Discipline Board on March 21, 1980.

Since Leonard's indictment, other reputed illegal activities of his have been made public. ABC-TV reporter Vince Wade of Detroit, an accurate and expert organized crime specialist, exposed an apparent prostitution ring which allegedly operated from Leonard's office. Secretaries reputedly were forced to service clients set up by Leonard. Leonard has denied the allegation.

In June 1979, Harold James Dailey of Saginaw entered a guilty plea in Detroit Federal Court to an indictment charging him with operating an illicit amphetamine laboratory. Dailey testified that Robert F. Leonard was the financier of the laboratory. Leonard has denied the accusation. Dailey has since skipped bond and is a fugitive.

Leonard was removed from office after his conviction. His successor, Robert Weiss, has announced a refreshing change of direction in prosecution policies. Weiss has asked that local police agencies start developing drug and gambling cases for prosecution. Weiss claims that Leonard's lenient vice prosecution policy made Genesee County wide open for drug dealers. The Crime Commission strongly supports Prosecutor Weiss for his agressive posture.

The Saginaw Valley Crime Commission has been attempting to expose local crime conditions so honest officials will take action. To our dismay, our efforts have been viewed by a few law enforcement officials to be a hostile act.

Recently the Saginaw Valley Crime Commission filed a petition in Saginaw County Circuit Court requesting a Citizens Grand Jury investigation of organized crime and public corruption in Saginaw County. Our request was denied by the court. The Crime Commission believes there is a strong need for a Grand Jury and we intend to continue seeking one.

Many citizens and officials in our community do not want to attack the problems of sophisticated crime because respectable people are involved. For example:

The Saginaw County Club is widely known as a hangout for
highs takes gamblers and underworld figures. Some local
organized crime figures, such as William Loiacano and
Charles McNally, are even members. Club officials refuse
to expel crime figures from membership and have asked only
that club members voluntarily refrain from gambling on the
premises. The Crime Commission has learned that high stakes
gambling continues. Recently a prominent physician in our
area lost $67,000 in a card game at the club. Club officials
stood idly by and allowed Detroit Mafia figure Anthony
Giacalone to participate in the club's 1977 golf tournament.
One of Giacalone's golf partners during the day was Saginaw
Township Police Chief Kenneth Ott.

* Saginaw Township officials and Michigan Liquor Control
officials have been slow to revoke the liquor license of
a notorious doper bar, Bay Side Door, Inc. The owner of
the bar is John J.P. Bommarito, a convicted felon and
organized crime figure. Saginaw Township Police
detectives have done an excellent job of documenting illegal
activities at the bar, but the Township Board has not taken
action. At a divorce trial last December, several witnesses
testified that Bommarito had asked them to help him deal
cocaine. Other illegal activities, including tax fraud and
skimming, were discussed in testimony. This trial
received no coverage in the Saginaw News, despite the
presence of a reporter from the paper. Coincidentially,
trial testimony and financial records entered into evidence
revealed that a star Saginaw News reporter, Anthony Rocha,
was receiving payoffs from the bar. A bar manager testified
that Rocha was being paid to book bands into the bar, and
to write favorable entertainment reviews in the newspaper.
Rocha is a convicted felon. He entered a guilty plea last
year to a charge of failure to return rental property over
$100 in value. Sentencing has been deferred. Rocha was
recently fired from the newspaper for plagiarizing a movie
review. No action was taken by the paper concerning the
payoffs.

* After hours joints and gambling houses operate openly
throughout the City of Saginaw. Little action is taken by
police to close them down. Some clubs have operated
untouched for years. One of the largest after-hours clubs,
the Night Gallery, operated until recently directly across
from Saginaw Police headquarters. Most after-hours clubs
feature illegal liquor, prostitution, gambling and narcotics.

* An honest police chief was forced out of his job, in part because he tried to stop an organized crime figure from getting a liquor license. Buena Vista Township Police Chief Rowan P. Kelly refused to sign papers in 1979 approving a liquor license for the Texan Restaurant. The restaurant had been owned for years by Charles McNally, a three time convicted felon. McNally sold the restaurant to his daughters to avoid having it confiscated by the Internal Revenue Service for back taxes totalling $1.5 million. Acting on information supplied by the Crime Commission, Chief Kelly refused to approve the liquor permit despite pressure from Liquor Control officials and township officials. In September 1979, township officials suggested to Kelly that he resign, shortly after a meeting on the liquor permit and other police matters. Kelly was frustrated and resigned on September 26, 1979. official announcement, the Township Board said Kelly left because he was not being granted job tenure. Kelly has told the Crime Commission he believes the liquor license matter was the catalyst for his departure. One of the very first official acts of the Acting Chief of Police was to sign the McNally liquor permit request.

In an

* Saginaw Township Attorney William Crane has not been
repremanded by Saginaw Township officials after it was
revealed that he had a hidden interest in a bar and
restaurant with Loiacano Organization boss William
Loiacano. Instead, township officials have supported
him despite evidence that he deceived the Township Board
during deliberations on a liquor license for the restaurant.
Recently township citizens demanded an investigation of
Crane's position.

The Saginaw Valley Crime Commission has found that most law enforcement officials want to take action against narcotics and organized crime. However, because of budget and manpower problems their actions are often restricted. Further, Michigan's legal climate is not good for organized crime control. The Michigan legislature has refused to pass laws giving police the tools they need to fight rackets, such as a statewide grand jury and wiretapping authority.

We believe that a Senate Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control could provide aid to local law enforcement by highlighting situations like Saginaw and focusing public attention on the extremely serious problems local law enforcement faces.

The Saginaw Valley Crime Commission extends an open invitation to any U.S. Senate Committee to visit Saginaw and hold field hearings on its organized crime and narcotics problems.

The Commission is attaching to this statement for inclusion into the record the following documents:

1. FBI search warrant affidavits of October 1979 concerning the Loiacano Organization.

2. Flint Journal series concerning narcotics trafficking in the Saginaw Valley.

3. A typewritten summary of names included on five charts

presented to the Committee at its hearing on April 23, 1980.