Chronicles of Events and Biographies Related to the American Mafia
Loyal to Castellano, even in death. Few Mafia bosses had careers as short as Thomas Bilotti did. The unfortunate Bilotti spent two paltry weeks as a key underboss in the Gambino Family, only to be gunned down execution style in one of the last big Mafia wars of the 20th Century. Bilotti fell victim to…
Jimmy Hoffa disappeared under dubious circumstances in 1975, and we have been searching for him ever since. It seems like every few years some dying mobster gives a tip or a deathbed confession, and the cops begin digging up fields or tearing out basement floors to look for Hoffa’s remains. While his disappearance has been…
Whitey Bulger’s brutal murder at the hands of fellow prisoners proved a very important point that applies to most gangsters sooner or later: no matter how hard or fast you run, sooner or later fate catches up with you. As an enforcer and later head of Boston’s Winter Hill organized crime syndicate, Bulger career was…
John Gotti was one of the most well-known and notorious gangsters of the 20th Century. Gotti, as the leader of New York’s Gambino Family, eschewed the shadows that mafiosos typically operated in. Instead, the so called Teflon Don was brash, loud, and out front. He was a sharp dresser, and with his outspoken ways, ability…
Simone DeCavalcante The New Jersey Mafia is a shadow of what it once was. It fell victim to its own hubris, and to new law enforcement technologies that allowed police and FBI agents to maintain relentless pressure on it. However, in the 1960s the New Jersey mob was riding high. Long a “wild west” area…
Mafia Kingpin Angelo Bruno died a particularly violent death in Philadelphia, an act that sparked a violent mob war that raged on throughout the 1980s. However, for over two decades, Bruno was nicknamed “the Gentle Don,” and was better known as the mob kingpin who brought order, organization, and relative peace to the restive Philadelphia…
When you think of Florida and organized crime, it is difficult to avoid conjuring up images of Tony Montana in Scarface, or the heyday of Miami Vice. However, while the Latin American drug trade has figured prominently in the sunshine state’s less savory history, so has the Mafia. In fact, Florida had the dubious distinction…
The popular Sopranos television series may helped make New Jersey’s connections to the Mafia and organized crime a popular discussion topic at dinner tables across America. However, long before the Sopranos there was an actual mafia network running criminal activities across the Hudson River that divides New Jersey from New York (and the Five Families…
From Angelo Bruno to Little Nicky Scarfo Throughout the 20th Century, the Mafia was well entrenched in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. The Philadelphia organized crime territory extended across the city and into southern New Jersey, and included the lucrative Atlantic City gambling mecca. Over the decades, the mafia often operated in…
Ralph Capone Sr. was born on January 12, 1894 in Angri, Italy. He was one of nine siblings born to Gabriel and Teresa Capone, and the older brother to Al “Scarface” Capone, future boss of the Chicago outfit. Ralph, his brother Vincenzo, and his mother arrived in the United States at Ellis Island on June…
The 1930’s were a prosperous time for Luciano. With control of the commission he was able to increase his reach in illegal gambling, bootlegging, loan-sharking, and labor rackets. His reign was short lived however and in 1936 he was charged with prostitution after special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey led a raid on 80 New York…
On July 13, 1967 Gaetano “Tommy” Lucchese developed a fatal brain tumor and died at his home in Long Island. Over 1000 mourners attended his funeral including several levels of Mafia associates, politicians, and placement. Gambino organized the funeral and hand-picked Carmine “Gribbs” Tramunti as Lucchese’s successor. On June 28, 1971 Joe Colombo boss of…
The youngest of the “Five Families” and the creation of Joseph Profaci in 1928 is the Colombo crime family. Profaci was one of the longest serving mafia bosses in history and ruled virtually unchallenged from 1928 until the late 1950’s. Beginning in 1959 the Colombo family started an internal strife that lasted through three wars…
Mickey Cohen was the mob king of Los Angeles, the Jewish gangster who once ran the Hollywood underworld. Renowned for his violent temper and tabloid exploits, he was one of the premier gangsters on the West Coast, and worked with such high-profile names as Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and Al Capone. Meyer Harris Cohen was born…
Benjamin Bugsy Siegel was born February 28, 1906, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The organized crime boss is best known for his bootlegging and gambling operations that included the Flamingo casino in Las Vegas. He is known by many to be the “Father of Las Vegas.” Bugsy’s legacy is that of being one of the most infamous…