From Black Liberation Army Cop Killers to the Mafia: An NYPD Detective's Prison Ministry
Gangland Wire
Gary Jenkins
4.6 • 647 Ratings
🗓️ 25 May 2026
⏱️ 45 minutes
🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Jimmy recounts the shocking murder of NYPD officers Rocco Laurie and Gregory Foster by the Black Liberation Army, while Michael reveals the challenges of prosecuting those responsible. The conversation then shifts to something unexpected—redemption. After retiring, Jimmy began working in prison ministry, where he witnessed firsthand how even hardened criminals, including mobsters, can change their lives.
This episode dives deep into:
The reality of cop killings in New York City
The struggle to prosecute violent offenders
Inside stories from mob cases
Redemption and transformation inside prisons
If you’re interested in true crime, mafia history, and real law enforcement stories, this is an episode you don’t want to miss. Subscribe for more mafia history and true crime stories every week.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gangland-wire--5504357/support.
Subscribe to Gangland Wire wherever you get your podcasts, and join us each week as we uncover the stories buried beneath the headlines—and the bodies.
Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast app.
Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer use @ganglandwire
Click here to "buy me a cup of coffee"
To go to the store or make a donation click here. Â
To rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, click here.
To rent Gangland Wire, click here.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, all you wiretappers. |
| 0:01.5 | Good to be back here in studio, Gangland Wire. |
| 0:03.9 | This is Gary Jenkins, retired Kansas Police Intelligence Unit Detective and now turned podcaster. |
| 0:10.4 | And I have another retired copper here on the show, Jimmy Denny. |
| 0:16.0 | Denny, I tell you what, I had it down, Denity, like Kennedy. |
| 0:30.3 | And our friend who's been on here several times, Michael Vessione. Welcome, Michael. Malcolm, Jimmy. Thank you very much for having us, Gary. Thank you. |
| 0:38.8 | All right. Michael has several books out there. He's prosecuted the mob. That's how I got on to him. He prosecuted the, |
| 0:44.5 | he had something to do with the mob cops, Louis Epilito. And I can't remember exactly now. I should have made a note on that, Michael. What was the name of that book? The name of the book, Friends of the |
| 0:49.5 | family. Friends of the family is that those two New York PD coppers that were in the pay of Louis Epilito and Louis Epilito was one of the cops. |
| 0:58.5 | And you know what, Gary, during the, when Jimmy, when you talk to Jimmy, Jimmy has a kind of an odd situation regarding Louis Epilito. |
| 1:06.6 | And it's a good story. |
| 1:08.2 | I think he should tell you, tell you your listeners. |
| 1:10.6 | All right. Great. We look forward to that, Jimmy. And Jimmy Dennedy, who was a New York City policeman, and he has a book, Tough Dyes Cry. Hard guys cry. Let me do that over again. Yeah, I had it written down here. And Jimmy Denadie is here with us. |
| 1:27.9 | He is a retired New York City copper, and he has a book, Hard Guys Cry. |
| 1:32.5 | So welcome, Jimmy. |
| 1:34.5 | Good morning. |
| 1:35.1 | Thank you very much for having me. |
| 1:37.2 | All right. |
| 1:37.8 | Michael, you and Jimmy, did you guys work together a little bit on the job? |
| 1:41.2 | Did you know each other back then? |
| 1:43.3 | Yeah, we certainly did. We've probably |
| 1:45.0 | known each other now for maybe 45 or more years. I got to know Jimmy because I got assigned a case |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Gary Jenkins, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Gary Jenkins and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.