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111-1020: The Irish Mob (also known as the Irish mafia or Irish organized crime ) is a usually crime family –based ethnic collective of organized crime syndicates composed of primarily ethnic Irish members which operate primarily in Ireland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, and have been in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish-American street gangs  – famously first depicted in Herbert Asbury 's 1927 book, The Gangs of New York  – the Irish Mob has appeared in most major U.S. and Canadian cities, especially in

222-401: A "Ruling Panel" to run the family in his absence. This first panel included acting boss Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli , underboss Gerardo "Jerry" Catena , and Catena's protégé Philip "Benny Squint" Lombardo . After Genovese died in 1969, Lombardo was named his successor. However, the family appointed a series of "front bosses" to masquerade as the official family boss. The aim of these deceptions

333-495: A Buffalo gangster, to kill Greene. The war was costly. Mayfield Road Mob Consigliere Leo "Lips" Moceri was murdered. John Nardi was killed exiting the Teamsters Joint Council 41 office by a car bomb. Danny Greene was murdered coming out of his dentist's office by a car bomb. During the war, 37 car bombs were used and Cleveland went by the moniker "Bomb City, USA." Throughout Greene's criminal activities he

444-555: A Mafia member he believed had been contracted to kill him. After time with FBI handlers, Valachi came forward with a story of Genovese giving him a kiss on the cheek, which he took as a " kiss of death ". A $ 100,000 bounty for Valachi's death had been placed by Genovese. Soon after, Valachi decided to cooperate with the US Justice Department . In October 1963, he testified before Arkansas Senator John L. McClellan 's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of

555-778: A bacchanalian banquet to celebrate the death of Masseria right on the spot where he was murdered and another one on Washington Avenue at a hall in the Bronx. Maranzano called another meeting of crime bosses in Wappingers Falls, New York , where he declared himself capo di tutti capi ("boss of all bosses"). Under Maranzano rule the Italian-American gangs in New York City were reorganized into Five Families headed by Luciano, Joe Profaci , Tommy Gagliano , Vincent Mangano , and himself. Maranzano also whittled down

666-468: A bug. Genovese members were not allowed to mention Gigante's name in conversations or phone calls; when they had to mention him, members would point to their chins or make the letter "C" with their fingers. On May 30, 1990, Gigante was indicted along with other members of four of the Five Families for conspiring to rig bids and extort payoffs from contractors on multimillion-dollar contracts with

777-541: A car bomb, which was planted by a Hell's Angel member who was hired by a Greene associate. John Scalish the head of the Mayfield Road Mob died, leaving a power vacuum. James Licavoli and John Nardi both attempted to take control. Open warfare broke out between the Licavoli and Nardi factions. Greene backed John Nardi 's claim. The Licavoli faction had difficulty killing Greene and hired Ray Ferritto ,

888-568: A car driven by Ciro "The Artichoke King" Terranova . It was reported that Terranova was too nervous to drive, so Siegel took the driver's seat and drove the car out of the crime scene. With Maranzano's blessing, Luciano became his lieutenant and took over Masseria's gang, ending the Castellammarese War. Between August 1 and 3, 1931, Maranzano called a meeting where crime bosses met at Nuova Villa Tammaro in Coney Island for

999-590: A deadly prison riot where four people died including two members of the Irish Mob, all charges were dismissed against everyone involved. In 2018 3 members of the Irish Mob would be arrested for intimidation witnesses in the deadly gang shootout between Aryan Brotherhood members and Irish Mob members near a motel in Oklahoma. In 2022 the FBI would claim to have effectively dismantled the Oklahoma Irish Mob after

1110-474: A five year long investigation that resulted in 125 arrests. One of those arrested was David Postelle, brother of then recently executed inmate Gilbert Postelle . Both brothers where arrested and imprisoned for a Quadruple murder they committed in 2005 John Patrick Looney controlled gambling, prostitution, illegal liquor, extortion, and protection rackets in Rock Island. He studied law and was admitted to

1221-453: A great degree that in the late 1990s, after many Camorra leaders were imprisoned during a large-scale crackdown in Naples , many of their wives, girlfriends, daughters, and even mothers took temporary control of their gangs, in a widespread phenomenon of Camorra "godmothers". Sometimes the term is used to describe distinct units of crime syndicates of other ethnic and national origin, such as

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1332-545: A handshake and worked side by side both during and after prohibition. Another powerful Irish-American gangster based in Minneapolis was Edward G. Morgan , alias "Big Ed", whom Paul Maccabee has described as, "a slot machine king and muckraking journalist for the Twin City Reporter scandal sheet ", who operated in a close alliance with St. Paul-based Irish mob boss Danny Hogan . An early prohibition gang,

1443-612: A large methamphetamine ring. The successors of Michael Cassius McDonald 's criminal empire of the previous century, the Irish-American criminal organizations in Chicago were at their peak during Prohibition , specializing in bootlegging and highjacking . However, they would soon be rivaled by Italian mobsters, particularly Al Capone and the Chicago Outfit . The organizations existing before Prohibition – including

1554-561: A large movable casino known as the Harvard Club at several locations on Harvard Ave. It could accommodated 500–1,000 people and was one of the largest casinos between New York and Chicago. It defied numerous raids until it was finally shut down by Frank Lausche in 1941 "Handsome" Larry Davidson a former prohibition agent, and Dan F. Coughlin operated a rum-running organization on Lake Erie from Cleveland. The ring imported liquor from Canada to Cedar Point and Toledo and then distributed

1665-560: A mobster who controlled Manhattan's Little Italy . In 1903, Lupo married Morello's half-sister, uniting both organizations. The Morello-Lupo alliance continued to prosper in 1903, when the group began a major counterfeiting ring with powerful Sicilian mafioso Vito Cascioferro , printing $ 5 bills in Sicily and smuggling them into the US. New York police detective Joseph Petrosino , later assassinated while in Sicily seeking evidence to permit

1776-404: A park and fired three shots, which missed. Greene shot and killed Frato during the attack. Greene formed a crew known as "The Celtic Club." He moved into the vending machine racket, which was controlled by Thomas "The Chinaman" Sinto . His relationship with Alex "Shondor" Birns also soured after a dispute concerning a loan. Birns and Greene put contracts on each other. Birns was murdered by

1887-595: A push from attorneys and support from public figures in Cleveland. The Joseph "Legs" Laman gang specialized in the "snatch racket," which involved kidnapping wealthy bootleggers and gamblers. Many kidnappings attributed to the Purple Gang were committed by the Laman gang. The gang ran into trouble when it began kidnapping legitimate business people. During a ransom pickup of David Cass, a wealthy real estate dealer,

1998-624: A reward of $ 16,000 was offered. Most of the gang was caught, in Michigan, after being infiltrated by undercover police. Publisher Daniel R. Hanna Sr. hired Chicago gangsters James Ragen and Arthur B. McBride as heavies during the Cleveland circulation wars between the Cleveland Leader and Cleveland News verses The Plain Dealer . Thomas Joseph McGinty known as Blackjack McGinty, was a former professional featherweight boxer, one of

2109-498: A spate of late-1980s "Mafia princess" television movies underscore this confusion. It can further be speculated that the Mafia was simply emulating, to a certain degree, a more medieval order in which a noble family would more or less serve as the power in a local village, in a sort of inverted hacienda culture. The Calabrian 'Ndrangheta is, however, purported to be organized along familial lines as 'ndrine . Nevertheless,

2220-670: A top aide in Masseria's organization. By the late 1920s, Masseria's main rival was boss Salvatore Maranzano , who had come from Sicily to run the Castellammarese clan . Their rivalry eventually escalated into the bloody Castellammarese War . As the war turned against Masseria, Luciano, seeing an opportunity to switch allegiance, decided to eliminate him in 1931. In a secret deal with Maranzano, Luciano agreed to engineer Masseria's death in return for taking over his rackets and becoming Maranzano's second-in-command. Adonis had joined

2331-415: A year, while he was obviously a wealthy man. Dewey's case against Luciano on the prostitution charges actually leveled in the indictment, on the other hand, rested on much shakier ground: first on the testimony of Joe Bendix, who was discredited by his own testimony as well as that of others, and then later on the testimony of three prostitutes, whom Dewey rewarded by either paying for a trip to Europe after

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2442-487: Is possible he was hoping for government protection as part of a plea bargain in which he was sentenced to life imprisonment instead of the death penalty for a 1962 murder. While serving his sentence for heroin trafficking , Valachi came to fear that Genovese, also serving a sentence on the same charge, had ordered his murder. On June 22, 1962, using a pipe left near some construction work, Valachi bludgeoned an inmate to death whom he had mistaken for Joseph DiPalermo,

2553-563: Is the current boss of the organization. The FBI described the Genovese family as the largest and most powerful of the Five Families in December 2001. The family is unique in today's Mafia, and has benefited greatly from members following omertà , a code of conduct emphasizing secrecy and non-cooperation with law enforcement and the justice system. While many mobsters from across the country have testified against their crime families since

2664-548: Is widely believed that the war began when George McLaughlin tried to pick up the girlfriend of Winter Hill associate Alex "Bobo" Petricone, also known as actor Alex Rocco . McLaughlin was then beaten and hospitalized by two other Winter Hill members. Afterward, Bernie McLaughlin went to Buddy McLean for an explanation. When McLean refused to give up his associates, Bernie swore revenge but was soon killed by McLean in Charlestown City Square. The war resulted in

2775-554: The Cleveland Browns . In the 1960s and 70s, the Kilbane Brothers, Martin, and Owen Kilbane operated prostitution, gambling, and loan sharking rackets on Cleveland's east side. The Kilbane Brothers were convicted of murder for hire of Marlene Steele by her husband Euclid Municipal Judge Robert Steele. The Kilbane Brothers were also convicted of killing Andrew Prunella, a rival pimp and gangster. Danny Greene ,

2886-615: The Dead Rabbits (led by future Congressman John Morrissey ) and Whyos , dominated New York's underworld for well over a century. Beginning in the 1880s and 1890s, however, they faced competition from gangs consisting of recently arrived Italians and Jews. The Five Points Gang (led by Paul Kelly ) would rise to prominence during the early 1900s, strongly rivaled by the Hudson Dusters , the Gopher Gang , and others during

2997-493: The Irish Mob , Japanese Yakuza , Chinese Tongs and Triads , Indian mafia , Colombian and Mexican drug cartels , Albanian mafia , Russian mafia . Although not necessarily the norm, some of these entities, like the 'Ndrangheta, may also be organized along blood-family lines. Genovese crime family The Genovese crime family ( pronounced [dʒenoˈveːze, -eːse] ), also sometimes referred to as

3108-665: The Javits Center , as well as protection payoffs from merchants at the Fulton Fish Market . Gigante also had influence in the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy, running illegal gambling operations, extorting payoffs from vendors, and pocketing thousands of dollars donated to a neighborhood church—until a crackdown in 1995 by New York City officials. During Gigante's tenure as boss of the Genovese family, after

3219-643: The Kefauver Hearings , chaired by Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee . Costello was convicted of contempt of the Senate and sentenced to eighteen months in prison. Kefauver concluded that New York politician Carmine DeSapio was assisting the activities of Costello, and that Costello had become influential in decisions made by the Tammany Hall political machine . DeSapio admitted to having met Costello several times, but insisted that "politics

3330-640: The New York City Housing Authority to install windows. Gigante attended his arraignment in pajamas and bathrobe, and due to his defense stating that he was mentally and physically impaired, legal battles ensued for seven years over his competence to stand trial. In June 1993, Gigante was indicted again, charged with sanctioning the murders of six mobsters and conspiring to kill three others, including Gotti. At sanity hearings in March 1996, Sammy "The Bull" Gravano , former underboss of

3441-565: The North End . Numerous gang wars between rival Irish gangs during the early and mid 20th century would contribute to their decline. The Winter Hill Gang , a loose confederation of Boston-area organized crime figures, was one of the most successful organized crime groups in American history. It controlled the Boston underworld from the early 1960s until the mid-1990s. It derives its name from

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3552-759: The North Side Gang , which included Dion O'Banion , Bugs Moran , Hymie Weiss , and Louis Alterie ; the Southside O'Donnell Brothers, with the McKenna Crime family; the Westside O'Donnell's (led by Myles O'Donnell ); Ragen's Colts ; the Valley Gang ; Roger Touhy ; Frank McErlane ; James Patrick O'Leary ; and Terry Druggan – most of them were in competition with Capone for control of the bootlegging market. The Irishtown Bend (also known as

3663-468: The Northeast and the urban industrial Midwest , including Boston , New York City , Philadelphia , Pittsburgh , Baltimore , Cleveland , and Chicago . Organized crime by Irish people also exists in Ireland, predominantly Dublin but only became of any significance in recent decades. These groups are sometimes disconnected from the Irish diaspora crime groups and Irish-American Mob families, with

3774-546: The Sicilian Mafia . In the Sicilian language , the word cosca , which is the crown of spiny, closely folded leaves on plants such as the artichoke or the thistle , symbolizes the tightness of relationships between members. The word cosca is also used for clan . In the early days of the Mafia , loose groups of bandits organized themselves into associations that over time became more organized, and they adopted

3885-619: The US Senate Committee on Government Operations , known as the Valachi hearings , stating that the Italian-American Mafia actually existed, the first time a member had acknowledged its existence in public. Valachi's testimony was the first major violation of omertà , breaking his blood oath . He is credited with popularization of the term cosa nostra . Although Valachi's disclosures never led directly to

3996-799: The Volstead Act during 1925 and 1926, Dwyer's former partners were split among Owney "The Killer" Madden , the English-born former leader of the Gopher Gang, and Frank Costello against Jack "Legs" Diamond , "Little" Augie Pisano , Charles "Vannie" Higgins and renegade mobster Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll . The Westies are an Irish American gang hailing from Hell's Kitchen on the West Side of Manhattan. The most prominent members have included Eddie McGrath , James Coonan , Mickey Featherstone , James McElroy , and Edward Cummiskey . In

4107-524: The housing bubble with a wave of mortgage frauds . Prosecutors say loan shark victims obtained home equity loans to pay off debts to their mob bankers. The family found ways to use new technology to improve on illegal gambling , with customers placing bets through offshore sites via the Internet . Although the leadership of the Genovese family seemed to have been in limbo after the death of Gigante in 2005, sources believe that Liborio "Barney" Bellomo

4218-449: The 1970s and 1980s, the FBI's Boston office was largely infiltrated through corrupt federal agent John J. Connolly , by which Whitey Bulger was able to use his status as a government informant against his rivals (the extent of which would not be revealed until the mid to late 1990s). The scandal was the basis for the non-fiction book Black Mass and its 2015 dramatic film adaptation , and it

4329-823: The 1980s, the Genovese family has had only eleven members and associates turn state's evidence in its history. Detective Joseph J. Coffey of the New York Organized Crime Task Force described the Genovese family as "the Ivy League of the underworld" in April 1998. The Genovese crime family originated from the Morello gang of East Harlem , the first Mafia family in New York City . In 1892, Giuseppe Morello arrived in New York from

4440-668: The Angle), Haymarket (was located at the site of the Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex ), Ohio City , Detroit Shoreway , and Whiskey Island neighborhoods produced prominent pre-prohibition gangs included the McCart Street Gang and the Cheyenne Gang. The Blinky Morgan Gang became notorious after a robbery led to the murder of Detective William Hulligan. The crime was extensively covered, in newspapers, and

4551-535: The Camorra gang. In 1917, Morano was charged with Morello's murder after Camorrista Ralph Daniello implicated him in the murder. By 1918, law enforcement had sent many Camorra members to prison, decimating the Camorra in New York and ending the war. Many of the remaining Camorra members joined the Morello family. The Morellos now faced stronger rivals than the Camorra. With the passage of Prohibition in 1920 and

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4662-800: The Charlestown Mob were then absorbed into the Winter Hill Gang, who were then able to become the dominant non- Mafia gang in the New England area. In the early 1970s, another mob war was taking place in South Boston between two other Irish-American gangs: the Killeen Gang , which controlled bookmaking and loansharking , and the Mullen Gang , which was made up of thieves. In 1971, Killeen enforcer Billy O'Sullivan

4773-528: The Commission were to quietly maintain his own power over all the families, and to prevent future gang wars; the bosses approved the idea of the Commission. The Commission's first test came in 1935, when they ordered Dutch Schultz to drop his plans to murder Special Prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey . Luciano argued that an assassination of Dewey would precipitate a massive law enforcement crackdown. An enraged Schultz vowed to kill Dewey anyway and walked out of

4884-715: The Hotel Arkansas casino and a wire service. During Madden's time Hot Springs became a gambling hot spot with had ten large casinos, numerous smaller gambling dens, and off-track betting parlors. Tommy Banks operated an organization known as the Minneapolis Syndicate that engaged in bootlegging. Kid Cann and his two brothers led a Jewish-American organized crime family known as the Minneapolis Combination and as "The AZ Syndicate". Banks and Cann divided Minneapolis into territories with

4995-408: The Illinois Bar in 1889. He was a member of the Democratic Party . He operated a newspaper, which was used to blackmail opponents. He controlled approximately 150 gambling dens. The Looney gang entered into a war with William Gabel's gang. During the war, William Gabel and John Patrick Looney's son, Connor Looney, were murdered. Looney was later charged and convicted of the murder of Willam Gabel. He

5106-468: The Irish/Italian Mob War of the 1970s, the Irish mob saw an increased threat from the Italian Mafia as the Genovese crime family sought control over the soon-to-be-built Jacob K. Javits Convention Center . Also around this time, a power struggle emerged between Mickey Spillane and James Coonan, a younger upstart from Hell's Kitchen. Since the convention center was located in Spillane's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, Spillane refused to allow any involvement by

5217-486: The Italians. Although the Italian gangsters greatly outnumbered the members of the Irish mob, Spillane was successful in keeping control of the convention center and Hell's Kitchen. The Italians, frustrated and embarrassed by their defeat by Spillane, responded by hiring a rogue Irish-American hitman named Joseph "Mad Dog" Sullivan to assassinate Tom Devaney , Eddie "the Butcher" Cummiskey , and Tom "the Greek" Kapatos , three of Spillane's top lieutenants. In 1977 Spillane

5328-454: The Manhattan faction, Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno , became the new front boss. Lombardo, the de facto boss of the family, soon retired and Gigante, the triggerman on the failed Costello hit, took actual control of the family. In 1985, US Attorney General for the Southern District of New York, Rudolph Giuliani set his sights on taking down the Mafia Commission through wiretaps, cooperating witnesses, and surveillance cameras. In 1985, Salerno

5439-471: The Masseria faction, and when Masseria heard about Luciano's betrayal, he approached Adonis about killing Luciano. However, Adonis instead warned Luciano about the murder plot. On April 15, 1931, Masseria was killed at Nuova Villa Tammaro, a Coney Island restaurant, while playing cards with Luciano, who allegedly excused himself to the bathroom, when four gunmen (Anastasia, Genovese, Adonis, and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel ) shot Masseria to death then escaping in

5550-424: The Syndicate were founders of the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. He was also involved in Meyer Lansky 's Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana, Cuba. McGinty held an interest in numerous race tracks, including Maple Heights, Fair Grounds Race Course , Thistledown Racecourse , Fairmount Park Racetrack , Aurora Downs , and the Agua Caliente Racetrack . In the 1930s, James "Shimmy" Patton and Daniel T. Gallagher operated

5661-415: The Terminal Gang consisted of many from the Irish Channel neighborhood, including Frankie Mullen, Harold “The Parole King” Normandale, and Fred Kelly. The gang was closely aligned with Democratic Mayor Martin Behrem and was named for the Terminal Station where many acted as livery drivers. The gang would rob fares as well as engaging in gambling, alcohol, and narcotics rings. The gang was decimated after

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5772-632: The Valenti gang murdered Vincenzo Terranova . Masseria's gang retaliated killing Morello member Silva Tagliagamba . On August 11, 1922, Masseria's men murdered Valenti, ending the conflict, as Masseria took over the Morello family. During the mid-1920s, Masseria continued to expand his bootlegging, extortion , loansharking , and illegal gambling rackets throughout New York. To operate and protect these rackets, he recruited many ambitious young mobsters, including future heavyweights Charles "Lucky" Luciano , Frank Costello , Joseph "Joey A" Adonis , Vito Genovese , and Albert Anastasia . Luciano soon became

5883-454: The Westside , is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the " Five Families " that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American Mafia . The Genovese family has generally maintained a varying degree of influence over many of the smaller mob families outside New York, including ties with the Philadelphia , Cleveland , Patriarca , and Buffalo crime families. The modern family

5994-509: The Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts , north of Boston, and was founded by first boss James "Buddy" McLean . While Winter Hill Gang members were alleged to have been involved with most typical organized crime-related activities, they are perhaps best known for fixing horse races in the northeastern United States. Twenty-one members and associates, including Howie Winter , Joe McDonald , Johnny Martorano , and Sal Sperlinga were indicted by federal prosecutors in 1979. The gang

6105-466: The adopted brother of Alfred Polizzi , head of the Italian Mayfield Road Mob . It operated casinos in Youngstown, Northern Kentucky and Florida. John and Martin O'Boyle were also part of the Irish faction of the Syndicate. The Syndicate had significant operations, in Newport, Kentucky and Northern Kentucky, which had eighteen casinos or gambling halls, including the original The Flamingo Hotel & Casino opens (1946) , and Tropicana . A notable casino

6216-511: The alcohol to the Chicago area. The gang also had an overland route from Florida to transport booze. A member of the ring, Ollie Zess, bribed Coast Guardsmen to accomplish the bootlegging. In the late 1930s, Arthur B. McBride launched a wire service that supplied bookmakers with the results of horse races. He also invested in the Continental Press and Empire News, both based in Cleveland and run by mobsters Morris "Mushy" Wexler and Sam "Gameboy" Miller. James Ragen , another friend and associate in

6327-407: The assistance of Mangano family underboss Carlo Gambino . On May 2, 1957, Luciano mobster Vincent "the Chin" Gigante shot Costello in the side of the head as Costello returned to his apartment. Gigante's aim proved errant, however, and Costello survived the attack with no more than a flesh wound. Costello claimed he could not identify his attacker; Gigante was later acquitted when prosecuted for

6438-474: The ban of alcohol sales, the family regrouped and built a lucrative bootlegging operation in Manhattan. In 1920, both Morello and Lupo were released from prison and Brooklyn Mafia boss Salvatore D'Aquila ordered their murders. This is when Giuseppe "Joe" Masseria and Rocco Valenti , a former Brooklyn Camorra, began to fight for control of the Morello family. On December 29, 1920, Masseria's men murdered Valenti's ally, Salvatore Mauro. Then, on May 8, 1922,

6549-444: The city's largest bootleggers, and operated gambling establishments on West 25th Street as well as the Mounds Club in Lake County. The Mounds Club was repeatedly raided by law enforcement, including Safety Director Eliot Ness , and was eventually shut down in 1950. McGinty was a member of the Cleveland Syndicate, which was also composed of Jewish gangsters Moe Dalitz , Louis Rothkopf , Maurice Kleinman, Sam Tucker, and Charles Polizzi

6660-454: The convictions were overturned on appeal in 1960. Wary of Genovese gaining more power in the Commission, Gambino used the Apalachin meeting as an excuse to move against his former ally. Gambino, Luciano, Costello, and Lucchese allegedly lured Genovese into a drug-dealing scheme that ultimately resulted in his conspiracy indictment and conviction. In 1959, Genovese was sentenced to fifteen years in prison on narcotics charges. Genovese, who

6771-556: The defeat of Mayor Martin Behrem . William Bailey and business partner Manuel Acosta operated a bootleg and hijack gang during prohibition. In 1930, Bailey was murdered on the orders of New Orleans crime family acting boss Silvestro Carollo . New Orleans Police believed the killing was in retaliation for a liquor hijacking. An Irish prison gang established itself as an alternative to the Aryan Brotherhood . The gang expanded from dealing drugs in prison to drug trafficking in Oklahoma, Kansas, and California. In 2015 they were involved in

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6882-472: The deportation of Morello and other mafiosi, began investigating the Morello family's counterfeiting operation, the barrel murders , and the black hand extortion letters. On November 15, 1909, Morello, Lupo, and others were arrested on counterfeiting charges. In February 1910, Morello and Lupo were sentenced to twenty-five and thirty years in prison, respectively. In 1910 the Lomonte Brothers, cousins of Morello, ran East Harlem until 1915. Fortunato Lomonte

6993-435: The early 1980s. Boston has a well-chronicled history of Irish mob activity, particularly in the heavily Irish-American cities and neighborhoods like Somerville , Charlestown , South Boston ("Southie"), Dorchester and Roxbury where the earliest Irish gangsters arose during Prohibition . Frank Wallace of the Gustin Gang dominated Boston's underworld until his death in 1931, when he was ambushed by Italian gangsters in

7104-427: The end of the war, the arrangement with Luciano became public knowledge. To prevent further embarrassment, the government followed through on its plans to deport Luciano on condition that he never return to the U.S. In 1946, Luciano was taken from prison and deported to Italy, where he died in 1962. From May 1950 to May 1951, the U.S. Senate conducted a large-scale investigation of organized crime, commonly known as

7215-431: The eradication of the Charlestown Mob with its leaders, Bernie and Edward McLaughlin, and Stevie and Connie Hughes all having been killed. George McLaughlin, the one who started the war, was the only one who survived by being sent to prison. McLean was also killed, by Charlestown's Hughes brothers, and leadership of The Winter Hill Gang was taken by his right-hand man, Howie Winter and mentor, Joe McDonald . The remnants of

7326-406: The extent of Irish-American crime group involvement with crime groups in Ireland varying significantly; some Irish-American crime groups have an alternately close or loose connection to Irish organized crime groups, but most organized crime groups in Ireland consist of families focusing on the drug trade with no connection to Irish diaspora criminal organizations. Irish-American street gangs, such as

7437-454: The family was run between 1981 and 2005 by "The Oddfather", Vincent "The Chin" Gigante , who feigned insanity by shuffling unshaven through New York's Greenwich Village wearing a tattered bath robe and muttering to himself incoherently to avoid prosecution. The Genovese family is the oldest and the largest of the "Five Families". Finding new ways to make money in the 21st century, the family took advantage of lax due diligence by banks during

7548-493: The film Kill the Irishman . Members of Greene's crew, Kevin McTaggart, Keith Ritson, Frederick (Fritz) Graewe, and Hartmut (Hans the Surgeon) Graewe went on to work in a drug ring with Thomas Sinito . The drug ring was a major distributor of marijuana and cocaine. The ring was responsible for 19 murders. Ritson was murdered while in the ring, McTaggart was sentenced to life and the Graewe Brothers were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. As of 2024, McTaggart remains in prison despite

7659-404: The gang's disappearance by 1925. The waterfront was then taken over by Italian mobsters Vincent Mangano , Albert Anastasia , and Joe Adonis . The Irish mob, however, reemerged in Coal Country and remained strong. During the early years of Prohibition , "Big" Bill Dwyer emerged among many in New York's underworld as a leading bootlegger. However, following his arrest and trial for violation of

7770-481: The gangsters disarmed Maranzano's bodyguards. The other two, aided by Lucchese, stabbed Maranzano multiple times before shooting him. After Maranzano's murder, Luciano called a meeting in Chicago with various bosses, where he proposed a 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

7881-510: The group expanded and grew more organized, establishing lucrative markets in gambling, loan sharking, and burglary. The gang moved into the methamphetamine trade in the late 1980s and expanded into the Fishtown and Port Richmond neighborhoods. John Berkery, a member of the K&A burglary crew, became leader of the gang and was influential in expanding the drug trade. In 1987, Scarfo crime family soldier Raymond Martorano , Berkery, and dozens of others, were indicted for their involvement in

7992-473: The imprisonment of John Gotti in 1992, Gigante came to be known as the figurehead capo di tutti capi , the "Boss of All Bosses", despite the position being abolished since 1931 with the murder of Salvatore Maranzano. Gigante was reclusive, and almost impossible to capture on wiretaps , speaking softly, eschewing the phone, and even at times whistling into the receiver. He almost never left his home unoccupied because he knew FBI agents would sneak in and plant

8103-784: The late 90s to early 2000s after many of the federal indictments failed to stick due to a lack of evidence and cooperating witnesses. The Irish Mob War is the name given to conflicts throughout the 1960s between the two dominant Irish-American organized crime gangs in Massachusetts: the Charlestown Mob in Boston , led by brothers Bernard and Edward "Punchy" McLaughlin , and the Winter Hill Gang of Somerville (just north of Boston) headed by James "Buddy" McLean and his associates, Howie Winter and Joe McDonald . It

8214-423: The meeting. Anastasia, now the leader of Murder, Inc. , approached Luciano with information that Schultz had asked him to stake out Dewey's apartment building on Fifth Avenue . Upon hearing the news, the Commission held a discreet meeting to discuss the matter. After six hours of deliberations, the Commission ordered Lepke Buchalter to eliminate Schultz. On October 23, 1935, before he could kill Dewey, Schultz

8325-515: The new acting boss and overseer of Luciano's interests. During World War II , federal agents came to Luciano for help in preventing enemy sabotage on the New York waterfront and other activities. Luciano agreed to help, in return for a pardon from the State of New York, made contingent on Luciano's deportation to Italy. In reality Luciano provided insignificant assistance to the Allied cause. After

8436-490: The period. In the early 1900s, with Italian criminal organizations such as the Morello crime family encroaching on the waterfront, various Irish gangs united to form the White Hand Gang . Although initially successful in keeping their Black Hand Italian rivals at bay, unstable leadership and infighting would lead to their eventual downfall. The murders of Dinny Meehan , Bill Lovett , and Richard Lonergan led to

8547-558: The police arrived and Laman was shot and taken into custody. After Laman was arrested his associates executed Cass. Laman turned state's witness and the gang was broken up. Laman was sentenced to 30 to 40 years in prison. Owney Madden was a former bootlegger, who controlled the Hell's Kitchen rackets and owned several night clubs including the Cotton Club . Madden relocated to Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1935. Upon arriving he operated

8658-477: The police stopped a car driven by Russell Bufalino , whose passengers included Genovese and three other men, at a roadblock as they left the estate. Mafia leaders were chagrined by the public exposure and bad publicity from the Apalachin meeting, and generally blamed Genovese for the fiasco. All those apprehended were fined, up to $ 10,000 each, and given prison sentences ranging from three to five years, but all

8769-402: The prosecution of any Mafia leaders, he provided many details of history of the Mafia , operations, and rituals; aided in the solution of several unsolved murders; and named many members and the major crime families. The trial exposed American organized crime to the world through Valachi's televised testimony. After Genovese was sent to prison in 1959, the family leadership secretly established

8880-553: The rival factions in the war-torn Philadelphia family. They finally gave their support to Philadelphia mobster Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo , who in return gave the Genovese mobsters permission to operate in Atlantic City in 1982. Gigante built a vast network of bookmaking and loansharking rings, and from extortion of garbage, shipping, trucking, and construction companies seeking labor peace or contracts from carpenters', Teamsters , and laborers' unions, including those at

8991-516: The rival families' rackets in favor of his own. Luciano appeared to accept these changes, but was merely biding his time before removing Maranzano. Although Maranzano was slightly more forward-thinking than Masseria, Luciano had come to believe that Maranzano was even more greedy, power-hungry and hidebound than Masseria had been. By September 1931, Maranzano realized Luciano was a threat, and hired Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll , an Irish gangster, to kill him. However, Tommy Lucchese alerted Luciano that he

9102-565: The robbery of a Ninth Street store and sentenced to ten years imprisonment on December 12, 1865. He was pardoned by Governor Andrew G. Curtin eight months later, in part due to Haggerty's political connections and his promise to leave the country upon his release, and lived in Canada for a brief time before returning to the city to resume his criminal career. Haggerty remained a major underworld figure in Philadelphia until January 1869 when he

9213-665: The shooting. Months later, Anastasia, the boss of the Mangano family and a powerful ally of Costello's, was murdered by Gambino's gunmen at the Park Central Hotel in Manhattan. With Anastasia's death, Carlo Gambino seized control of the Mangano family. Fearing for his life and isolated after the shootings, Costello quietly retired and surrendered control of the Luciano family to Genovese. Having taken control of what

9324-704: The term based on both of its meanings. As the Mafia was imported into the United States in the late 19th century, the English translation of the word cosca was more at clan or family . The term can be a point of confusion, especially in popular culture and Hollywood , because in the truest sense, crime families are not necessarily blood families who happen to be involved in criminal activity, and they are not necessarily based on blood relationships. In Sicily and America, most Mafia bosses are not related to their predecessors. Films like The Godfather and

9435-556: The term stuck, both in the minds of popular culture as well as the national law enforcement community, and eventually began to be used to describe individual units of not only Sicilian gangsters, but those whose origins lie in other parts of Italy (e.g., the aforementioned ' Ndrangheta , the Neapolitan Camorra , the Apulian Sacra Corona Unita , etc.). Indeed, the "family" mystique persists to such

9546-582: The trial or arranging for lucrative film and magazine deals. All three witnesses subsequently recanted their testimony. On June 7, 1936, Luciano was convicted on 62 counts of compulsory prostitution. On June 18, he was sentenced to thirty to fifty years in state prison, along with David Betillo and others. Luciano continued to run his crime family from prison, relaying his orders through Genovese, his acting boss. However, in 1937, Genovese fled to Naples to avoid an impending indictment for murder in New York. Luciano appointed Costello, his consigliere , as

9657-505: The village of Corleone , Sicily , Italy . Morello's half-brothers Nicholas , Vincenzo , Ciro , and the rest of his family joined him in New York the following year. The Morello brothers formed the 107th Street Mob and began dominating the Italian neighborhood of East Harlem, parts of Manhattan , and the Bronx . One of Giuseppe Morello's strongest allies was Ignazio "the Wolf" Lupo ,

9768-438: The wire business, was murdered in 1946 in a Chicago gangland feud. A federal grand jury in 1940 indicted 18 people, including McBride and Wexler, over the supply of information used in gambling. The allegations were based on federal laws that forbade interstate transmission of lottery results; prosecutors treated the race results as lottery lists. He was never arrested or tried over his role in the business. McBride went on to found

9879-652: Was The Beverly Hills Club , which had high-profile entertainment acts such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Nat King Cole. These establishments were the precursors to the casinos built in Las Vegas. The Syndicate's reign, in Northern Kentucky, came to an end following a botched attempt to discredit George Ratterman , a reform minded candidate for sheriff and a federal crack down during the Kennedy Administration. McGinty and other members of

9990-552: Was a prominent mobster in both Philadelphia and New York City. In the years following World War II , the K&;A Gang was the dominant Irish gang in the city's underworld. A multi-generational organized crime group made up of predominantly Irish and Irish American gangsters, the gang originated from a youth street gang based around the intersections of Kensington and Allegheny, which grew in power as local hoods and blue-collar Irish Americans seeking extra income joined its ranks. In time,

10101-472: Was a top-echelon informant for the FBI. Ray Ferritto was arrested for the killing and flipped on the Mayfield Road Mob and other gangsters. This led to numerous arrests. During the investigation, Jimmy Fratianno , the boss of the Los Angeles crime family become a government informant. This was the first time a mafia boss became a cooperative government witness. Greene's story became the subject of

10212-406: Was appointed as the new front boss. In reality, the Genovese family created a new ruling panel to run the organization. This second panel consisted of Catena, Lombardo, and Michele "Big Mike" Miranda . In 1981, Tieri became the first Mafia boss to be convicted under the new RICO Act and died in prison later that year. After Tieri's imprisonment, the family reshuffled its leadership. The capo of

10323-430: Was arrested on several counts of assault with intent to kill; during his arrest, he shot the arresting police officer. He was caught trying to escape from prison but was later released on bail and fled the city. Staying in New York City for a brief time, he returned to Philadelphia in April to surrender himself to authorities after the wounded police officer had received " hush money ". He won both court cases against him but

10434-561: Was convicted in the Mafia Commission Trial and sentenced to 100 years in federal prison. In 1986, shortly after Salerno's conviction, his longtime right-hand man, Vincent "The Fish" Cafaro , turned informant and told the FBI that Salerno had been the front boss for Gigante. Cafaro also revealed that the Genovese family had been keeping up this ruse since 1969. After the 1980 murder of Philadelphia boss Angelo "Gentle Don" Bruno , Gigante and Lombardo began manipulating

10545-642: Was founded by Charles "Lucky" Luciano and was known as the Luciano crime family from 1931 to 1957, when Vito Genovese became boss . Genovese was head of the family during the McClellan hearings in 1963, which gave the Five Families their current names. Originally in control of the waterfront on the West Side of Manhattan as well as the docks and the Fulton Fish Market on the East River waterfront,

10656-436: Was marked for death. On September 10, Maranzano ordered Luciano, Genovese, and Costello to come to his office at the 230 Park Avenue in Manhattan. Convinced that Maranzano planned to murder them, Luciano decided to take pre-emptive action. He sent to Maranzano's office four Jewish gangsters, secured with the aid of Siegel and Meyer Lansky , whose faces were unknown to Maranzano's people. Disguised as government agents, two of

10767-615: Was murdered in a hail of bullets by assassins from the Genovese crime family. This prompted Coonan to form an alliance with Roy DeMeo of the Gambino crime family . The Genoveses decided that the Westies were too violent and well-led to go to war with and mediated a truce via the Gambinos. Coonan was imprisoned in 1986 under the RICO act. Featherstone became an informant after his arrest in

10878-706: Was murdered in a power struggle between the Morellos and the Neapolitan Camorra organization , which consisted of two Brooklyn gangs run by Pellegrino Morano and Alessandro Vollero . The fight over Gallucci's rackets became known as the Mafia-Camorra War . After months of fighting, Morano offered a truce . A meeting was arranged at a Navy Street cafe owned by Vollero. On September 7, 1916, Nicholas Morello and his bodyguard Charles Ubriaco were ambushed and killed upon arrival by five members of

10989-476: Was never discussed". In 1952, the federal government began proceedings to strip Costello of his U.S. citizenship and he was indicted for evasion of $ 73,417 in income taxes between 1946 and 1949. He was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $ 20,000. In 1954, Costello appealed the conviction and was released on $ 50,000 bail ; from 1952 to 1961, he was in and out of half a dozen federal and local prisons and jails, his confinement interrupted by periods when he

11100-578: Was ordered at the second trial to return to the Eastern State Penitentiary by the District Attorney for violating the terms of his release. While his lawyers argued the ruling, Haggerty disappeared from the courthouse during a recess in what was suspected to have been a planned escape. Daniel "Danny" O'Leary fought with Maxie Hoff over control of Philadelphia 's bootlegging throughout Prohibition. Jack "Legs" Diamond

11211-508: Was out on bail pending determination of appeals. Costello ruled for twenty peaceful years, but his quiet reign ended when Genovese was extradited from Italy to New York. During his absence, Costello demoted Genovese from underboss to caporegime , leaving Genovese determined to take control of the family. Soon after his arrival in the U.S., Genovese was acquitted of the 1936 murder charge that had driven him into exile. Free of legal entanglements, he started plotting against Costello with

11322-486: Was partially the inspiration for the film The Departed . The prominent Irish street gang pre-twentieth-century were the Schuylkill Rangers headed by Jimmy Haggerty , whose boyhood home was located on Arch Street in the area between Eighteenth and Nineteenth Street known as "McAran's Garden". After numerous arrests for theft and similar offenses, Haggerty and Schuylkill Ranger Hugh Murphy were convicted of

11433-513: Was renamed the Genovese crime family in 1957, Genovese decided to organize a Mafia conference to legitimize his new position. Held at mobster Joseph "Joe the Barber" Barbara 's estate in Apalachin, New York , the Apalachin meeting attracted over 100 mobsters from around the nation. However, local law enforcement stumbled upon the meeting and quickly surrounded the estate. As the meeting broke up,

11544-592: Was sentenced to 14 years in prison and served 8½ years. Looney died in 1942 at a tuberculosis sanitarium in El Paso, Texas. Looney served as the model for John Looney, a major character in Max Allan Collins' graphic novel Road to Perdition . The character was renamed John Rooney and portrayed by Paul Newman in Sam Mendes' 2002 film adaptation . Crime family The origins of the term come from

11655-497: Was shot and killed in 1914 on East 108th st. Tomasso Lomonte and cousin Rose Lomonte were both shot and killed in 1915 on East 116th st. As the Morello family increased in power and influence, bloody territorial conflicts arose with other Italian gangs in New York. The Morellos had an alliance with Giosue Gallucci , a prominent East Harlem businessman and Camorrista with local political connections. On May 17, 1915, Gallucci

11766-577: Was shot and killed outside his house. The following year, Donald Killeen was murdered and the remaining members of both organizations were absorbed into the Winter Hill Gang . One of Killeen's key associates was Whitey Bulger . In 1973, Bulger was appointed by Howie Winter to operate the South Boston rackets. Throughout the remainder of the 1970s, Bulger used his influence to have rival mobsters murdered. Among his victims were Spike O'Toole , Paul McGonagle , Eddie Connors and Tommy King . During

11877-659: Was shot in a tavern in Newark , New Jersey , and succumbed to his injuries the following day. On May 13, 1936, Luciano's pandering trial began. Dewey prosecuted the case that Eunice Carter had built against Luciano, accusing him of being part of a massive prostitution ring known as " the Combination ". During the trial, Dewey exposed Luciano for lying on the witness stand through direct quizzing and records of telephone calls; Luciano also had no explanation for why his federal income tax records claimed he made only $ 22,000

11988-492: Was the former president of the Longshoreman Local 1317, who was ousted for corruption. He then became an enforcer for mobster Alex "Shondor" Birns . Also, Mayfield Road Mob underboss, Frank "Little Frank" Brancato employed Greene as muscle for the city's garbage rackets. Greene got into a dispute with a garbage hauler "Big Mike" Frato. Greene caused his car to be blown up. Following this Frato attacked Greene in

12099-463: Was the most powerful boss in New York, had been effectively eliminated as a rival by Gambino. Genovese soldier Joe Valachi was convicted of narcotics violations in 1959, and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Valachi's motivations for becoming a government informant had been the subject of some debate; Valachi claimed to be testifying as a public service and to expose a powerful criminal organization that he had blamed for ruining his life, but it

12210-593: Was then taken over by James J. "Whitey" Bulger and hitman Stephen Flemmi and was headquartered in South Boston . During the 1980s, Bulger's criminal associates were Kevin Weeks , Patrick Nee , and Billy Shea. The present Winter Hill Gang operates in secrecy and often avoids drawing public attention and scrutiny. With the activation of RICO law, the Winter Hill Gang's ranks were quickly thinned with federal indictments against key players like George Hogan and Scott "Smiley" McDermott. The Winter Hill Gang quickly disbanded in

12321-404: Was to protect Lombardo by confusing law enforcement as to who was the true leader of the family. In the late 1960s, Gambino lent $ 4 million to Eboli for a drug scheme in an attempt to gain control of the Genovese family. When Eboli failed to pay back his debt, Gambino, with Commission approval, had him murdered in 1972. After Eboli's death, Genovese capo and Gambino ally Frank "Funzi" Tieri

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