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Famous Plumbers

G Gordon Liddy

G Gordon LiddyThe former FBI agent who helped plan the Watergate break-in has capitalized on his burglary legend and taken his political views to the airwaves.  George Gordon Liddy’s ultra-conservative radio talk show based in Fairfax, Virginia is broadcast on 232 stations nationwide.  Liddy was convicted for his role in the Watergate break-in, for conspiracy in the Daniel Ellsberg case and for contempt of court spending nearly five years in prison.  In 1986, a federal appeals court found Liddy liable for $20,499 in back taxes on Watergate slush-fund money, rejecting his claim that he did not benefit from the more than $45,000 he had received.  As one of the White House plumbers, Liddy spent about $300,000 engineering political dirty tricks and the Watergate break-in.  Amongst his many outrageous claims, Liddy says he once ate a rat to conquer his fear of rats.  He once asked, "Why is it there are so many more horses’ asses than there are horses?"  If anyone knows, he should.  Now 66, Liddy lives in Fort Washington, Maryland.

Categories
Famous Plumbers

Simone DeCavalcante

Sam the PlumberAKA Sam DeCavalcante.  AKA Sam the Plumber.  He was the boss of the Mafia’s New Jersey based DeCavalcante Family from the 1960s until the mid 1970s.  In 1961, the FBI planted a listening device in DeCavalcante’s plumbing supply shop, and recorded him discussing criminal activities with other Mafia members and with politicians until they removed the device in 1965.  In 1969, two thousand pages of the "DeCavalcante Tapes", also known as the "Goodfella Tapes", were made public but were never used against DeCavalcante because the FBI had never obtained a court order to plant the listening device.  DeCalvacante was convicted of another crime that same year and served three years in prison.  He retired to Florida in 1976 and died there of natural causes at age 84.  The DeCavalcantes are now believed by many to be the leading and most powerful crime family in New York.