by CabriniGreen » Sun May 10, 2020 12:33 am
It's pretty fuzzy to me right now, but yeah, Dial Poultry was Castellanos outfit. They had a good share, ( I wont say majority or lions share of the market, as I'm not sure..) of the wholesale chicken and beef market in NY, through Dial Poultry. Actually I think Perdue sought out the relationship, and was rebuffed by Castellano, who didnt trust him, I cant remember, exactly...
Chicken King Says He Dealt With Mafia Boss
PETE YOST
March 7, 1986
WASHINGTON (AP) _ When reputed New York Mafia chieftain Paul Castellano Sr. first told chicken magnate Frank Perdue that ″we would like to buy your product,″ Perdue said he replied no.
Eventually, however, Perdue said, he willingly did business with the mob, by dealing with Dial Poultry, a distributing company operated by Castellano’s sons, Paul Jr. and Joseph.
Perdue’s decision was the focus of criticism Thursday by the President’s Commission on Organized Crime, which has said that legitimate producers can help solve the problem of organized crime in the meat industry by refusing to deal with mob-run companies.
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″Larger, more integrated producers, who knowingly seek out these companies solely to ensure expansion of their geographic market and to enhance their profits, have no comparable justification for their actions,″ the commission said in its final report.
In a statement issued Thursday night, Perdue, of Salisbury, Md., said he ″voluntarily cooperated with the (president’s) commission in every respect.″ He said Dial was ″just one of 90 distributors of our products.″
In addition to doing business with the company run by Castellano’s sons, Perdue twice sought the reputed Mafia chieftain’s help on labor problems the businessman was having.
The United Food and Commercial Workers union was attempting at the time to organize the workers at Perdue’s Accomac, Va., plant, and the UFCW was calling for a boycott of Perdue products.
″I just thought - you know, they have long tentacles, shall we say, and I figured he may be able to help,″ Perdue told commission investigators in a deposition last September.
The commission investigators asked Perdue if he meant that Castellano was an organized crime figure.
″Yeah. Mafia and the mob,″ replied Perdue.
Perdue testified that Castellano told him he probably could not help because Virginia was ″pretty far away″ from New York.
Despite that turndown, Perdue said he sought out Castellano again when the UFCW planned to picket the February 1981 opening of Perdue’s new restaurant in Queens.
According to Perdue, Castellano didn’t help then either, said the commission, and the pickets appeared.
In his statement Thursday night, Perdue said he had reached ″no agreements or understandings of any kind″ in his meetings with Castellano. He said that ″in hindsight, I never should have had the meetings.″
Castellano was slain last December in midtown Manhattan.
The presidential panel noted that in New York, organized crime leaders have been in the meat industry since the 1930s, traditionally by gaining control through a labor union.
Recently, the panel said, some associates of New York mob families have sought to profit from the meat industry by buying more direct control of meat distribution companies.
It's pretty fuzzy to me right now, but yeah, Dial Poultry was Castellanos outfit. They had a good share, ( I wont say majority or lions share of the market, as I'm not sure..) of the wholesale chicken and beef market in NY, through Dial Poultry. Actually I think Perdue sought out the relationship, and was rebuffed by Castellano, who didnt trust him, I cant remember, exactly...
Chicken King Says He Dealt With Mafia Boss
PETE YOST
March 7, 1986
WASHINGTON (AP) _ When reputed New York Mafia chieftain Paul Castellano Sr. first told chicken magnate Frank Perdue that ″we would like to buy your product,″ Perdue said he replied no.
Eventually, however, Perdue said, he willingly did business with the mob, by dealing with Dial Poultry, a distributing company operated by Castellano’s sons, Paul Jr. and Joseph.
Perdue’s decision was the focus of criticism Thursday by the President’s Commission on Organized Crime, which has said that legitimate producers can help solve the problem of organized crime in the meat industry by refusing to deal with mob-run companies.
ADVERTISEMENT
″Larger, more integrated producers, who knowingly seek out these companies solely to ensure expansion of their geographic market and to enhance their profits, have no comparable justification for their actions,″ the commission said in its final report.
In a statement issued Thursday night, Perdue, of Salisbury, Md., said he ″voluntarily cooperated with the (president’s) commission in every respect.″ He said Dial was ″just one of 90 distributors of our products.″
In addition to doing business with the company run by Castellano’s sons, Perdue twice sought the reputed Mafia chieftain’s help on labor problems the businessman was having.
The United Food and Commercial Workers union was attempting at the time to organize the workers at Perdue’s Accomac, Va., plant, and the UFCW was calling for a boycott of Perdue products.
″I just thought - you know, they have long tentacles, shall we say, and I figured he may be able to help,″ Perdue told commission investigators in a deposition last September.
The commission investigators asked Perdue if he meant that Castellano was an organized crime figure.
″Yeah. Mafia and the mob,″ replied Perdue.
Perdue testified that Castellano told him he probably could not help because Virginia was ″pretty far away″ from New York.
Despite that turndown, Perdue said he sought out Castellano again when the UFCW planned to picket the February 1981 opening of Perdue’s new restaurant in Queens.
According to Perdue, Castellano didn’t help then either, said the commission, and the pickets appeared.
In his statement Thursday night, Perdue said he had reached ″no agreements or understandings of any kind″ in his meetings with Castellano. He said that ″in hindsight, I never should have had the meetings.″
Castellano was slain last December in midtown Manhattan.
The presidential panel noted that in New York, organized crime leaders have been in the meat industry since the 1930s, traditionally by gaining control through a labor union.
Recently, the panel said, some associates of New York mob families have sought to profit from the meat industry by buying more direct control of meat distribution companies.