The American Dream: Corruption, Betrayal and Murder.
Frank Tenpenny was born 1956 in Idlewood; His childhood was rough one and so decided at a young age to become something, to make something of himself and to get out of the hood. Since he was about 19 he had known a kid called Melvin Harris AKA Big Smoke. Tenpenny had saved Smoke's life once from a local gang and ever since Smoke has always felt in debited to him. They became good friends.
In 1976, at the age of 20 Tenpenny decided to join the LSPD. This was his ticket out of the hood to lead a better life, the previous year he lost his older brother in a drive by shooting by local warring gangs, he felt he could make a difference by becoming a cop. The biggest gang at the time was the Orange Grove Families (OGF) but recently smaller gangs had begun to emerge. Notably "The Ballas" and "The Vagos"
Since his joining the police, it made it difficult to maintain a friendship with Big Smoke as he was getting the reputation of being a local thug and drug dealer. It was decided that they kept their distance.
After completing his training in 1978, Tenpenny was assigned to the downtown HQ where a man by the name of Arthur Sheridan (45) was the Head Police Chief.
Sheridan was recently cleared of corruption charges by the Supreme Court due to a severe lack of evidence. However it was well known on the streets of LS that Sheridan was as crooked as the criminals he arrested each day. He ran the street with an iron fist and if anybody got out of line they were swiftly dealt with. There had also been rumours that he had connections with 2 mob families in Liberty City, The Sindaccos, headed by Anthony "Tony" Sindacco and especially The Leones, ruled by Salvatore Leone, There was however no solid evidence.
Frank Tenpenny was introduced to his new partner. Ray Machowski. Ray (28) - originally from Vice City, he had been on the force for 7 years so was a fairly experienced officer. He had been transferred to Los Santos in 1970. Since moving to LS his last partner was savagely killed in a routine patrol along Verdant Meadows in 77. The killers escaped and were not found but mysteriously Ray was unharmed.
The two worked together on the streets of LS for the next few years and got on very well, it wasn't until 1980 when Tenpenny found out what the LSPD was really about.
Tenpenny was called in to Sheridan office and told he would be going on a special job with Ray. The job was at LS Airport; Tenpenny rode with Ray and upon their arrival they were met by 4 SWAT officers. Before Tenpenny knew what was happening, the SWAT team ambushed a private jet on the runway and surrounded it. This was the jet of Juan Carlos Diaz, the infamous Columbian drugs baron. Diaz and 2 large men exited the jet with their hands up in confusion. The SWAT officers opened fire and riddled their body with bullets. Frank Tenpenny was shocked at what had just occurred and froze. The officers then opened the doors to their SWAT Van, inside were several 1kg packages of Cocaine which they then began to load onto the plane. Ray took out his .45 Magnum walked over to the bodies and placed it in the dead hand of Diaz.
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Tenpenny was shocked at what he had just experienced but strangely intrigued. Back at the station Sheridan and Ray took him into their office and explained it all to him. Tenpenny discovered that Chief Sheridan wasn't only a police Chief, but also a hired hitman among other things. Somebody from Vice City wanted Juan Carlos framed and paid big bucks to do it. Sheridan didn't ask questions, they way he saw it was another low life wiped out.
Tenpenny had heard the rumours but it was all hearsay. Sheridan seen promise in young Tenpenny otherwise he never would have chosen him for the Diaz job. Arthur assured Tenpenny that all the money and power he wanted would be his one day if he did the jobs and kept his mouth shut. This was all Tenpenny needed to hear, he wanted this ever since he left the ghetto and this was his chance.
From that day Ray and Tenpenny became very good friends, they continued their "work" for the next few years gaining more and more influence.
It wasn't until 1981 when Sheridan called Ray into his office. Sheridan told it to him straight. He just received the order to kill a mobster coming over to LS from Liberty City. Normally this wasn't a problem with Ray but this was no regular mobster. Sheridan told him he wanted him to whack Marco Forelli, The Capo of the Forelli family for the last 32 years.
This was a huge problem for Ray, Before Ray was born, Ray's father, Victor Machowski worked in Liberty city, and he had lost his job at the docks in Portland over a big argument with the foreman and was subsequently beaten and put in hospital. He went to his "Godfather" Marco Forelli and asked him for his help in this matter, he would forever be in his debt. Suffice to say the next week the foreman mysteriously disappeared and Ray's father was not only re-hired but promoted.
Ray told Sheridan he could not do it. Not after what he had did for his father. Sheridan was not interested and ordered Ray to do the hit personally and if he didn't co-operate he had enough evidence to put him in prison for good on corruption and murder charges. Not only that but his family would be ruined, In his home police would "discover" a stash of cocaine and his wife would certainly do time and son be put in a foster home.
Ray had no other choice. He was informed that Marco Forelli would be visiting the cemetery in downtown LS and that it was there he would make the hit.
Ray didn't allow Tenpenny to come along this time. It was something he had to do alone. Ray equipped his prized sniper rifle and perched himself on an adjacent rooftop as he watch the old Marco Forelli and his several bodyguards enter the cemetery. They stopped at a small gravestone and lowered their heads.
It only took one shot from Ray and Marco crumbled to the floor. Panic ensued and Ray made his getaway regretting what had just happened.
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It was too hot for Ray to stay in Los Santos now; Sheridan ordered Ray and Tenpenny to be posted in Vice City so not to raise suspicion. The "official" reason Sheridan sent them there was due to a recent drugs crime wave that the current VCPD were finding difficult to handle. Ray was originally from there and knew the streets well so he was chosen. Ray and Tenpenny set of to Vice. Ray was deeply regretted the Forelli hit, he was furious at Sheridan for making him do it.
4 years passed in Vice and Ray and Tenpenny continued their work in Vice. Then word got around of a new boss in town who was causing quite a ruckus in the streets. Just the other week a military motorcade was ambushed and a tank stolen.
Ray met up with an old friend he fought with in Nicaragua. Ray asked him if he had any info about this new hotshot in town. Cassidy seemed nervous when asked. All he said knew was he was some mobster from Liberty.
Weeks passed and crime figures went up dramatically until Tenpenny received a tip off from an old friend known only as Lance that El Banco De Corrupto was going to be robbed. Ray made his enquires and it was discovered that the job was going down on that week.
The day came and the Ray and Tenpenny in their squad car waiting the call. It came and several squad cars roared down the street and surrounded the bank. Ray got on the megaphone and ordered the criminals out, at the same time Ray sent in the SWAT team.
Heavy gunshots were heard inside the bank until finally the gang emerged. Ray spotted the getaway driver for the gang and took him out. The gang fired back and Tenpenny was hit in the shoulder. Miraculously the remaining 3 gang members kept shooting until they made it to the getaway car and escaped without a trace. Ray couldn't give chase as Tenpenny needed to get to hospital. It was failure.
Ray and Tenpenny were recalled back to Los Santos against their will in by Sheridan. Ray didn't want to return, he was so close to nailing Vercetti. Sheridan didn't want to hear it, he got straight to the point. He had discovered Ray had been dealing secretly with the Yakuza in Liberty City. Sheridan didn't approve of this; he detested the Yakuza ever since he had an unfortunate run in with them back in Tokyo, ever since the Yakuza have had a had a price on Sheridan's head and Ray's association might bring him undue attention. He wanted Ray to stop associating himself with them or else.
The following day news came in that Marco Forelli's kid Sonny had been killed in Vice City in a shootout at a mansion in Starfish Island. Ray could not take much more. He had been thinking of Sheridan ever since the Forelli hit and now with the death of Sonny, Ray blamed Sheridan for pulling him out of Vice.
This was the last straw; Ray wanted to make him pay.
Ray convinced Tenpenny to help him, he could only trust him and he couldn't do it alone. Ray explained with Sheridan out on the picture they were next in line for a promotion. It was decided, Sheridan had to go.
Sheridan finished his shift as the HQ and got into Landstalker to go home. He got to the first set of traffic lights and waited for the green. Before he knew it a black van smashed into the side of his car. 2 men in black masks got out the van and drilled Sheridan's car with bullets. Sheridan lay bloodied on the floor looking up at the night sky;
Ray walked over to him and removed his mask. He took out a single red rose from his jacket and placed it in the top shirt pocket of Sheridan - the calling card of the Forelli Family. After a final gunshot the van sped out of the area.
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This was huge, Ray and Tenpenny knew it. A massive investigation was launched by the internal affairs and the DEA. Ray needed to get out of Los Santos again. He requested transfer to Liberty City and got it. Ray planned to move there for good. Him and Tenpenny said their goodbyes and in 1987 Ray move to Liberty City and started work as a detective.
Tenpenny also got promoted, however he stayed in Los Santos. He was assigned a new partner, a young optimistic man by the name of Eddie Pulaski
His influence on the streets by now was extensive. He had drug dealers, pimps, prostitutes and small time criminals all in his pocket. The gangs of the streets where however getting worse, the orange grove families has split up and there were several factions, control was needed over them.
He maintained his relationship over the years with his old friend Big Smoke (who was a well known gang member) but it was clear now who was in charge.
Life continued like this for Tenpenny for the next few years. His power grew over the gangs; he was practically running the streets of Santos by the late 80's
In 1988 The LSPD formed C.R.A.S.H (Community R against Street Hoodlums) and Tenpenny was appointed to it. This was the perfect opportunity for him to tighten his grip on the scum of the streets.
In 1992 Tenpenny and Pulaski had been assigned a new partner, Officer Hernandez, like Tenpenny and Pulaski he was a young optimistic cop wanting to clean up the streets. Tenpenny had other plans for him. He showed him what being a LSPD cop was really all about. Hernandez was reluctant, he had not expected this but Tenpenny was having none of it.
In order for Tenpenny to keep his grip on the streets there had to be gang on gang violence. Tenpenny had Smoke on a leash, it Tenpenny gave him order Smoke obeyed. It was one order that Tenpenny gave questioned Smoke's loyalty – he was to arrange a drive by on his own gang, right in the heart of their own neighbourhood. Smoke disagreed but when Tenpenny showed him the money he would pay him it was hard for smoke to resist.
So Smoke along with his sidekick Ryder arranged for a gang of Ballas shoot up the house of the Grove Street leader Sweet Johnson.
And so that very week a Ballas gang in, ironically, a green Sabre roared down grove street and did what it was order to do. The house was riddled with bullets and as the killers sped away Sweet Johnson realised his mother had been killed.
Tenpenny and Pulaski arrived at the scene of the shooting, within minutes the house was covered in yellow tape and a police investigation was underway – Tenpenny knew all along.
Soon after the shooting, Tenpenny framed the brother of the Grove Street leader who had recently returned from Liberty City to the murder of a police officer – Carl Johnson. Carl was blackmailed by Tenpenny to perform a variety of tasks for him from murdering witnesses to burning down gang bangers houses. However once he had his brother, Sweet arrested sent to prison, tenpenny's leash around Carl tightened further. Now there was nothing Carl wouldn't do.
Officer Hernandez was proving to be a problem; he didn't seem to have the same ruthlessness as Tenpenny and Pulaski. Tenpenny was also suspicious of him squealing to the powers at be. Officer Hernandez was taken to the desert and killed; he had planned for Pulaski to murder his errand boy Carl, but as circumstances had it Officer Pulaski was killed.
Tenpenny had enormous heat on him now, he was very paranoid, and the walls were closing in. Shortly after Hernandez's murder Tenpenny was implicated and was subsequently sent to court. If he was found guilty it would mean the end. He couldn't have that, he got in contact with old friend Ray Machowski and pulled in as many favours as he could and as if by magic all the evidence and witnesses disappeared.
The case went to court and due to little or no supporting evidence Tenpenny was set free. He beamed with pride as he left the court while the city of Los Santos plunged into a full scale riot.
During the 92 Riot, Tenpenny got word from Smoke that his errand boy Carl was after them both. By now Smoke had established himself as the drugs kingpin of Los Santos. Rumours were that he was involved with the Columbians. The streets were rife with crack cocaine.
A few days passed, gang violence sky rocketed and the Grove Street gang were growing in numbers again – Tenpenny then received a call from Smoke, Smoke's was hiding out in his crack palace but he knew his time was up. He informed Tenpenny that Carl was there too, and on his way up to kill him. If he knew what was good for him he would leave Los Santos, it was too late for Smoke.
Tenpenny was not a man to be intimidated, he knew it was too dangerous for him to stay in LS for a while so he had booked a ticket to Miami to go away for a while. However he was still owed his cut of Smoke's crack profits he had made. It was time to collect.
Through the riots, he immediately drove to Smoke's palace. Officer Tenpenny was seen entering the building and exiting about 5 minutes later with a large bag. Shortly after he exited there was an almighty explosion within the building that rocked the neighbourhood. Officer Tenpenny was seen escaping the scene in a fire truck with a white convertible giving chase.
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Back in Liberty City, Ray got news of Tenpenny's death and was saddened. He always knew in the back of his mind that it would be the way would go. Frank wanted it all but to stay in the business they were in you had to play it low key, never get too big.
By this time Ray himself was quite influential in the criminal underworld of Liberty City. He was suspected to have contacts with the Forelli crime organisation and also with the Yakuza in Japan. Throughout the 90's he continued to work within the LCPD as a detective, corrupt as ever.
From 1992 – 1998, the 2 partners he had assigned both mysteriously disappeared. Add that to his suspected involvement with the Vincent Forelli assassination in 1999, and the Dept of Internal Affairs and the FBI got suspicious and began an investigation in 2000. Ray became so paranoid at this point he specially had his Patriot bullet-proofed as a safety measure.
Around mid 2001 Ray met a man through a Yakuza contact, Asuka Kasin. He was rumoured to be the mysterious maniac who was causing havoc in Portland several weeks ago.
His name was Claude Speed and he was the perfect killer. He always got the job done, followed orders to the word and never asked questions.
Claude was originally from Las Venturas. Very little is known about his early past. He was born around 1969 (no exact date is known)
Even more strangely, Claude was found out in the desert, near El Castillo de Diablo, by a trucker who saw him one night by the side of the road covered in strange green substance.
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Claude grew up in an orphanage in Venturas, he was different for the other kids, he never spoke a word to anyone and always kept to himself. The doctors couldn't explain it.
Around 1992 he was though to be involved in illegal street racing all over the state of San Andreas. It was around this time he got involved with the infamous Columbian criminal Catalina and it is most likely they were both involved in the wave of bank robberies that took place all over Texas and New Mexico.
When Claude and Catalina made a hit on the Bank of Liberty City, Catalina betrayed him and took the money. It was all over the news and Claude was to be sent to prison. However upon transport in a police convoy the Staunton Bridge was bombed, all the police offices were killed by mystery gunmen and Claude was spotted by an eyewitness escaping the scene with an unknown assailant. Although it was rumoured he was working for the mob in Portland, nothing was substantiated.
Claude began to work with Ray and especially became a valuable asset to him when a colleague of his, a detective called McCarthy, agreed to testify to the court of Rays corruption. Ray sent Claude to kill one him. And he did.
Ray was impressed and so sent Claude after his partner who was on to Ray. He was out on a fishing trip that day. He never returned. The authorities found his body washed ashore in Portland
Claude did the jobs flawlessly, but this brought down tremendous heat on Ray from internal affairs and the F.B.I. He was a marked man. A government agent by the name of John Masters was in made in charge of the operation to keep Ray from leaving Liberty; He blocked all tunnels and roads and was personally standing guard on the bridge leading to Francis international Airport.
Miraculously a car though to have Ray in it barged past all roadblocks and managed to get to the airport in time for a flight leaving for Florida. The mission had failed.
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Ray had escaped Liberty; this seemed to be the routine everywhere he went. His flight was headed for Vice City. His days as an office of the law was over, Vice however was ripe for the taking. Ever since the disappearance of Vice City's crime kingpin Tommy Vercetti in 1991 Vice City was wide open. Some rumours say he had a psychotic lawyer who murdered him, others say he retired and moved to the west coast to open up a boat school – nothing was ever proved.
Claude was though to continue to work in Staunton for the Yakuza, Yardies and also a mystery businessman.
In late 2001 after the bloodbath of several Columbians that had ravaged the Cochrane Dam and the unsolved bombing catastrophe on a skyscraper in Staunton, city life began to return to normal until 2004. There were rumours on the streets of a new European crime wave about to hit Liberty any week, he knew the streets would not be safe for a guy like him, his instincts got the better of him and he left Liberty City.
It is unknown where he went but in mid 2005 he remembered what Ray had told him just before he left Liberty, and eventually showed up in Escobar International in Vice City.
Ray Machowski had already started an operation; he was dealing in weapons with a mystery supplier in Liberty City, He right hand man and weapons expert was (ironically a man with only one arm) – Phil Cassidy. Ray had convinced Phil to come back with him to Vice and help him set up the operation.
Ray was happy to see Claude and immediately brought him into the operation.
Together they made huge amounts of money and with in a few years controlled all arms trade on the West Coast while his mystery partner in Liberty controlled the East Coast. Although he didn't achieve this single headedly, he pay rolled Congressman Alex Shrub's presidential campaign and when he won in 2004 after defeating the publicly disgraced George W Bush who was later sent to prison for molesting cattle on his ranch.
President Shrub then relaxed many of the laws that allowed Ray to operate. It was beautifully orchestrated.
Ray Machowski died peacefully in 2024 at the age of 74 and left his business to Claude. After Ray's death, Claude sold his half of the business to their partner on the East Coast and left America. It is uncertain where he went but it was rumoured he moved London. He was never heard of again.
The End…?
Authors note: This Story is part of a trilogy. However it is not vital that you read them in any particular order. The other 2 stories are titled "The Mafioso Families of Liberty" and "The Bone County Conspiracy" are all intertwined in one way or another. Think of the way the stories of Pulp Fiction or Sin City are connected and you get the picture.
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