Syndicate Wife

Hank Messick's chronicle of Ann Drahmann Coppola is set against the background of the pervasive and astounding Syndicate operations in the Cincinnati region, centered across the river in the vice capital of Newport, Kentucky. Following the death of her first husband, gambler Charlie Drahmann, Cincinnati native Ann Augustine married Mike "Trigger" Coppola, Harlem mob gambling racketeer and Syndicate overlord. Between Miami, Florida, and Newport, Kentucky, "Trigger" Mike lavished cash and gifts upon Ann, along with anger-fueled beatings and abuse. A violent and bitter divorce led Ann, despite threats to her life, to agree to testify for the government against Coppola for Federal tax evasion. Escaping to Rome shortly thereafter, she took her own life in 1962.