Joseph Filkowski
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Joseph Filkowski was a
Polish-American Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykaƄska) are Americans who either have total or partial Poles, Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing abou ...
gangster active in
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
. A longtime figure in Cleveland's underworld, Joseph Filkowski led the Polish bootlegging gang, the Flats Mob. He was responsible for a rash of bank robberies and jewelry heists in Cleveland and New York City between 1930 and 1932; he was also associated with numerous prominent criminal figures in the Midwest, such as Joseph Stazek and Morris Cohen.


Early life

Filkowski was born in a
slum A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inh ...
of
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, to Polish immigrants on either October 3, 1900, or October 3, 1905. He grew up with thirteen brothers, sisters, stepbrothers, and stepsisters and spent his childhood involved in
street fighting Street fighting is hand-to-hand combat in public places, between individuals or groups of people. The venue is usually a public place (e.g. a street) and the fight sometimes results in serious injury or occasionally even death. Some street fi ...
. His first arrest was at the age of 9, when he was taken into custody for breaking into a candy store and stealing a
BB gun A BB gun is a type of air gun designed to shoot metallic spherical projectiles called BBs (not to be confused with similar-looking bearing balls), which are approximately the same size as BB-size lead birdshot used on shotguns ( in diameter ...
. When he went to court, he claimed that he was only following his brother's lead; he received no serious punishment and was let off with a verbal lecture. When Filkowski was 16 years old, he stole bikes out of a box car; he was never charged for this. At the age of 17, he stole copper wire from a box car. He was sentenced to spend time in the
Ohio State Reformatory The Ohio State Reformatory (OSR), also known as the Mansfield Reformatory, is a historic prison located in Mansfield, Ohio in the United States. It was built between 1886 and 1910 and remained in operation until 1990, when a United States Federal ...
in
Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...
. He was paroled after a few months and returned to the part of Cleveland where he grew up. On February 22, 1919, he was charged with stealing a car, driving it into a freight yard in Cleveland, breaking into a boxcar, moving stolen goods from the boxcar to the stolen car, and then driving off and selling the stolen merchandise; for this offense, he was sent back to the reformatory in Mansfield for nine months. In August 1921, Filkowski was caught stealing out of a boxcar again, and he was sent to the Mansfield reformatory for a third time, this time for an unknown duration. He was released on parole sometime before August 1923. In August, he was arrested for armed robbery; he was still on parole from the 1921 stealing charge, so his sentence was enhanced by the fact that he was a parole violator. He was sent to the
Ohio State Penitentiary The Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) is a 502-inmate capacity supermax Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction prison in Youngstown, Ohio. Throughout the last two centuries, there have been two institutions with the name Ohio Penitent ...
in
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...
to serve a 6-20 year sentence, where he learned how to make license plates in the prison workshop. He was released in April 1930 with considerably hardened sensibilities.


Murder of Tony Veryk

On June 6, 1930, only two months after Filkowski's release, Filkowski witnessed 36-year-old lathing contractor Tony Veryk (also referred to in newspapers as Anton Veryk and Anthony Veryk) withdrawing a payroll of $1,500 from a Cleveland bank. Filkowski followed Veryk to an apartment building that was being constructed, where Veryk planned to pay his employees with the money from the payroll. While Veryk was still making his way through the scaffolding, having already paid out $900 of the total $1500, Filkowski approached him and demanded that Veryk give him the remaining $600. When Veryk hesitated, Filkowski shot him in the chest with a .38 caliber pistol and stole the briefcase containing the rest of the money. Filkowski fled in a nearby car where two accomplices were waiting to serve as getaway drivers, while Veryk was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Meanwhile, some of the construction workers who witnessed the murder were able to provide police with the license plate number of the car in which Filkowski fled. Police later discovered that the license plate numbers were faked.


1931-1932 crimes and developments

Filkowski spent almost two years at large after the murder of Veryk. Because investigators had a lot of difficulty finding and apprehending him, he was nicknamed "King Kobra." He also had the nickname of "Smiling Joe" among his associates in the Cleveland crime underworld. During his time on the run for the murder and numerous prior and subsequent robberies, Cleveland police designated him " Public Enemy No. 1". On January 4, 1931, Cleveland detective Pat McNeeley saw a man who looked like Joseph Filkowski. He shot at the man and killed him before a confrontation could begin. The man he shot turned out to be Joseph Fortini, a newspaper route manager for the ''Cleveland Plain Dealer''. In early May 1931, newspapers reported that Filkowski had
eloped Elopement is a term that is used in reference to a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting ma ...
with Mary Kekic, the wife of a Cleveland man named George Kekic. Filkowski and Mary Kecik were childhood friends. Those same articles also reported that Filkowski had received
plastic surgery Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniofa ...
on his nose in an attempt to conceal his identity and had also adopted the alias of William Blake, the name that he used at the hospital when he received plastic surgery. Other papers claimed that Filkowski dyed his hair red to avoid detection as well. On December 5, 1931, Filkowski, alongside a notorious Chicago-based robber named Morris Cohen, held up an Empire Trust and Savings Bank in New York City. Filkowski and Cohen escaped with $1,200. Nine days later, on December 14, Cohen was arrested and confessed to the police that he and Filkowski had been responsible for the bank holdup; Cohen also gave detectives the address to a house where Filkowski stayed on occasion. Detectives in Chicago went to that house, and while they did not find Filkowski, they found that he was making plans with a fellow ex-convict from Los Angeles; the two had discussed Filkowski potentially moving there, and the ex-convict recommended that Filkowski discreetly schedule a meeting to further discuss those plans by responding to a
personal ad A personal advertisement, sometimes called a contact ad, is a form of classified advertising in which a person seeks to find another person for friendship, romance, marriage, or sexual activity. In British English, it is commonly known as an adve ...
that the ex-convict would place in a Kansas City newspaper. Detectives used this information to place their own ad in an attempt that would ultimately result in Filkowski's apprehension. Filkowski held up a clothing store in New York City on January 19; he stole $500 and a gold watch.


Arrest and trial

In mid-February 1932, police received a report that Filkowski was staying at a specific hotel in New York. On February 21, detectives started a three-day stakeout in front of the hotel, waiting for a good opportunity to take Filkowski into custody. On February 24, while he was walking inside of the hotel, Filkowski was arrested by a team of New York City detectives working in concert with Cleveland detectives. Police visited an apartment in Jackson Heights later that afternoon, where Filkowski's lover Mary Kekic was staying; they found $65,000 in jewelry, some of which still had the price tag attached, as well as four loaded firearms. Kekic claimed that the jewelry belonged to her. For her involvement in Filkowski's plots, Kekic received a sentence of 2-4 years, which she served in the
Auburn Correctional Facility Auburn Correctional Facility is a state prison on State Street in Auburn, New York, United States. It was built on land that was once a Cayuga village. It is classified as a maximum security facility. History Constructed in 1816 as Auburn Pri ...
. Filkowski went on trial for the murder of Tony Veryk in April 1932. His jury consisted of six men and six women. During the prosecutor's final arguments, Filkowski caused a disruption by springing up from his seat and shouting at him, "You are more guilty than I am." The jury deliberated for approximately 3 hours before returning with a guilty verdict for first-degree murder. However, when deliberating on the sentence Filkowski should receive, they were split 8-4 in favor of a death sentence, with two men and two women hesitant to impose the death penalty; later, they were split 6-6. In the end, they compromised on a
life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
; the jury recommended mercy and imposed a sentence of life imprisonment for Filkowski. Common Pleas Judge Frederick P. Walter formally sentenced Filkowski to life on April 18, 1932. On the same day, he was transported to the
Ohio State Penitentiary The Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) is a 502-inmate capacity supermax Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction prison in Youngstown, Ohio. Throughout the last two centuries, there have been two institutions with the name Ohio Penitent ...
to begin his sentence.


Imprisonment and aftermath

On December 7, 1936, while serving his life sentence in the Ohio State Penitentiary, Filkowski played a minor role in an attempted prison break. Other prisoners in the group included two other Cleveland-based bank robbers named Frank Benszkowski and Vernon Taylor, and Leroy Keith, a native of
Warren, Ohio Warren is a city in and the county seat of Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. Located in northeastern Ohio, Warren lies approximately northwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 39,201 at the 2020 census. The his ...
, who was serving a life sentence that had been commuted from a death sentence for two murders. While being escorted back to their cell block after their evening meal, the prisoners overpowered the guards escorting them and took two as hostages. When other armed guards responded to the situation, the prisoners went to the Deputy Warden's office and surrendered themselves to him. Guards later determined that Filkowski had only helped to transfer notes between prisoners and had no intentions of escaping with the group, so he was not punished. During his first seven years in prison, Filkowski was involved in three separate escape attempts. On April 15, 1963, Joseph Filkowski was released from prison on parole after serving almost 31 years in prison for Veryk's murder. On July 6, 1963, Filkowski married Mary Kekic, by then going by the name Mary Stazek Keck. Keck's husband George had divorced her after she eloped, and he had since died; she spent the years after her divorce serving as one of Filkowski's most ardent advocates while he was in prison, petitioning governors, mayors, prosecutors, and newspapers for his release while working a job for $6 a week as a single mother. Filkowski credited Keck for his behavioral transformation behind bars; after Keck began advocating for him, he became a prison trusty and helped in the construction of the Marion Correctional Institution, where he was later transferred for his good behavior while he learned baking skills. Eventually, Maury C. Koblentz, the state corrections commissioner, recommended that Filkowski's life sentence be commuted to
time served In criminal law, time served is an informal term that describes the duration of pretrial detention (remand), the time period between when a defendant is arrested and when they are convicted. Time served does not include time served on bail but ...
. In January 1963, Governor Michael V. DiSalle commuted Filkowski's first-degree murder conviction to second-degree murder, which paved the way for Filkowski's release. Filkowski's life after his release from prison and his marriage is unknown, although it is likely that he died in either September 1984, or July 2001.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Filkowski, Joseph Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain American people of Polish descent American people convicted of murder People from Cleveland People convicted of murder by Ohio Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Ohio American gangsters Paroled people