Crooked City: Dixon, IL
This is a story about a woman who came to be known as The Horse Queen. She owned hundreds of champion quarter horses on her ranch outside the small city of Dixon, Illinois. And she was also Dixon’s treasurer/comptroller. Yet no one ever thought to ask how she could afford all of those horses on the salary of a civil servant… until the FBI raided City Hall in 2012 and Rita was arrested. For twenty years, Rita Crundwell worked hard to become the world’s largest and most successful quarter horse breeder… while also becoming America’s most prolific municipal embezzler. Want the full story? Unlock all episodes of the third season of Crooked City: Dixon, IL ad-free right now by subscribing to The Binge. Plus, get binge access to brand new stories dropping on the first of every month — that’s all episodes, all at once, all ad-free. Just click ‘Subscribe’ on the top of the Crooked City show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you listen. A truth.media & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts
Episodes
July 4, 2022 • 4 mins
Journalist Sam Anderson learns that one of his high school classmates has been accused of murder in California, and travels west to find out what happened. Sam becomes immersed in the Emerald Triangle, the legendary home of pot growers, hippies, and outlaws. He discovers that his classmate became drawn into the orbit of a cultish and charismatic pot grower obsessed with psychedelic drugs. Desperation, greed, and a seemingly never-e...
Mark as Played
July 6, 2022 • 2 mins
From Marc Smerling, the creator of Crimetown and The Jinx, welcome to CROOKED CITY. The Saturday Evening Post dubbed Youngstown, Ohio “Crimetown U.S.A.” It was a mob town. Illegal gambling was so lucrative that a mob war raged for decades, and bodies piled up. Then, Jim Traficant ran for sheriff, riding into office as the city’s steel industry fell on hard times. Traficant battles the local newspaper, then the FBI, the IRS and fi...
Mark as Played
July 25, 2022 • 39 mins
In 2014, congressman Jim Traficant dies, and the city that loved him mourns. Why so much love for such a flawed man?
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City: Youngstown, OH ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Crooked City: Youngstown, OH show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts.
A truth.media & Sony Music Ent...
Mark as Played
July 25, 2022 • 38 mins
The Cleveland mob has a tip for Youngstown bank burglar Amil Dinsio: there’s a vault in California, full of President Richard Nixon’s dirty money.
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City: Youngstown, OH ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Crooked City: Youngstown, OH show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts.
...
Mark as Played
August 1, 2022 • 45 mins
After Youngstown suffers the shocking loss of the steel industry, local football hero Jim Traficant runs for sheriff, promising to clean up the city amidst a brutal mob war.
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City: Youngstown, OH ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Crooked City: Youngstown, OH show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever...
Mark as Played
August 8, 2022 • 36 mins
FBI agent Bob Kroner tangles with Jim Traficant in a game of cat-and-mouse…and a battle for the hearts and minds of Youngstown.
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City: Youngstown, OH ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Crooked City: Youngstown, OH show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts.
A truth.media & Son...
Mark as Played
August 15, 2022 • 43 mins
Sheriff Jim Traficant defends himself in and out of court against the federal government. Will Youngstown set him free?
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City: Youngstown, OH ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Crooked City: Youngstown, OH show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts.
A truth.media & Sony Music ...
Mark as Played
August 22, 2022 • 42 mins
Frank Susany is an up-and-coming thief, making his bones with mob boss Joey Naples…until he crosses paths with violent drug addict Mark Batcho.
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City: Youngstown, OH ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Crooked City: Youngstown, OH show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts.
A t...
Mark as Played
August 29, 2022 • 37 mins
Sheriff Jim Traficant is a local hero after he defeats the federal government in court. Now he plans to take the fight to Washington...as a U.S. Congressman.
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City: Youngstown, OH ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Crooked City: Youngstown, OH show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your po...
Mark as Played
September 5, 2022 • 41 mins
When mob boss Jimmy Prato dies, a longstanding feud between his right hand, Joey Naples, and his nephew, Lenny Strollo, boils over. Only one can be the new boss.
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City: Youngstown, OH ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Crooked City: Youngstown, OH show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get you...
Mark as Played
September 12, 2022 • 37 mins
Frankie Susany vows revenge on the man who almost killed him, Mark Batcho. But enemies soon become friends as Susany introduces Batcho to the mob.
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City: Youngstown, OH ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Crooked City: Youngstown, OH show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts.
...
Mark as Played
September 19, 2022 • 38 mins
Lenny Strollo runs the rackets in Youngstown, but not everyone wants to get in line.
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City: Youngstown, OH ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Crooked City: Youngstown, OH show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts.
A truth.media & Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find m...
Mark as Played
September 26, 2022 • 36 mins
Congressman Jim Traficant takes on a wayward cause: the fight to free a man convicted of being a notorious Nazi war criminal.
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City: Youngstown, OH ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Crooked City: Youngstown, OH show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts.
A truth.media & Sony ...
Mark as Played
October 3, 2022 • 39 mins
A newly-elected county prosecutor threatens the mob’s way of life. Now, his life is in danger.
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City: Youngstown, OH ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Crooked City: Youngstown, OH show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts.
A truth.media & Sony Music Entertainment production....
Mark as Played
October 10, 2022 • 43 mins
A late-night tipster leads to the biggest mob dragnet in Youngstown history. Who will talk, and who will live by the code?
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City: Youngstown, OH ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Crooked City: Youngstown, OH show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts.
A truth.media & Sony Mus...
Mark as Played
October 17, 2022 • 36 mins
After the fall of the mob in Youngstown, the feds gather information to go after corrupt officials. Will they go after Congressman Traficant?
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City: Youngstown, OH ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Crooked City: Youngstown, OH show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts.
A tru...
Mark as Played
October 24, 2022 • 36 mins
Jim Traficant faces expulsion in the House of Representatives. Will he stand firm, like a junkyard bulldog in the face of a hurricane?
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City: Youngstown, OH ad-free right now. Click ‘try free’ at the top of the Crooked City: Youngstown, OH show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts.
A truth.medi...
Mark as Played
November 7, 2022 • 27 mins
Deep in the forests of northern California, a man is found brutally murdered. Investigators set out to discover what happened.
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City, ad-free right now. Click ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the Crooked City show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts.
A truth.media & Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find more great pod...
Mark as Played
November 7, 2022 • 39 mins
Reporter Sam Anderson moves back in with his parents in the suburbs of New Jersey to discover that a kid he grew up with is accused of a horrific murder. But all his friends say he’s innocent. Sam sets out to find the truth.
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City, ad-free right now. Click ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the Crooked City show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you...
Mark as Played
November 14, 2022 • 34 mins
Sam begins his investigation in the small California town where the murder happened. He falls in with an old friend of the victim, who takes him on a wild drug-fueled ride through outlaw country.
Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Crooked City, ad-free right now. Click ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the Crooked City show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts.
A trut...
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Anna Sale explores the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.
A straightforward look at the day's top news in 20 minutes. Powered by ABC News. Hosted by Brad Mielke.