Dixie Mafia
| Founded by | Mike Gillich, Jr. |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Biloxi, Mississippi |
| Years active | Late 1960s – present |
| Territory | Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida and Mississippi |
| Ethnicity | Mostly White Southerners from Southern United States |
| Membership (est.) | 100 +/- |
| Criminal activities | Fraud, illegal gambling, bribery, drug trafficking, burglary, robbery, theft, money laundering, murder, fencing |
| Allies | State Line Mob |
| Rivals | Peckerwood Gangs as well as Numerous others. |
The Dixie Mafia is a criminal organization based in Biloxi, Mississippi that operates primarily in the Southern United States (hence the name dixie). The group uses each member's talents in various crime categories to help move stolen merchandise, illegal alcohol, and illegal drugs. It is also known for violence.
Beginning in the late 1960s, the Dixie Mafia began working as a loosely knit group of traveling criminals performing residential burglary, robbery, and theft. The gang did not function with a set chain of command, but was led by whoever had the most money. Despite the informal structure, the Dixie Mafia had one rule that members were expected to obey: "Thou shalt not snitch to the cops".
Unlike members of the Sicilian Mafia, the members of the Dixie Mafia were not connected by family or country of origin. They were loosely connected individuals of many nationalities with a common goal: to make money and wield control over illegal moneymaking operations by any means, including influence peddling, bribery of public officials, and murder.
The gang became known for carrying out contract killings, particularly against former members. During its peak, from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, dozens of people were murdered (usually shot) by its members. Victims were most often murdered because they testified, or threatened to testify, against fellow members. One contract killer William Miller (also known as "Blue Eyes") was said to have carried out many of the contract killings. This could never be proven due to lack of information or evidence.
Mike Gillich was also patron and protector of Kirksey McCord Nix, Jr., one of the gang's most notable members. In December, 1965, at the age of 22, Nix was caught carrying illegal automatic weapons in Fort Smith, Arkansas. An old friend of his, Juanda Jones, ran a bordello there, and Nix became involved with Jones' adolescent daughter, Sheri LaRa. In later years, she would play a key role in his operations, including direct ties to the murders of Circuit Court Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife, Margaret, a former Biloxi councilwoman and mayoral candidate.
Edward Humes, in his 1994 book, Mississippi Mud: Southern Justice and the Dixie Mafia, chronicled the Sherry murders, and the subsequent investigation of Gillich, Kirksey Nix, Bobby Fabian and others that were involved either loosely or actively in the murders. Bobby Fabian began cooperating with the FBI on the Sherry murders and was pleading with any law enforcement officials to move him out of the Louisiana State Penitentiary (LSP) because he felt he would be murdered. Fabian was transferred out of Angola but not a moment too soon as Dixie Mafia member (Florida Boss) Jeffery Carter had managed to be assigned to Camp-D within the penitentiary, exactly where Fabian was being housed.
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Wikipedia