Dec 30, 2023
Theodore Roe kept the Policy Racket in the community til the mafia killed him to get it
Teddy Roe was an African-American mob boss who built an illegal gambling empire in South Side, Chicago during the 1940s and 1950s. He moved to Chicago when he was 31 and got a job with a tailor on the South Side. His employer, Edward Jones, got into the numbers racket or policy game (the early lottery) and Teddy became one his main runners. By 1946 they were bring in $25 million a year and the local Mafia wanted a piece of the action. The Jones brothers said no, so the mob kidnappedJones, Teddy paid the $100,000 ransom and the Jones brothers promised to get out of the numbers game and relocated to Mexico.
