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Whenever trouble was brewing, I would call Rao in and talk the matter over with him, with the result that a short while later everything would be smoothed out”. In his role as gang chieftain, Rao, said McCann, was: “the intelligent one who smoothed out differences whenever there was trouble with his Italian mob, and the rival Irish gang headed by Cleary.”
    Following the raid, Rao and Cleary along with their teams, were placed in solitary confinement. When Marcus visited Rao in his cell, he was struck by the mobster’s low mood and unwillingness to talk. Previously jaunty and insouciant, to the point of cockiness, Rao now appeared exhausted and withdrawn, even depressed. Deciding to speak to him another day, Marcus instead questioned other inmates and keepers, determined to find out which figures of influence and power in New York City - over and above known underworld thugs - had masterminded the Welfare Island rackets. It didn’t take him long to discover that one so-called “higher up”, a prominent politician, was indeed regarded as the ultimate protector of the mob and their rackets, which included the provision of early paroles. The only problem was that no one would identify him.
    None of this came as any surprise to David Marcus. For several years he had heard allegations of a thriving business in the “sale” of early paroles for long term prisoners: now the evidence was emerging. Because of the surrounding publicity, the raid on Welfare Island was all of a sudden encouraging people with inside information to speak out. Reluctant whistle blowers, once too frightened about losing their jobs, were now given a green light. As the President of the New York Prison Association, Edward Cass, revealed to Marcus: “I have heard stories from time to time right here across my desk about money that was paid for early release on parole. The people came here and told me about it. In one instance, a man said he had paid $500 and he involved a member of the city judiciary.” Cass assured Marcus that these were not isolated cases: “Perhaps ten cases have been brought to my attention, but in none of them could I persuade the complainants to sign affidavits that would have enabled me to take action in the matter. They were afraid, in most cases, that something would happen to the man on the inside – that he might have to serve his maximum sentence.”
    Another frustrated whistle blower who broke his silence was Harry Schulman, a former research director for the New York State Crime Commission, who decided to call a press conference to disclose what he knew – and how long it had been going on. According to Schulman, the worst evils uncovered by the raid were already well established two years previously, when he too carried out a lengthy survey of conditions at the prison. The survey was made up of interviews Schulman and his team carried out with 1,000 prisoners. Although Schulman had issued a detailed report to the city authorities about the extent to which gangsters were in control of the jail, no action was taken. At the time of the survey, Schulman said that Joe Rao was already the recognised monarch of Welfare Island. “I personally saw Warden McCann spend a half-hour, on one of his busy days, getting a lot of lemons for Rao in order that Rao might have lemonade,” he told reporters. “The Rao group, in turn for the many favours conferred by the warden, always did the noble thing. When the warden returned from a vacation or from an absence due to illness, they would always decorate his office with flowers. Some of these flowers they grew in Rao’s private greenhouse on the island and some they bought on the outside. But the warden never came back without finding that evidence of their appreciation.”
    Schulman described other gross examples of the trafficking of favours: “I have been in Warden McCann’s office when Joe Rao came in, and seen the warden hand Rao a list containing the marks given to