The Mafia has controlled everything from the street corner drug trade to the highest levels of government. Glorified by movies and television, hounded by law enforcement officials, marked for death by their enemies, mobsters live violent and often brief lives. The Mafia at its core is about one thing - money. Still, there are secret rituals, complicated rules and tangled webs of family loyalty. In this article, we'll find out how people get into the Mafia, what the Mafia does and what law enforcement agencies have done to stop them. We'll also learn about the important people and events that have shaped this not-so-secret society An Overview:Today, the word "mafia" is used to refer to almost any organized crime group, and in some cases is even used to describe groups completely unrelated to crime. In this article, we will focus on the traditional meaning of "mafia": organized criminal organizations of Italian or Sicilian heritage. In organized crime there is a hierarchy, with higher-ranking members making decisions that trickle down to the other members of the family. The Mafia is not a single group or gang - it is made up of many families that have, at times, fought each other in bitter, bloody gang wars. At other times, they have cooperated in the interest of greater profits, sometimes even serving on a "Commission" that made major decisions affecting all the families (more on the Commission later). Most of the time, though, they simply agree to stay out of each other's way. Mafia-dom is neither a political nor a religious affiliation. Because of their Italian roots, many Mafioso are Catholic, but part of the oath a mobster takes when he becomes a "made man" - a member of a Mafia family - is that the Mafia comes before birth family and God. ★ La Cosa Nostra - The term “cosa nostra”, which is sometimes translated from Italian to mean "our thing," originally referred to the general lifestyle of organized criminals in Sicily. When the Mafia moved to the United States, FBI agents listening in on wiretaps heard the term. They began using the term La Cosa Nostra (which is grammatically incorrect) to refer to the Mafia. In time, La Cosa Nostra referred specifically to American Mafioso, differentiating them from "old world" mobsters. ★ Omerta - Omerta is the Mafia code of silence. ★ Made man - This is a man who has been officially inducted into a Mafia family. ★ Capo - The capo was originally the head of a family in Sicily. Now, the capo is more like a lieutenant who serves the family boss. ★ The Family - Each individual gang within the Mafia is known as a family. Not everyone within a family is actually related to one and other, although it is common for relatives of mobsters to be inducted into the same family as their brothers or fathers. ★ Wiseguy - This is someone who is involved with the Mafia. The Structure:The structure described below refers specifically to La Cosa Nostra. Other groups have similar structures, but they may differ in some ways. Each group is made up of several gangs, known as families. The number of families can range from fewer than 10 to more than 100. Sometimes, the emergence of a new family must be approved by the heads of other families, while in some cases a group can splinter off from another family and consolidate its power, becoming recognized as a new family over time. Each family has separate business dealings, but the dealings of the families can intermingle to a large extent depending on their proximity to one another and the commonality of their ventures. The leader of each family is known as the boss, or don. All major decisions are made by the boss, and money made by the family ultimately flows to him. The boss's authority is needed to resolve disputes and keep everyone in line. Just below the boss is the underboss. The underboss is the second in command, although the amount of power he wields can vary. Some underbosses resolve disputes without involving the boss. Some are groomed to replace the boss if he is old or in danger of going to jail. Beneath the underboss are several capos. The number of capos varies depending on the overall size of the family. A capo acts like a lieutenant, leading his own section of the family. He has specific activities that he operates. The capo's territory may be defined geographically (as in, "everything west of 14th Street belongs to Louie 'The Key' DiBartolo.") or by the rackets he operates ("Alfonze 'Big Al' Maggioli is in charge of illegal gambling."). The key to being a successful capo is making money. The capo keeps some of the money his rackets earn and then passes the rest up to the underboss and boss. The "dirty work" is done by the soldiers. A soldier is the lowest rank among made men. They're part of the family, but they hold little power and make relatively little money. The number of soldiers that belong to any given capo can vary tremendously. In addition to soldiers, the Mafia will use associates. Associates are not actual members of the Mafia, but they work with Mafia soldiers and capos on various criminal enterprises. An associate is simply someone who works with the mob, including anyone from a burglar or drug dealer to a lawyer, investment banker, police officer or politician. There is one other position within the family that is somewhat legendary - the consigliere. The consigliere is not supposed to be part of the family's hierarchy. He is supposed to act as an advisor and make impartial decisions based on fairness rather than personal feelings or vendettas. This position is meant to be elected by the members of the family, rather than appointed by the boss. In reality, consiglieres are sometimes appointed and are not always impartial. Divisions:The Mafia is not an actual organization itself. There is no head of the Mafia. Instead, the word Mafia is an umbrella term that refers to any of several groups of gangsters who can trace their roots to Italy or Sicily. In broad terms, there are five Mafia groups, defined mainly by the regions they operate in or the regions they originated in. All five groups have their hands in criminal operations that span the globe and have set up operatives in many different nations. The Sicilian Mafia originated on the island of Sicily. The Camorra Mafia began in Naples, and the Calabrian Mafia originated in Italy's Calabrian region. The Sacra Corona Unita is a more recent group based in the Puglia region of Italy. Finally, La Cosa Nostra is the American Mafia, although this group can trace its history back to Sicilian families as well as some of the other Italian groups. There isn't a clear naming convention when it comes to Mafia families. Early families were named after the region or town in Italy where they came from. Sometimes, the name of the family would change to the name of the boss, especially if he was a powerful or long-standing boss. The five main New York City families had their names set semi-permanently by the testimony of informer Joe Valachi before a Senate subcommittee in 1962 and 1963. The families were named for the current bosses, although in one case, it was an earlier, more powerful boss whose name would be used. These five families were the Bonanno, Genovese, Gambino, Luchese and Profaci. The Profaci family was taken over by Joseph Colombo a few years later, and he became so famous that the family is now known as the Colombo family. The same thing nearly happened to the Gambino family when it was taken over by John Gotti - but before it became the Gotti family, Gotti was arrested and convicted of racketeering and murder, based largely on the testimony of Mafia traitor Sammy "The Bull" Gravano. Most of the other U.S. families are simply named for the city they operate in. Thus, you have the Philadelphia family, the Buffalo family, the Cleveland family and so on. Induction:The details of a Mafia induction ceremony were a carefully kept secret for decades. But in the early 1960s, Joe Valachi's testimony before a Senate subcommittee shined a spotlight on the mob. The Mafia induction described here is the ceremony conducted by the Sicilian Mafia as well as most American Mafia families. Circumstances can alter some of the details of the ceremony, such as an induction in prison or a quick induction during a gang war. First, the potential gangster is told simply to "dress up" or "get dressed." He is taken to a private place and seated at a long table, right next to the boss. Other Mafioso who are present will join hands and recite oaths and promises of loyalty. The inductee must then hold a burning piece of paper. In some families, the new soldier is paired with a more experienced mobster who will act as his "godfather," guiding him into Mafia life. The inductee must promise that he will be a member of the family for life, and then a drop of blood is drawn from his trigger finger. It takes more than just an oath and a drop of blood to get into the Mafia, however. Only men of Italian heritage are allowed in. In some families, both parents must be Italian, while some only require an Italian father. The prospective mobster must also show a penchant for making money or at the very least a willingness to commit acts of violence when ordered to. Usually, the criminal must pass a test before he will be considered for induction, and this test is commonly rumoured to be some sort of participation in an act of murder. There is one last obstacle that some mobsters face when they try to become made men - the Commission. In the 1920s and '30s, the Mafia families in the United States were almost constantly at war with one another. They would often recruit new soldiers by the dozens so rival families wouldn't recognize them as enemies. These new recruits could easily approach members of other families and assassinate them. To put a stop to this, the Commission began requiring all the families to make a list of their prospective members and circulate the list among the other families. In addition to eliminating unrecognizable family members, this also allowed the bosses to weed out prospective’s that other families had problems with. If those prospective’s became made men, individual disagreements could grow into violent wars between families. Activities:The ultimate point of the Mafia is to make money. Families use a variety of activities to accomplish this. One of the most common is also one of the simplest - extortion. Extortion is forcing people to give up their money by threatening them in some way. Mafia "protection rackets" are extortion schemes. They tell a shop owner that she needs to pay them $100 a week so they can "protect" her from criminals who might demolish the shop or hurt her family - the implication being that the Mafia members themselves are these criminals. The Mafia makes money by participating in virtually any activity that is illegal. Illegal goods are expensive, untaxed and unregulated. Over the years, mobsters have dealt in alcohol during Prohibition, illegal drugs, prostitution and illegal gambling. Sometimes, burglaries and muggings generate income, but the capos know that their activities need a grander scale to ensure maximum profit. This is why they hijack trucks and unload entire shipments of stolen goods. Another method used by Mafioso is to pay off truck drivers or dock workers, who will "misplace" crates and shipments that later end up in Mafia hands. The stolen goods could be anything from stereo equipment to women's clothing (a favourite of John Gotti early in his career). One of the most notorious Mafia schemes was the infiltration of labour unions. For several decades, it is believed that every major construction project in New York City was controlled by the Mafia. Mobsters paid off or threatened union leaders to get a piece of the action whenever a union group got a construction job, and they sometimes made their way into the ranks of leadership themselves. And once the Mafia had its grip firmly on a union, it could control an entire industry. Mafioso could get workers to slow or halt construction if contractors or developers didn't make the right payoffs, and they had access to huge union pension funds. At one point, the Mafia could have brought nearly all construction and shipping in the United States to a halt. But the last 20 years have seen the federal government crack down on Mafia-union connections to a great extent. The current structure of the Mafia took centuries to develop. To learn about the history of the mafia and to see how law enforcement has dealt with organized crime over the years. More in the conclusion of this article. THE HISTORY:The current structure of the Mafia took centuries to develop. It all began on the island of Sicily. Although there are major organized crime groups from other parts of Italy, the Sicilian Mafia is generally considered to be the blueprint for all other Mafia organizations. Several unique factors contributed to the development of organized crime on Sicily. The island is located at an easily accessible and strategically important place in the Mediterranean Sea. As a result, Sicily was invaded, conquered and occupied by hostile forces many times. This led to an overall distrust of central authority and codified legal systems. The family, rather than the state, became the focus of Sicilian life, and disputes were settled through a system in which punishment was dealt beyond the limits of the law. In the 19th century, the European feudal system finally collapsed in Sicily. With no real government or functioning authority of any kind, the island quickly descended into lawlessness. Certain landowners and other powerful men began to build reputations and eventually came to be seen as local leaders. They were known as capos. The capos used their power to extract tributes from farmers under their authority (much like the feudal lords before them). Their authority was enforced through the threat of violence. Their criminal activities were never reported, even by the victims, because of the fear of reprisal. This was the beginning of the Sicilian Mafia. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MAFIA:In the early 1900's, organized crime had so thoroughly infiltrated Sicilian life that it was virtually impossible to avoid contact with the Mafia. Dictator Benito Mussolini cracked down on the Mafia using harsh, often brutal methods. But when U.S. troops occupied Sicily during World War II, they mistook the many jailed criminals for political prisoners and not only set those free, but also appointed many of them as mayors and police chiefs. Before long, the Mafia had a firm grasp on Italy's Christian Democrat party. In the post-war years, the various competing Sicilian families realized that their constant fighting was costing them money. They called a ceasefire and formed a group called the Cupola that would oversee the operations of all the families and approve all major enterprises and assassinations. A similar system would be put in place by the American families in the 1950s. While these committees did succeed in stifling gang wars for a time, they also left the bosses vulnerable to prosecution because with the Cupola in place, bosses personally approved murders. The fight against the Sicilian Mafia came to a head in the 1980s. Two very prominent government prosecutors who had done a lot of damage to the Mafia were assassinated in bombings. The public was outraged, and the government eventually responded with the so-called Maxi trial. More than 400 Mafioso were tried in a specially built bunker. Large cells in the back of the courtroom held the defendants, who would often scream and threaten witnesses as the trial went on. Ultimately, 338 were found guilty. This wasn't enough to stamp out Sicily's Mafia, however. In 1992, the Italian government sent 7,000 military troops to Sicily. They occupied the island until 1998. The Sicilian Mafia still exists today and is still active, but it is quieter and less violent. In the next section, we'll see how the Mafia came to the United States. AMERICAN MAFIA:Sicilians and other Italians began immigrating to the United States in the 1800's, but a major wave of them arrived on American shores early in the 20th century. While the vast majority of them worked hard at building a new life for their family through legal means, some of them brought the ways of the Sicilian Mafia with them. The first major Mafia incident occurred in New Orleans in the 1890's. A Sicilian crime family was pressured by the local chief of police, who was then murdered. When the mobsters were tried, they bribed witnesses and were acquitted. Anti-Italian fervour erupted, and a lynch mob went to the jailhouse. The mob shot or hanged 16 men. Mafia families spread through the country in the first half of the 20th century, emanating from New York City, where five families vied for control. The era of Prohibition poured vast amounts of money into Mafia coffers as they sold illegal alcohol in speakeasies around the country. Their power during this period grew exponentially, and wars between the families broke out. There was an epidemic of Mafia violence in the early 1930s - bosses and underbosses were assassinated regularly, with few bosses ruling their families for more than a few months before they got killed. The Luchese family went through three or four bosses in 1930 alone. In the middle of this bloodbath (and helping to orchestrate much of it) was a mobster named Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Luciano attained a position of great power throughout La Cosa Nostra, and he threw his support behind an idea that had been floating around for some time - the formation of a multi-family commission that would approve Mafia activities nationwide. THE COMMISSION:The Commission is a governing body of the Mafia in the United States. Although its makeup has changed several times since its 1931 creation, the bosses of the New York Five Families still provide the core membership of The Commission. The predecessor organization was the National Crime Syndicate which was a national alliance with many organized crime figures. Reasons For The Commission's Formation: Pre-Commission: The Commission was established in 1931 by Lucky Luciano in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The purpose of the Mafia Commission was to replace the old Sicilian mafia regime and establish rule by consensus among the new crime families. Historically, such a system has always been in place. In Sicily, heads of different cosche would meet periodically to discuss business, and in America, the same was true. In his memoirs, Nicola Gentile, a Sicilian-born Mafioso, does not regard the Commission as either particularly new or innovative. He viewed its creation as merely a formalization of already existing consultative practices widespread among the mafia. In early 1931, after winning the bloody Castellammarese War among the New York gangs, New York Boss Salvatore Maranzano divided all the national criminal gangs into several crime families and then assumed the title capo di tutti capi ("boss of all bosses"). Maranzano then proceeded to impose a dictatorial regime on the families. Since there had never historically been a "boss of all bosses", reaction to this move among the mafia's ranks was largely negative. Luciano, then a Maranzano ally, soon chafed under this harsh control and in September 1931 engineered Maranzano's assassination. Luciano then became the top mobster in the country. Unlike Maranzano, Luciano did not want to become a "boss of all bosses". At the same time, Luciano wanted to avoid the chaos that had led to bloody and self-destructive gang wars in New York and Chicago during the 1920s. Luciano and Meyer Lansky realized that the best solution was to let the families run themselves, but establish a central organization for settling their differences without bloodshed. This would preserve family control, prevent warfare, promote their business interests, and keep the mob away from public and law enforcement attention. Luciano established a mob board of directors - to be known as "The Commission" - to oversee all Mafia activities in the US and serve to mediate conflicts between families. Luciano assumed the position of chairman and Lansky served as his chief advisor. The Commission would meet every five years or when needed to discuss family problems. Even though the commission was meant to replace the role of capo di tutti capi, there would be various bosses over the years who would assume the role through the de facto process of controlling other dons on the commission. Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Stefano Magaddino, Carlo Gambino, and Vincent Gigante are examples of influential family bosses who exercised control over the Commission. Post-Formation: The formation of the Commission did not stop all gang wars, but it did reduce their scale and frequency. When one family declared war on another, the aggressor family usually found itself at war with the Commission and the rest of the families. This provided a powerful incentive to the families to negotiate their disputes. To settle wars or internal conflicts, the Commission would appoint a new Don of the Family and have the usurper or the previous Don assassinated. An example of this is the case of the Bonanno family in the Bonanno War. Structure: The Commission officially comprised seven family bosses: the leaders of New York's Five Families (Lucky Luciano, Joseph Bonanno, Joe Profaci, Vincent Mangano, and Tommy Gagliano) and the "Fathers" from Chicago (Al Capone), representing everything in the Western United States, and Buffalo (Stefano Magaddino). However, after the 1957 Apalachin Convention, it was decided that two more leaders of the families were allowed into the Commission. These turned out to be Angelo "Gentle Don" Bruno of the Philadelphia crime family, and Joseph "Joe Z." Zerilli of the Detroit Partnership, although these positions declined much over the 1960s and 1970s. Jack Dragna, boss of the Los Angeles crime family for 25 years, also held a seat on the National Commission. Since his death in 1956, the crime family has been represented by the Chicago Outfit. In 1931, Luciano and Lansky set up a multi-ethnic board, commonly referred to as the national syndicate or "combination". Non-Italian Jewish mobsters such as Louis Buchalter, Longy Zwillman and Jake Guzik were also allowed to participate in the syndicate's meetings per the Murder Inc. investigation by Brooklyn DA's office (William O'Dwyer) in late 1930's thru mid 1940's and surveillance by Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Although largely acting in the shadows (which helped explain Lansky's eventual "untouchability"), Lansky was able to exercise a good deal of influence (even talking Luciano and the Commission out of putting out a contract on Bugsy Siegel on two occasions.) With the demise of Murder Inc and the deaths of many leading members such as Bugsy Siegel, the national syndicate seems to have been defunct by the late 1950s. Executive Position: There was no "ruler" of the Commission, but there was a nominated Chairman or Head of the National Commission. This was used as a substitute to the role of capo di tutti capi, as that had the connotations of the old Mustache Pete system of one-man rule. However, after the Havana Conference, Lucky Luciano took this title anyway so as to solidify his rule after being deported from the United States by the actions of Governor Thomas Dewey. Judicial: This service had to be authorized by the Commission by vote first, along with the number of targets. Even then the number of targets was usually limited to one or a few individuals. This way the Commission avoided a confusing situation that could result in a war, and minimized possible press exposure. Historical Leadership Of The Commission: Chairman of the commission: ★1931-1936 - Lucky Luciano (arrested in 1936 stayed chairman, but had less authority over the commission. He was deported in 1946, and finally lost his title in late 1950s.) ★ Acting 1936-1951 – was a 4 family alliance which was considered the conservative faction. The alliance consisted of the of Buffalo family boss Stefano Magaddino, Mangano family (later called Gambino family) boss Vincent Mangano, Profaci family (later called Colombo family) boss Joe Profaci and Bonanno family boss Joe Bonanno. ★ Acting 1951-1957 – the alliance that was considered a liberal faction. Supported by Lucky Luciano in Italy, the members were Frank Costello (leading the Luciano family), Albert Anastasia (who replaced Mangano), Tony Accardo (of the Chicago outfit) and later Tommy Lucchese. ★ 1957-1959 – Vito Genovese - boss of Genovese Crime Family and disputed heaof the commission. ★ Genovese and his new liberal faction of Carlo Gambino, Tommy Lucchese. He was later disposed of by the Costello, Luciano, Gambino and Lucchese alliance. Genovese's fall began at the Apalachin Conference in New York. He was later arrested in 1959 ending his regime. ★ 1959-1976 – Carlo Gambino - boss of Gambino Crime Family and head of commission until his natural death. He was allied with Tommy Lucchese (boss of Lucchese family) and retired Frank Costello. ★ 1976-1985 - Paul Castellano –boss of Gambino family and head of commission until his was murdered in December 1985. ★ 1986-2005 – Vincent Gigante –boss of Genovese family and head of commission until his natural death. ★ 2005 – Present - Unknown The Commission Today: The Commission is still reported to exist today, though its current membership is composed of only the bosses of the Five Families, the Chicago Outfit, and the Philadelphia crime family leaders. Its activities, like much of the Mafia in general, have receded from public view as a matter of necessity. The current heads of the families believed to be on the Commission are: ★ Bonanno crime family - Vacant ★ Chicago Outfit - Boss John DiFronzo ★ Colombo crime family - Unknown ★ Gambino crime family - Daniel Marino, Bartolomeo "Bobby" Vernace, and John Gambino (Ruling Panel) ★ Genovese crime family - Unknown ★ Lucchese crime family - Aniello "Neil" Migliore, Joseph DiNapoli and Matthew Madonna (Ruling Panel) ★ Philadelphia crime family - Boss Joseph Ligambi The Five Families:The term was first used in 1931, when Salvatore Maranzano formally organized the previously warring gangs into what are now known as the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese crime families, each with demarcated territory, organizationally structured in a now-familiar hierarchy, and having them reporting up to the same overarching governing entity. Initially Maranzano intended each family's boss to report to him as the capo di tutti capi (boss of all bosses), but this led to his assassination and by September the role was replaced by The Commission, which continues to govern American Mafia activities in the United States and Canada. The crime families originated out of New York City Sicilian Mafia gangs. Salvatore Maranzano formally organized them in the summer of 1931, after the April 15 murder of Giuseppe Masseria, in what has become known as the Castellammarese War. Maranzano introduced the now-familiar Mafia hierarchy: boss (capofamiglia), underboss (sotto capo), advisor (consigliere), captain (caporegime), soldier (soldato), and associate; and declared himself capo di tutti capi (boss of all bosses). By declaring himself boss of all bosses, Maranzano was breaking the deal he had made with Lucky Luciano in which the gangsters agreed that they would be equals, in exchange for Luciano agreeing to help murder Masseria. For reneging, Maranzano was murdered on September 10, 1931, on Luciano's orders. The boss of all bosses position was then eliminated in favor of The Commission. The Commission would consist of the head of each of the Five Families, plus the heads of the Buffalo crime family and the Chicago Outfit. The council would serve as the governing body of the American Mafia, settling disputes, including demarcating territory among the previously warring factions and would govern all activities in the United States and Canada. Names: By 1963, when they were publicly disclosed in the Valachi hearings, the family names had changed and were based on their bosses at the time, Joseph Bonanno, Carlo Gambino, Vito Genovese, Tommy Lucchese and Joseph Profaci. Other than the Profaci family, which was renamed the Colombo family, the names have remained unchanged. Territories: The crime families historically operated throughout the New York Metropolitan area, but mainly within New York City. In the state of New York the gangs have increased their criminal rackets on Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk) and the counties of Westchester, Rockland, and Albany. They also maintain a strong presence in the state of New Jersey. The Five Families are also active in South Florida, Connecticut, Las Vegas, and Massachusetts. ★ The Bonanno crime family operates mainly in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island. The family also maintains influence in Manhattan, The Bronx, Westchester County, New Jersey, California, and Florida, and have ties to the Montreal Mafia in Quebec. ★ Bath Avenue Crew operated in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York. ★The Colombo crime family operates mainly in Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island. The family also maintains influence in Staten Island, Manhattan, The Bronx, New Jersey, and Florida. ★ The Gambino crime family operates mainly in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island, and Long Island. The family also maintains influence in The Bronx, New Jersey, Westchester County, Connecticut, Grand Rapids Michigan, Florida, and Los Angeles. ★ The Ozone Park Boys operate in Queens and Long Island. ★ The Genovese crime family operates mainly in Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn, and New Jersey. The family also maintains influence in Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, Westchester County, Rockland County, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Florida. ★ 116th Street Crew operates in Upper Manhattan and The Bronx ★ Greenwich Village Crew operates in Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan ★ Genovese crime family New Jersey faction operates throughout the state of New Jersey ★ The Lucchese crime family operates mainly in The Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and New Jersey. The family also maintains influence in Queens, Long Island, Staten Island, Westchester County, and Florida. ★ Cutaia Crew operates in Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island ★ Lucchese crime family New Jersey faction operates throughout New Jersey ★ The Tanglewood Boys was a "recruitment gang" that operated in Westchester County, The Bronx, and Manhattan. The origins of the MafiosoLets take a look at the real men behind behind the mob. The origins of the Mafioso. The worlds most famous mafioso are considered to be Meyer Lansky &Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, both children of immigrants, were friends before becoming two of New York's leading crime figures. They joined forces with another Lower East Side neighbor, Charles "Lucky" Luciano, who became one of the city's top crime bosses. Along the way, they worked with such compatriots as Frank Costello and Vito Genovese - both of whom eventually rose to power in their own rights. These men raked in cash from a wealth of illegal operations, including bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, racketeering, extortion and even murder. They let no one stand in their way in the quest for money and control, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. Let's meet some of the founding figures of the American mob. MEYER LANSKY - THE MOB'S ACCOUNTANT:Meyer Lansky (born Meier Suchowlanski; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983). Lansky developed a gambling empire which stretched across the world. He was said to own points (percentages) in casinos in Las Vegas, Cuba, The Bahamas and London. Although a member of the Jewish Mob, Lansky undoubtedly had strong influence with the Italian Mafia and played a large role in the consolidation of the criminal underworld. Despite nearly fifty years as a member-participant in organized crime, Lansky was never found guilty of anything more serious than illegal gambling. He has a legacy of being one of the most successful (in terms of finance) gangsters in American history. The long arm of the law only caught up with Lansky once. In 1953, he spent two months in prison on a gambling charge. Lansky, unlike many of his contemporaries, managed to live to the ripe old age of 81. He died in Miami Beach, Florida, in 1983. BUGSY SIEGEL - THE CRAZY ONE:A sharply dressed yet cold-blooded killer, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel is believed to have murdered more than 30 people. The son of Jewish immigrants from Russia, Brooklyn-born Benjamin Bugsy Siegel was just a kid when he launched his first criminal business. He ran his own protection racket and later graduated to armed robbery and murder. He hated the nickname "Bugsy," which referred to "bug" - a slang word for crazy. Still the name stuck because of his unpredictable, violent nature. Siegel later teamed up with childhood friend Meyer Lansky to build a thriving bootlegging empire. The pair also started up a successful murder-for-hire business with Siegel sometimes acting as the trigger man. He is thought to have been one of the shooters who took out Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria. Siegel traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada where he handled and financed some of the original casinos. He assisted developer William Wilkerson's Flamingo Hotel after Wilkerson ran out of funds. Siegel took over the project and managed the final stages of construction. The Flamingo opened on December 26, 1946 to poor reception and soon closed. It reopened in March 1947 with a finished hotel. Three months later, on June 20, 1947, Siegel was shot dead at the Beverly Hills home of his girlfriend, Virginia Hill. On the night of June 20, 1947, as Siegel sat with his associate Allen Smiley in Virginia Hill's Beverly Hills home reading the Los Angeles Times, an assailant fired at him through the window with a .30 caliber military M1 carbine, hitting him many times, including twice in the head. No one was charged with the murder, and the crime remains officially unsolved. LUCKY LUCIANO - FATHER OF ORGANIZED CRIME:Lucky Luciano started out life as Salvatore Lucania, born in Sicily in 1897. He arrived in New York with his family in 1906, and it wasn't long before he turned to crime. His first extortion racket was squeezing his fellow students for protection pay-offs. Luciano dropped out of school and moved onto other illegal endeavors. Luciano soon became a top aide in the Masseria organization. In contrast to Rothstein, Masseria was an uneducated man with poor manners and limited managerial skills. By the late 1920s, Masseria's main rival was boss Salvatore Maranzano, who had come from Sicily to run the Castellammarese clan activities. Maranzano didn't want to pay commission to Masseria, and the ensuing rivalry eventually escalated into the infamous Castellammarese War, which raged from 1928 to 1931 and resulted in the deaths of both Maranzano and Masseria. Masseria and Maranzano were so-called "Mustache Petes": older, traditional Mafia bosses who had started their criminal careers in Italy. They believed in upholding the supposed Old World Mafia principles of "honor", "tradition", "respect", and "dignity". These bosses refused to work with non-Italians, and were even skeptical of working with non-Sicilians. Some of the most traditional bosses only worked with men with roots in their own Sicilian village. Luciano, in contrast, was willing to work with Italian, Jewish, and Irish gangsters. For this reason, he was shocked to hear traditional Sicilian mafiosi lecture him about his dealings with close friend Frank Costello, whom they called "the dirty Calabrian". Luciano soon began cultivating ties with other younger mobsters who had been born in Italy, but began their criminal careers in the United States. Known as the Young Turks, they chafed at their bosses' conservatism. Luciano wanted to use lessons he learned from Rothstein to turn their gang activities into criminal empires. As the war progressed, this group came to include future mob leaders such as Costello, Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia, Joe Adonis, Joe Bonanno, Carlo Gambino, Joe Profaci, Tommy Gagliano, and Tommy Lucchese. The Young Turks believed that their bosses' greed and conservatism were keeping them poor while the Irish and Jewish gangs got rich. Luciano's vision was to form a national crime syndicate in which the Italian, Jewish, and Irish gangs could pool their resources and turn organized crime into a lucrative business for all. In October 1929, Luciano was forced into a limousine at gun point by three men, beaten and stabbed, and dumped on a beach on Staten Island. He somehow survived the ordeal but was forever marked with a scar and droopy eye. The identity of his abductors was never established. When picked up by the police after the beating, Luciano said that he had no idea who did it. However, in 1953, Luciano told an interviewer that it was the police who kidnapped and beat him. Another story was that Maranzano ordered the attack. The most important consequence of this episode was the press coverage it engendered, introducing Luciano to the New York public. Luciano, on the urging of former Chicago boss Johnny Torrio, set up the Commission to serve as the governing body for organized crime. Designed to settle all disputes and decide which families controlled which territories, the Commission has been called Luciano's greatest innovation. Luciano's goals with the Commission were to quietly maintain his own power over all the families, and to prevent future gang wars. The Commission was originally composed of representatives of the Five Families of New York City, the Philadelphia crime family, the Buffalo crime family, the Los Angeles crime family, and the Chicago Outfit of Al Capone; later, the Detroit crime family and Kansas City crime family were added. The Commission also provided representation for the Irish and Jewish criminal organizations in New York. All Commission members were supposed to retain the same power and had one vote, but in reality some families and bosses were more powerful than others. The Commission's first test as an authority came in 1935 when it ordered gang boss Dutch Schultz to drop his plans to murder Special Prosecutor Thomas Dewey. Luciano argued that a Dewey assassination would precipitate a massive law enforcement crackdown. When Schultz announced that he was going to kill Dewey (or his Assistant David Asch) in the next three days, regardless of the Commission's instructions, the Commission quickly arranged Schultz's murder. On October 24, 1935, Schultz was murdered in a tavern in Newark, New Jersey. On January 26, 1962, Luciano died of a heart attack at Naples International Airport. Luciano had gone to the airport to meet with American producer Martin Gosch about a film based on his life. To avoid antagonizing other Cosa Nostra members, Luciano had previously refused to authorize a film, but reportedly relented after Lissoni's death. After the meeting with Gosch, Luciano was stricken with a heart attack and died. Luciano was unaware that Italian drug agents had followed him to the airport in anticipation of arresting him on drug smuggling charges. VITO GENOVESE - THE DON:Vito Genovese dreamed of becoming the boss of all bosses and was merciless in pursuit of his ambitions. Arriving in United States from Italy as a teenager, he quickly immersed himself in criminal activities, developing a reputation for being a thief and a thug. He eventually linked up with crime boss Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria, working with the likes of Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Genovese and Luciano eventually turned against their boss during his feud with Salvatore Maranzano. They were instrumental in the assassination of Masseria in April 1931. The pair later plotted against Maranzano, having him taken out later that same year. Now in control, Luciano made Genovese his underboss and Frank Costello became his advisor. Luciano soon ended up in legal trouble, and Genovese quickly ran afoul of the law himself. Facing murder charges, he fled to his native Italy in 1937. Extradited to the United States after World War II, Genovese was supposed to be tried on the earlier murder charge. But the case fell apart after the death of a witness. Genovese built a successful narcotics operation, which helped him fund his bid for power. He is believed to have ordered the attempted assassination of Frank Costello in 1957. While his killer failed to take out Costello, Costello took the hint and decided to retire. Genovese became the boss of the Luciano crime family, which was later renamed after him. In 1959, he was convicted on drug smuggling charges. Genovese was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but he still kept his hand in mob activities from behind bars. He died in custody in 1969. FRANK COSTELLO - THE PRIME MINISTER:Frank Costello rose to great heights in the mob, relying more on his brain than on brawn. Born Francesco Castiglia, he was another immigrant from Italy who found infamy in the United States. He moved to East Harlem with his family when he was only a child. Costello led his own gang as a teenager. With his crew, he engaged in a number of robberies and assaults before moving on to other crimes. Costello befriended Charles "Lucky" Luciano and got involved in his criminal enterprises. During the Prohibition era, Costello helped Luciano and his associates, including Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel and Vito Genovese, become some of the country's leading bootleggers. He also had a special talent for making friends with people in high places - politicians, judges and other public officials. After Luciano was sent to prison, Costello became the Luciano family's top boss. Genovese later returned to the United States, still looking to take over Costello's operation. Costello, always the diplomat, managed to stay on decent terms with Genovese for a time. In 1957, however, Costello narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by one of Genovese's henchmen. He soon decided to step down, giving his position in the organization to Genovese. While lucky to be alive, Costello soon found himself in jail on a contempt charge. He battled numerous charges over the next few years. Released from prison in 1961, Costello kept a low profile until his death in 1973.
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