Tackling The Mafia And Dangers of Informants: Retired FBI Agent Speaks. Special Episode. “This is a part of FBI work the public almost never sees,” Vinton explains. “When you’re Tackling The Mafia And the Dangers of Informants, you’re operating in a world where loyalty is a currency, and betrayal can cost lives or careers.” Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast social media like their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LawEnforcementTalkRadioShow">Facebook </a> , <a href="https://www.instagram.com/letradioshowpodcast/"> Instagram </a> , <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnjwiley/"> LinkedIn </a> , <a href="https://medium.com/@letradioshow"> Medium</a> and other social media platforms.
In a powerful Special Episode now streaming on the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast website, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and most every major Podcast platform, retired FBI agent and author Tom Vinton offers a rare, firsthand look into the world of organized crime, dangerous informants, and the internal risks faced by federal investigators. Promoted across Facebook, Instagram, and other News outlets, the episode takes listeners deep into the heart of New York’s most violent Mafia crime families, and into the shadows where informants and agents walk a thin line between justice and treachery.
Inside the Mafia Wars of the 1980s
The episode dives into the turbulent 1980s, a decade defined by upheaval within the Gambino Crime Family, from the Crime Boss's leadership to his shocking 1985 assassination and the meteoric rise of another Boss. Vinton recalls the era as one marked by international heroin trafficking, brutal territorial battles, and the historic Mafia Commission Trial, which took aim at the leadership of all five New York Mafia families. Tackling The Mafia And Dangers of Informants: Retired FBI Agent Speaks. Special Episode. Look for supporting articles about this and much more from Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast in platforms like <a href="https://medium.com/@letradioshow" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Medium </a> , <a href="https://lawenforcementtalkradio.blogspot.com"> Blogspot </a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnjwiley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Linkedin </a> .
“The Commission Trial was a seismic shift,” Vinton says. “For the first time, the FBI could expose how the families cooperated, organized, and profited. It changed the direction of organized crime investigations forever.”
The Perils of Informants: “A Necessary Evil”
Vinton’s book, Sanctioned Treachery: Portrait of a Drug Informant, becomes a centerpiece of the episode. Based on his decades-long career investigating organized crime and supervising the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, the novel brings to life the dangerous dance between agents and the informants they rely on.
“Informants are both indispensable and incredibly risky,” Vinton notes. “Some agents have had their careers destroyed, or even ended up in jail, because they trusted the wrong person.” Tackling The Mafia And Dangers of Informants: Retired FBI Agent Speaks. Available for free on their website and streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.
The book follows fictional FBI agent Eddie Michaels and his informant Alonzo “King” Curtis, a charismatic but ruthless operator whose moral compass is as fluid as the criminal underworld he moves through. Drawing on real-life cases, Vinton reveals how informants can both solve major crimes and simultaneously jeopardize investigations, or the agents themselves.
“This could have happened,” Vinton says plainly. “Some of it did.”
A Career Built on Crime-Fighting and Storytelling
Tom Vinton’s own story is as compelling as the cases he describes. Born in New Rochelle and a graduate of Holy Cross, he served as a Marine Corps infantry officer before joining the FBI. His assignments took him ultimately to New York, where he supervised massive organized crime and drug investigations. The Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast episode is available for free on their website , Apple Podcasts , Spotify and most major podcast platforms.
After retiring from the Bureau, Vinton became Deputy Commissioner of the Westchester County Police and launched a consulting business. But writing remained a passion. Tackling The Mafia And Dangers of Informants.
“A professor once told me that writing would serve me no matter what career I chose,” Vinton recalls. “He was right. These stories needed to be told.”
Originally published in 2005, Sanctioned Treachery was lost when the publisher went bankrupt. Now updated, re-edited, and released, it’s earning renewed praise.
One early review called it “a grand thriller… an exciting breath-holding adventure disguised as fiction.”
How the FBI Fights Organized Crime
Throughout the episode, Vinton breaks down how the FBI tackles criminal enterprises, not just individuals, using tools like:
Undercover operations
Court-authorized wiretaps and surveillance
Asset forfeiture
Informants and cooperating witnesses
Inter-agency task forces
RICO statutes
“The goal is to dismantle the entire infrastructure of a criminal organization,” Vinton says. “Not just arrest a few people. We target the enterprise, its money, its leadership, its operations.” Tackling The Mafia And Dangers of Informants: Retired FBI Agent Speaks. Special Episode. The full podcast episode is streaming now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and across Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
A Must-Listen Episode for True Crime Fans
For those interested in the FBI, Mafia history, or the high-stakes world of criminal informants, this Special Episode delivers unmatched insight.
“It’s a reminder,” Vinton says, “that the line between justice and danger is thinner than the public ever realizes.”
Listeners can tune in on the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show website, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and most every major Podcast platform and follow updates on Facebook, Instagram, and other major News outlets. You can find the show on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn, as well as read companion articles and updates on Medium, Blogspot, YouTube, and even IMDB.
You can help contribute money to make <a href="https://www.agunrunnerfilm.com/?utm_source=LETRadioAndPodcast"> the Gunrunner Movie </a> . The film that Hollywood won’t touch. It is about a now Retired Police Officer that was shot 6 times while investigating Gunrunning. He died 3 times during Medical treatment and was resuscitated. You can join the fight by giving a monetary “gift” to help ensure the making of his film at <a href="https://www.agunrunnerfilm.com/?utm_source=LETRadioAndPodcast"> agunrunnerfilm.com </a> .
Background song Hurricane is used with permission from the band <a href="http://darkhorseflyer.com/"> Dark Horse Flyer. </a>
You can contact John J. “Jay” Wiley by email at <a href="mailto:Jay@letradio.com"> Jay@letradio.com </a> , or learn more about him <a href="https://www.letradio.com/p/about-john-j-jay-wiley/"> on their website </a> .
Get the latest news articles, without all the bias and spin, from the <a href="https://medium.com/@letradioshow" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast on Medium </a> , which is free.
“If you enjoy the show,” John Jay Wiley adds, “please share it with a friend or two, or three. And if you’re able to leave an honest rating or review, it would be deeply appreciated.” The Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast is available for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and LETRadio.com, among many other platforms.
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Tackling The Mafia And Dangers of Informants: Retired FBI Agent Speaks. Special Episode.
Attributions
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sanctioned-Treachery-Portrait-Drug-Informant/dp/B08JVQLDZX" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon.com</a>
<a href="https://www.fbi.gov/about/faqs/how-is-the-fbi-fighting-organized-crime-particularly-international-organized-crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">F.B.I.</a>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mr.-Thomas-A.-Vinton/author/B08K97KSY8?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=7c1ce77a-06cb-4275-9f75-50625c75de33" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon.com</a> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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