The Mob Museum Announces August Programs Exploring Cybercrime, Wrongful Convictions with Exoneree Leonard Mack

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Exterior of The Mob Museum.
(Photos courtesy of The Mob Museum)

THE MOB MUSEUM ANNOUNCES AUGUST PROGRAMS EXPLORING CYBERCRIME, WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS WITH EXONEREE LEONARD MACK

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LAS VEGAS (July 2024) – The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, announces its roster of August public programs. Additionally, the Museum invites visitors to experience its enormously popular ongoing appearances by Frank Calabrese Jr., the former Chicago Outfit mobster-turned-government informant. The complete list of August programs and promotions follows.

Web of Deceit: Battling the Cybercrime Underworld
Date: Thursday, Aug. 8
Time: 7 to 8 p.m. followed by a book signing.
Location: Inside the historic courtroom. To RSVP to attend, click here.
Cost: Free for Museum Members or with Museum admission.
Description: ​​​From cars to casinos, cybercriminals around the world target anything connected to the internet. The effects can be devastating for companies, governments and individuals. Join renowned cybersecurity expert Mikko Hypponen and reformed hacker Alissa Knight as they discuss their experiences in combating cybercrime gangs. This discussion promises to deliver eye-opening insights into how hackers expose weaknesses and reap billions by infiltrating everyday technology. ​A book signing of “If It’s Smart, It’s Vulnerable” with Mikko Hypponen will follow the program. ​

Speakers:

• Mikko Hypponen is a global security expert, speaker and author. He works as the chief research officer at WithSecure and as the principal research advisor at F-Secure. He has written for the New York Times, Wired and Scientific American and appears frequently on international TV. He was also selected among the “50 most important people on the web” by PC World Magazine.
• Alissa Knight is an author, film director and producer. Prior to her career in film, Knight was best known for being a reformed black hat hacker turned content creator, business mogul and media personality.

Exonerated: Leonard Mack’s 47-Year Fight for Justice
Date: Thursday, Aug. 22
Time: 7 to 8 p.m.
Location: Inside the historic courtroom. To RSVP to attend, click here.
Cost: Free for Museum Members or with Museum admission.
Description: ​​​Forty-seven years – that’s how long Leonard Mack had to live with his wrongful conviction on charges of rape and weapons possession. He spent seven and a half of those years in prison until he was released on parole, but for another 40 he still had to bear the false conviction as a rapist. Thanks to DNA evidence, Mack, a Vietnam War veteran, was proven innocent on his 72nd birthday. His decades-long battle against injustice exposed systemic failures, from eyewitness misidentification to misleading forensic testimony and racial bias. In conjunction with Innocence Project attorney Mary Smith, Mack will tell his story of injustice and redemption.

Speakers:

• After spending nearly five decades living with the weight of a wrongful conviction for a crime he did not commit, Leonard Mack was exonerated on Sept. 5, 2023, in White Plains, NY. His case is notable for being the longest to be overturned based on new DNA evidence.
• Mary Smith is a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Criminal Appeals Bureau, where she specializes in post-conviction litigation. Prior to joining the Legal Aid Society, she served as a post-conviction litigation fellow at the Innocence Project from 2021 to 2023. 

​Family Secrets with Frank Calabrese Jr.
Dates: Every Wednesday through Sunday in August
Time: Top of every hour from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Location: Organized Crime Today exhibition
Cost: Free with Museum admission.
Description: Reformed mobster Frank Calabrese Jr. had only ever hoped to escape the tumultuous and violent life he had been groomed for by his own father, notorious Chicago Outfit enforcer and hitman Frank Calabrese Sr. Knowing there was only one way out of the life – to ensure his father was never back on the street – Calabrese Jr. contacted the FBI from prison where he and his father were both serving multi-year sentences. To secure the evidence the FBI needed to charge and eventually convict Sr. for life, Calabrese Jr. agreed to wear a wire in the prison yard to capture intimate conversations with his dad. To further cement his father’s fate, Jr. convinced his uncle Nick Calabrese to also testify against Frank Sr. Nick’s testimony helped the FBI solve 18 murders, including that of enforcer Anthony Spilotro, whose death was depicted in Martin Scorsese’s 1995 movie “Casino.” Calabrese Jr. now appears weekly at The Mob Museum to speak and reflect on risking it all to escape the life he never asked to be a part of. Visitors are invited to join Calabrese Jr. Wednesdays-Sundays to hear his story of family, violence, addiction, greed and ultimately redemption. Calabrese Jr.’s telling of his life story leaves audiences stunned as he exemplifies the true cost of organized crime.

Walter White’s Last Ride Raffle
Date: Now through Sunday, Dec. 15
Location: Raffle tickets are available onsite at The Mob Museum and online at TheMobMuseum.org/raffle for those 21 years of age and older.
Cost: Tickets start at $5.
Description: For a limited time, the Museum presents the chance for one lucky winner to drive away in the 1977 Cadillac Sedan DeVille d’Elegance driven by Bryan Cranston as Walter White – aka Heisenberg – in the series finale of AMC’s hit series “Breaking Bad.”  Proceeds from the raffle will support The Mob Museum, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, in delivering its mission to advance the public understanding of organized crime’s history and impact on American society through exhibits, public programming and educational outreach.  Participants must be 21 years of age or older. Full raffle rules and details can be found at themobmuseum.org/raffle.

New Episodes of Inside the Life
Location: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you get podcasts
Description: Inside the Life, a podcast produced by The Mob Museum, and presented by Levy Online and Levy Production Group, is hosted by two former elite undercover agents Giovanni Rocco and Dutch McAlpin. Their stories of infiltrating everything from the American Mob and outlaw motorcycle gangs to the cartels will leave you stunned. This podcast gives listeners a one-of-a-kind look into the inner world of organized crime, featuring guests who have lived on both sides of the law, risked it all and emerged to tell the tale. The final episode of Inside the Life’s first season will air on Thursday, Aug. 1. Recent guests include former DEA agent Lew Rice, actor Vincent Pastore from “The Sopranos” and more.

ABOUT THE MOB MUSEUM
The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, provides a world-class journey through true stories—from the birth of the Mob to today’s headlines. The Mob Museum offers a provocative, contemporary look at these topics through hundreds of artifacts and immersive storylines. Numerous interactive exhibits include a Crime Lab, Firearm Training Simulator and Organized Crime Today exhibit. The Museum is also home to The Underground, a Prohibition history exhibition featuring a speakeasy and distillery. The Mob Museum has accumulated numerous accolades, including being named one of Tripadvisor’s “Top 25 U.S. Museums” and a 2024 “Travelers’ Choice” Award recipient; one of Las Vegas Weekly’s “Twenty Greatest Attractions in Las Vegas History” and “Best Museum” of 2021, 2023 and 2024; Vegas Magazine’s “Best Historical Museum” of 2024; one of National Geographic’s “Top 10 Things to Do in Las Vegas;” USA Today’s “Best Museum in Nevada,” 10Best Readers’ Choice travel awards for “Best Las Vegas Attraction” in 2021 and 2022, “Top Five Best History Museums in the United States” in 2021 and one of its “12 Can’t Miss U.S. Museum Exhibits;” named “A Must for Travelers” by The New York Times and one of “20 Places Every American Should See” by FOX News. The Museum is a two-time winner of the Mayor’s Urban Design Award for Historic Preservation and Adaptive Reuse and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The Museum is open daily; visit the website for admission rates and operating hours. For more information, call (702) 229-2734, visit themobmuseum.org, or download the Museum’s free mobile app.

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