The evolution of southern crime.
When “To Protect and Serve” Meant Something Altogether Different In the annals of American corruption, few stories match the brazen audacity of Phenix City, Alabama’s law enforcement in the 1940s and early 1950s. While most…
Background Lamar Reid was a 28-year-old Birmingham attorney who served as the chairman of the Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee in 1954. He became entangled in one of Alabama’s most infamous political corruption scandals connected…
How the Assassination of a Prosecutor Led to the Only County in Georgia Where the GBI Still Has Permanent Authority On the morning of August 7, 1967, Floyd Hoard kissed his wife Imogene goodbye, finished…
Background Fayette “Fate” D. Leebern was a prominent crime kingpin and liquor dealer from Columbus, Georgia, operating during the 1940s. He was a successful businessman who founded Georgia Crown Distributing Company (originally Columbus Wine Company…
Focus on North and Northeast Georgia Operations (1940s-1980s) INTRODUCTION The Dixie Mafia’s Georgia operations represent one of the darkest chapters in the state’s criminal history. Unlike the structured Italian-American Mafia, the Dixie Mafia was a…
