By Steve Rhodes
I was interviewed on-camera for this, though I don’t know if I made the final cut. Turns out I’m all over this thing!
“Mobster Cop” premieres Thursday, August 6, at 9/8c. In an Illinois town in the grip of the Chicago mob, Police Chief Michael Corbitt is surrounded by temptation. A string of extortion scams, violent crimes and a deadly extramarital affair prompts investigators to suspect that Corbitt has been lured in.
This video preview is being finicky, so here’s a link to it if it doesn’t work for you.
–
From my 2005 Chicago magazine story about Joey “the Clown” Lombardo:
Everything connected to the Las Vegas operation seemed to go sour. Somehow, though, Lombardo escaped reprisal. In Double Deal, Michael Corbitt offered his explanation: “In the Outfit, when you screwed up, you got planted. End of story. It wasn’t like they handed you a pink slip and you went to work for another crew. You were done. That is, unless you used a tactic that was a favorite of America’s corporate set, the old CYA routine – cover your ass and blame whatever went wrong on the other guy. That was Joey Lombardo’s modus operandi, and that’s what kept the son of a bitch alive and in power. Every time somebody who reported to Joey got in trouble, he just blamed that particular guy for the problem and got permission to have him whacked. Obviously, you didn’t want to work for Lombardo.”
*
“Michael J. Corbitt’s life revolved around mob crime. He committed it, did time for it, helped FBI agents probe it and wrote about it,” the Tribune wrote for his obit in 2004.
*
Double Deal: The Inside Story Of Murder, Unbridled Corruption, And The Cop Who Was A Mobster.
Sample:
*
The series is heavy with Chicago content:
EVIL WITH POWER: ID’S NEW SERIES UNTOUCHABLE: POWER CORRUPTS DELVES INTO THE DARK UNDERBELLY OF AUTHORITY
A powerful resume and a charming smile can be the keys to success-but they can also be beguiling tools to mask a cold-blooded killer. Investigation Discovery’s (ID) new series UNTOUCHABLE: POWER CORRUPTS offers an inside look into how a taste for power can turn into a thirst for blood, featuring the perplexing journeys of seemingly good citizens to corruption.
This six episode series uses chronological reenactments and expert commentary to tell the stories of people whose ambition, authority and sense of entitlement drove them to abuse their power-and ultimately do the unthinkable.
Each hour-long episode of UNTOUCHABLE: POWER CORRUPTS gives viewers a front-row seat to the cat-and-mouse game pitting the police against the perpetrators who believe they are above the law.
Episodes of UNTOUCHABLE: POWER CORRUPTS include:
* “House of Pain” Premieres Thursday, July 16 at 9/8c Detective Jon Burge has a gift for closing even complex cases with a confession. So when allegations about his interrogation methods surface, they are ignored or dismissed until an explosive tip-off suggests that Burge is hiding a sinister secret.
* “Teflon Joe” Premieres Thursday, July 23 at 9/8c By infiltrating the shady but glamorous world of cocaine dealers and drug mules, Joe Miedzianowski has become one of the best Gangs and Guns cops in the Chicago PD. But a series of suspicious events leads the FBI to wonder exactly whose side Miedzianowski is on.
* “Courtroom Killer” Premieres Thursday, July 30 at 9/8c New Jersey defense lawyer Paul Bergrin is the go-to-guy for criminals looking to stay out of jail. When he takes to extreme measures to win unwinnable cases, the Feds suspect that Bergrin has become more dangerous than the clients he represents.
* “Mobster Cop” Premieres Thursday, August 6 at 9/8c In an Illinois town in the grip of the Chicago mob, Police Chief Michael Corbitt is surrounded by temptation. A string of extortion scams, violent crimes and a deadly extramarital affair prompts investigators to suspect that Corbitt has been lured in.
* “Ballot and Bullet” Premieres Thursday, August 13 at 9/8c After swapping police work for politics, Sidney Dorsey ascends to a position of enormous power – the Sheriff of DeKalb County. Amid claims of corruption, a political rival emerges to challenge Sheriff Dorsey’s authority. With careers and reputations at stake, people are pushed to unspeakable acts in order to maintain their grip on power.
See also: The Untouchable: Power Corrupts website.
–
Comments welcome.
Posted on August 6, 2015