Investigating America’s Most Notorious Strip Club

Get the inside scoop on the nation’s most sensational mafia trial of the early 2000s. From Jay Leno to the Washington Post and from Sports Illustrated to CNN, the Gold Club trial received more media coverage than the 1999 trial of Gambino Family Boss, John Gotti, Jr.

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The Gold Club is the first book from a law enforcement official that details the facts about the FBI’s famous investigation. Retired FBI Agent Mark Sewell was a rookie agent in 1997 when he was assigned to investigate mafia associate Steve Kaplan and his enormously successful Atlanta strip club; the largest single money maker for the Gambino Crime Family. Accompanied by a small team of investigators, the hand-picked unit followed the money trail, no matter where it led. A highly publicized 4 A.M. search warrant of the famous club started a snowball effect that would implicate a Gambino Captain, police officers, strippers, and many of the most recognized professional athletes in America. The subsequent 2001 trial was covered nationally by the leading media outlets, from television newscasts to late night talk shows to nationally published magazines. A jury soon heard evidence of shockingly bold crimes, to include extortion, credit card fraud, tax evasion, money laundering and prostitution. Then, in the fourth month of the trial, more than a dozen defendants surprisingly admitted their guilt, in a secretly negotiated plea deal. Steve Kaplan’s subsequent forfeiture would amount to millions of dollars, making the Gold Club investigation the FBI’s most successful financial win against an Organized Crime Family in the agency’s history. But the FBI’s case against Steve Kaplan was far from ‘normal’. As eighteen defense attorneys took aim at the author, allegations were broadcast, and tempers flared publicly. From witness tampering to allegations of FBI Agent misconduct, the Gold Club investigation produced new, sensational headlines daily. Retired FBI Agent Mark Sewell was at the center of the storm that dominated media headlines in the summer of 2001 and provides a never-before seen inside view of the FBI’s famous mafia prosecution.