Greg Scarpa, Sr., was born on May 8, 1928 near Venice, Italy and immigrated to the United States with his parents and brother Salvatore at a young age. The 1950’s were a busy time for Scarpa. He married Connie Forrest and had four children, maintained a relationship with girlfriend Linda Schiro having two more children,…
Gambino Family – The most publicized of the “Five Families”
The Gambino crime family is the most publicized family of the American Mafia. It’s one of “Five Families” based out of New York that dominates organized crime in the United States. The Gambino family got its name from previous boss Carlo Gambino who controlled the family from 1959 until his death in October 1976. The…
Goodfella, Tommy DeSimone
Thomas Anthony DeSimone was born on May 24, 1950. He was an Italian- American mobster that worked as an associate of the Lucchese crime family of New York and was one of the real-life goodfellas. Tommy or “Two-Gun Tommy” because he always had two guns, had three siblings, a sister named Delores and two brothers,…
Anthony Strollo – A Reputation for Switching Sides
Anthony Strollo, most notably known as Tony Bender, was born June 18, 1899 in New York City. He had two brothers, Emilio and Dominick. His playground as a young man was Manhattan, where he worked as bootlegger and enforcer for Joe Masseria. Early in his mafia career Strollo earned a reputation for switching sides when…
Carlo Gambino – American Mafia Made Man at 19 Part 1 of 4
“Don” Carlo Gambino was born on August 24, 1902, in Caccamo, a province of Palermo Sicily. He had two brothers, Gaspare who was never involved in the Mafia, and Paolo who would eventually work alongside his brother in the American Mafia. In Italy, Gambino’s family belonged to the Honored Society, an Italian version of the…
“Machine Gun” Jack McGurn – St. Valentines Day Massacre
“Machine Gun” Jack McGurn was an Italian-American born in Licata, Sicily population 39,000 on July 2, 1902. His birth name was Vincenzo Gibaldi; however he had other variations such as Vincent Gebardi, and Vincenzo Demory. At four years old he and his mother, Giuseppa Verderame, just 24 years old according to the ships manifest arrived…
Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria – “The Man who could Dodge Bullets”
Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria was born on January 17, 1886 in Menfi, Sicily although he lived most of his childhood in Marsala. Masseria had no siblings, and his father was a tailor by trade. Masseria immigrated to the United States in 1903 at the age of 17 to avoid a murder indictment in Italy….
Meyer Lansky – Money Man to the Mob
Meyer Lansky, one of the great Jewish mobsters, ran gambling in much of the United States and helped build the National Crime Syndicate that ran organized crime in the 1930s and ‘40s. He was known as the “Mob’s accountant,” and he ranks as one of the most powerful gangsters in history. Lansky, a Jewish immigrant,…
Giovanni Papa Johnny Torrio – Chicago Outfit Boss in the 1920’s
Giovanni “Papa Johnny” Torrio ran Chicago’s Mafia in the 1920s, building it from a prostitution racket into an illegal liquor empire. His feud with Irish-American bootleggers led to the worst violence in the history of American organized crime and paved the way for Al Capone. Later in his life, Torrio helped create the Commission that…
Roy Albert DeMeo – Leader of the Gambino Family Murder for Hire
Roy Albert DeMeo was born on September 7, 1942 in Bath Beach Brooklyn to working class Italian immigrants. In 1959 DeMeo graduated from James Madison High School with an accomplished loan shark business bringing in hundreds of dollars each week. After leaving James Madison High School DeMeo married and fathered three children. He also continued…