In the words of a federal prosecutor, the "field marshal" of the
Croatian National Resistance, or "Odpor" or "Otpor" inside the United States, and ringleader of a conspiracy to extort, intimidate and murder scores of moderate Croat nationalists in the United States, including the head of the largest Croat-American organization, John Badovinac, and a Catholic priest who had condemned Odpor's terrorist bombings, Father Timothy Majic of Milwaukee, WI. Also charged with fifty counts of extortion of moderate Croats and recent immigrants to fund their "criminal enterprise." Hired two members of the Chicago mafia (aka "The Outfit"), Joe Neary (aka Joe Neri) and
Louis Almeida (driver for the top mob enforcer in the 1970s, Harry Aleman) to kill Badovinac and intimidate the moderate leadership of the Croatian Fraternal Union. After failing to assassinate their target, Neary and Almeida were arrested in Ohio after a traffic stop; Almeida later turned state's evidence. Ljubas, along with Milan Bagaric, Mile Markich, Vinko Logarusic, Ranko Primorac and Drago Sudar were convicted for violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), the preeminent Organized Crime statues, on May 15, 1982 (with Ustase assassin
Miro Baresic named an "unindicted co-racketeer.")
Still in prison as of 1999, when an organization in Croatia appealed to the United States to release Ljubas and his co-conspirators and repatriate them to Croatia. Ljubas is due for release in the Summer of 2004. [see also the Croatian National Resistance]
