When Sewell joined the FBI in 1997, he didn't know that his assignment to the Atlanta field office would be a baptism by fire. He was partnered with a senior agent on his first job, which involved an infamous gentleman’s club called the Gold Club…. Sewell sheds new light on a high-profile case in this exciting and superbly told history. His insider status puts readers right there, alongside agents working to topple an organized crime fiefdom through enigmatic paper trails, shady informants, and covert surveillance without tipping their hands to their targets. |
— Booklist
A vivid account of the FBI's crusade to rid the criminal underground of its ground zero in Atlanta known as "The Gold Club," as well as take down senior members of the Mob in NY and Miami. True crime at its finest!
— Michael Santini, author of Operation Devil Horns: The Takedown of MS-13 in San Francisco
This book has it all: Wiseguys, celebrities, professional athletes, strippers, sex, drugs, and the FBI. You won’t be able to put it down. Outstanding work, Special Agent Mark Sewell!
— Joaquin "Jack" Garcia, retired FBI and author of Making Jack Falcone
Mark Sewell's first-hand meticulous account of his investigation into this major organized crime operation is a true crime lover's dream.
— Anthony Amore, best-selling author of Stealing Rembrandts and The Woman Who Stole Vermeer
Retired FBI agent Mark Sewell’s true crime memoir, Investigating America’s Most Notorious Strip Club, chronicles a complex investigation in a way easily understood. Mark describes the case in great detail, the investigative logic and techniques, as well as the rules and procedures governing the ensuing federal trial. A must-read for the connoisseur of true crime.
— R. Scott Decker, author of Recounting the Anthrax Attacks: Terror, the Amerithrax Task Force, and the Evolution of Forensics in the FBI
Sewell puts the reader in a ring-side seat at the biggest federal criminal trial in Atlanta’s history. His thorough chronicle of the FBI’s takedown of the Gold Club empire brings you face-to-face with mobsters, famous athletes, exotic dancers, and dozens of other colorful characters.
— Robert McBurney, former federal prosecutor
Who says prostitution is a victimless crime? In this outstanding book retired FBI Special Agent Mark Sewell pulls back the cover on this myth to reveal the real power players and money makers, the notorious Gambino Mafia family.
— David Nadolski, author of The Con and the FBI Agent: An Unlikely Alliance
Retired FBI agent Sewell guides readers through the investigation of Atlanta’s Gold Club, an ultra-successful strip club that was found to be a significant source of income—with annual revenues of as much as $20 million—for the Gambino organized-crime family. The book shows how entrepreneur and mafia associate Steve Kaplan bought the club in 1994 and built it into an establishment that attracted numerous professional athletes and other celebrities. In 1996, theFBI started investigating the Gold Club for allegations of prostitution, credit card fraud, obstruction of justice, extortion, money-laundering, bribing police, and paying protection money to the New York–based Gambino family. Sewell, a rookie FBI agent at the time, was assigned to the case in 1997 and eventually became the lead investigator due to his ability to cultivate informants. His book is divided into two parts. The first fascinating section follows the FBI’smethodical approach to investigating the Gold Club, including its use of surveillance, search warrants, and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division. Part Two uses trial transcripts and media coverage to bolster Sewell’s acerbic commentary on the fate of the Gold Club. Two Gold Club–associated defendants were acquitted, but Kaplan eventually pled guilty to racketeering, paid a multimillion-dollar fine, and closed the club. Fans of true crime will praise this in-depth account of a notorious organized-crime case.
— Library Journal