wiseguys, Rabbis, and the FBI - All Rights Reserved.

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