Arlyne Brickman (1934 – 18 January 2020) was an informant against the

American Mafia The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian-American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian-American criminal society and organized crime group. The terms Italian Mafia and Italian Mob apply to ...

Biography

Brickman was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

in 1934. When growing up there, Brickman chose as her role model Virginia Hill, girlfriend of gangster Bugsy Siegel. Brickman said of Hill, "here was a broad that really made it good." As a teenager Brickman became involved with Italian mobsters, hanging out in Mafia nightclubs, seducing them in

Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...

s, and in later years running drugs. At 35, Brickman was beaten and raped by gangsters and learned none of her Mafia friends would help since she was a woman and Jewish. According to Brickman, she turned on the mob eight years later when a

loan shark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at Usury, extremely high or illegal interest rates, has strict terms of debt collection, collection, and generally operates criminal, outside the law, often using the threat of violence or other illegal, ...

threatened to hurt her eighteen-year-old daughter, Leslie, unless Brickman paid off a loan. Brickman contacted the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

, agreeing to wear a wire, hiding the microphone in her brassiere or purse. In return, the government paid her debts and gave her a plea bargain. Over the next decade, Brickman worked as an informant and in 1986 her testimony helped convict gangster Anthony Scarpati of the

Colombo crime family The Colombo crime family (, ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was during ...

and several others of racketeering conspiracy. After the Scarpati trial, Brickman refused to participate in the

Witness Protection Program Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after trials, usually by police. While witnesses may only require p ...

because, in her words, "That's the quickest way to get killed." Brickman was the subject of the 1992 non-fiction book '' Mob Girl: A Woman's Life in the Underworld'' by Teresa Carpenter, published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

. Much of her family's connections were "fabricated and taken out of context", according to Brickman. Her father "was never a racketeer". "He was a true gentleman, highly respected by all that knew him". She and Carpenter had a tumultuous relationship. They never spoke again after the book was published. Intrigued by Brickman's story, pop star

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

reportedly picked up an option on the book for a film. The two became friends, and Madonna asked Brickman to check out the background of her New York party promoter boyfriend Peter Shue in 1994. After Shue confirmed that he was a cocaine dealer, Brickman reported him to the

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...

, and they set him up to be arrested with her assistance in 1995. Brickman testified against Shue and he was convicted of drug conspiracy in 1996. In 2008, Brickman's life was also detailed in an episode of the A&E series ''Mobsters'', in the season 1 episode "Mobsters: Mob Ladies"., archived a
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Death

Brickman resided in Bal Harbour, Florida. She died in an assisted living home there, alone, suffering from dementia in January 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brickman, Arlyne American drug traffickers American Mafia Jewish American gangsters People from the Lower East Side 1934 births 2020 deaths