Do any of you remember Babe'd Restaurant in downtown Des Moines? At one time, when you came to the Capital city, that was THE place to go eat. Most out-of-towners didn't know where else to go. During the state basketball championships, it was a regular freeway of people between Vet's Auditorium and Babe's.
This story is not headed where you might think, though. Babe had one employee that pretty much did nothing but clean tables and on occasion escorted patrons to their table. He was a big Lebanese guy named Fred E. He always wore a suit and tie. Always.
It was known that Fred put junkets together from Des Moines and possibly other places to Las Vegas for high roller gamblers. You know, if you gave the casino's enough action, you would receive free air fare out and back plus free lodging. Such a deal! That was one of Fred's occupations, if you will.
One day in the Des Moines Register was an article about a raid on a big time illegal poker game in West Des Moines. Several prominent names and faces were posted. One that I never will forget was good old Fred E. And, underneath his kisser was his name and he was listed simply as "businessman." I guess that's the best you can come up with when you clean off tables, set up junkets, and allegedly was the mob's key guy in Des Moines for lots of illegal activity like the numbers and who knows what all!
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