IN

COLD
BLOOD
FROM AL

SCARFACE
CAPONE to the
Dapper Don John Gotti,
the American Mobs
history is written in
blood. Lawmen insist
theyve finally brought
the Mafia to heel, but this
explosive Special Report
from the editors of
The National ENQUIRER
exposes the shocking
truth the names have
changed but a new
generation of godfathers
pulling the strings in our
cities and spreading
terror on our streets.
And, whats worse, is they
are even MORE savage
than the racketeers who
built the Syndicate.

uJust two weeks into his job,

newly promoted Gambino
Family underboss Thomas
Bilotti got fired the hard
way with six bullets in the
head and chest and was left
to bleed out in the street in
front of New Yorks trendy
Sparks Steak House. The Dec.
16, 1985, execution sent a very
direct message: John Gotti
now owned the town!

contents

editor in chief
Tony Frost
executive editor
Dan Dolan

3-5 rise & fall

6-13 beer barons
14-15 mustache petes

design director
Martin Elfers

16-17 lucky
luciano

photo director
Ray Fairall

18-19 murder, inc.

senior editors
David Gardner, Don Gentile

20-29 glory days

30-36 mafia hit parade

photo editor
Christine Visoke

37 apalachin
38 j. edgar
hoover

designer
Nicole Perron

39-48 top 20 mob

movies

contributors
Susan Baker, Len Feldman,
Christine Reed, Jordan Rodack

49 joe valachi
50-53 john gotti
54-55 downfall
56-57 meyer lansky
58-59 mafias
new kings

30

chief copy editor

Debbie Ryan

copy editor
Evan Karlan
assistant photo editor
Rochelle Wagener

60-62 outlaw bikers

63-67 hip-hop killers
68-69 russian mafia
70-72 los Zetas
73-75 prison gangs
76-77 ms-13
78-80 tv gangsters

research director
Mireya Throop
researchers
Stephanie Keiper
Barbara Koskie
Laurie Miller
Alison Rayman
production director
Matt Skowronski

39
Weider Publications LLC, a subsidiary of
American Media, Inc.
Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer
David Pecker
Executive V.P./Chief Marketing Officer
Kevin Hyson
Executive V.P./Consumer Marketing
David W. Leckey
Executive V.P./Chief Financial
Officer/Treasurer
Chris Polimeni
E.V.P./Chief Digital Officer
Joseph M. Bilman
E.V.P./Digital Media Operations/CIO
David S. Thompson

60

National Enquirer (ISSN 1056-3482) is

published weekly by American Media, Inc.,
4 New York Plaza, 4th Fl, New York, NY 10004.
Copyright American Media, Inc. 2013.
All rights reserved. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. Z

KINGDOM
OF SIN
The underworld
Code of Honor
is a romantic
myth masking
murder, greed
& corruption

ou always have to use

your brains in this
thing, and you always
have to use your gun.
That was ruthless
Philadelphia Mob boss
Little Nicky Scarfos
advice to his real-life
nephew Phil Leonetti,
who went on to big things in the City of
Brotherly Loves violent underworld.
Crazy Phil learned early that secrets,
savvy, violence and bribery were the keys to
becoming a man of respect like his Uncle
Nicky. From the time he was a kid, he saw
racketeers as glamorous figures Regular
Joes with guns forced by circumstance
to make hard choices to survive.
And he wasnt alone in that view.
Prohibition had polished the Mafias Robin
Hood image and made the gangsters rich
beyond measure.
Sure they were crooks, but the Syndicate provided goods and services booze,
a m e ri C a n /

/ ga n g sT e r s

uRacketeer Moe Mr. Las Vegas Dalitz (left) was very chummy with Elvis
Presley! The gangster, who got his start as a Cleveland bootlegger, visited The
King on the Hollywood set of G.I. Blues, co-starring beautiful Juliet Prowse.
Desert Inn casino owner Wilbur Clark and his wife Toni also stopped by.
Clark sold his Cuban casino to crime king Meyer Lansky

narcotics, sex and gambling that

were in big demand, but in short supply. Besides, no one got hurt except
other gangsters.
So it was easy to look away from
the grim reality: The Mafia actually
fed on murder, corruption, greed
and betrayal and threatened the
nations very core.

uChicagos big boss Sam

Giancana (above) was singer Phyllis

McGuires boyfriend. Lana Turner
(below) was gangster Johnny
Stompanatos lover

UNDER T H E M O B s sP EL L

Even celebs like Frank Sinatra,

Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Lana
Turner, Donna Reed and Phyllis
McGuire fell under the Mobs
spell. Incredibly, Hollywoods
movie idols have been proud to
call ruthless killers their pals, or
even lovers!
When Colombo Family boss
Andrew Andy Mush Russo was
scooped up by Feds in 2011, actor
James Caan, who played Sonny
Corleone in The Godfather,
offered to post his bail.
Revealing the racketeer was
his Hawaii Five-O TV star son
Scott Caans real-life godfather,
the movie tough guy called Russo
as good a friend as any person
could ask for.
But the truth, according to
wise guys and cops, is mobsters
dont really have friends or
scruples of any kind. Former
a m e ri Ca n/

/ gan g sT e r s

federal prosecutor James Walden

calls the Mob a pack of rats that
eat anything in their path, including
each other.
Says a veteran New York City
detective: The Mafia Code of Honor
is a myth. They kill their brothers,
cousins and uncles. Betrayal is the
Cosa Nostras stock in trade. The only
real rule is: Look out for Number One.
Over the years, lawmen have
exploited mobsters self-interest to
bring the Syndicate to its knees. Facing execution or life without parole,
racketeers have been singing like
canaries to save their own skins and
help put away other goodfellas.
As a result, the Mafias once-iron
grasp on the nations big-money
criminal enterprises has weakened.
New tougher, even more bloodthirsty
gangs have muscled in on the Cosa
Nostras turf.
With the rise of the ruthless Russian Mafia and Latin drug cartels,
the godfathers glory days are gone,
and todays made men rule over a
shrinking kingdom of sin.
As TV hood Tony Soprano told his
crew: Its good to be in something
from the ground floor. I came too late
for that. But lately, Im getting the
feeling that I came in at the end. The
best is over. v

uReal-life godfather Andy

Mush Russo enjoys a
smoke as he strolls through
Manhattan followed by his
good buddy, James Caan, who
played one of Hollywoods
most famous mobsters,
Sonny Corleone

u Grinning
ear-to-ear,
Frank Sinatra
gets cozy
with Tommy
Fatso
Marson,
Don Carlo
Gambino,
a powerful
New York
godfather,
and wise
guy Jimmy
The Weasel
Fratianno,
who ended up
ratting them
all out

Beer,
Bullets &
Bloodshed

How the Mob conquered AMericA

A M e ri cA n /

/ gAn g st e r s

uBeer and blood flowed freely

in Prohibition-era America as rival
gangs fought to slake the nations
thirst. These two Los Angeles-based
bootleggers had their last supper
interrupted by a hail of bullets

n Jan. 17, 1920, the 18th

Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution went into
effect. Prohibition had
arrived. Booze was illegal
and America was
changed forever.
So convinced were
legislative do-gooders that
alcohol was at the root of all crime, some
towns actually sold their jails because
they thought they wouldnt be needed.
But, in fact, they really should have
built more!

the big cities and even the tiniest town.

Incredibly, President Warren Harding
had an illegal liquor stash in the White
House! Another hilarious indication
Prohibition was doomed to fail occurred
during a bootlegging case in Los Angeles:
The jurors drank the evidence!

SAm P l Ing SEIz ED StASH

WHI S PE R A PASSWORD

Racketeers took over during Americas Noble Experiment, which lasted

until 1933, by serving up an ocean
of booze to a still-thirsty nation. Untold millions poured into the coffers of
Mafia families, Jewish gangs, the Irish
mobs and other outlaws who became the
beer barons of the Roaring Twenties.
Some 30,000 speakeasies, so named
because you had to whisper a password to get in, opened for business in

uEven President Warren G. Harding

kept a stash of outlawed booze

A M e ri cA n /

The 12 thirsty men argued theyd

simply been sampling the seized stash
to determine whether or not it contained
alcohol, which they determined it did.
The case was tossed.
In Chicago, Mafia strongman Al
Capone and rival Irish mobster Bugs
Moran got the beer and liquor trucks rolling, adding bootlegging to their gambling,
theft and prostitution enterprises.
In Detroit, the murderous Purple Gang,
mostly Jewish thugs associated with Capone, smuggled in whiskey from Canada.
Crime lord Arnold Rothstein oversaw
rum runners that brought in boatloads
of liquor for the New York speakeasies.
His proteges included future Mafia
kingpin Lucky Luciano and Lucianos

/ gAn g st e r s

u Barrels of bootleg beer are emptied into

the sewers by cops, who were often hired
by gangsters to intercept and destroy
rival racketeers shipments

It was saId arnold

rothsteIn fIxed the 1919
world serIes, masterminded
legendary racehorse Man o Wars
only loss and was the reason Gene
Tunney took the heavyweight
boxing title from much-favored Jack
Dempsey in September 1926.
True or not, Rothstein won nearly
$1 million betting against long odds on
those legendary sporting events and
word was he never took chances!

f E A RE D PO O l SHARk

uGambler Arnold Rothstein was shot and

The son of a Jewish merchant, Arnold

didnt ever want to do real work. He
was a feared pool shark by his early
teens, then a protege of New York
Citys biggest gamblers. In 1904, he
opened his own gambling house and
soon emerged as the main money man
behind Broadways floating crap games.
By the time the Chicago White Sox
were bribed to lose the championship to

killed after refusing to pay a poker debt. His

body was put in a pine box and hauled off for
an autopsy on Nov. 4, 1928

Arnold rothstein
rAn out of luck
A M e ri cA n/

/ gAn g st e r s

uRum runner
George
Remus was an
attorney by
day and an
outlaw all the
time!

good friend and partner, Meyer

Lansky.
In Atlantic City, N. J., defiant
and very corrupt political boss
Enoch Nucky Johnson openly declared his New Jersey seaside resort
a haven for the thirsty.

DRO P- O f f PO Int

We have whiskey, wine, women,

song and slot machines. The people
want them, proclaimed Johnson,
whose city shoreline was a major
drop-off point for illegal liquor
coming from overseas.
Across the country, Mob killers
whose names would become
the Cincinnati Reds, Rothstein was the
underworlds leading bail bondsman and
was widely whispered to be the secret
bankroll behind many rising criminal gangs.
Arnold was never charged in the
World Series debacle, though its
believed that at the very least
he knew a fix was in. The scandal
brought Rothstein to public attention,
and during Prohibition, he remained a
familiar figure at the nations racetracks
and along New Yorks Great White Way.

mR. B ROA DWAY

But Rothstein was, indeed, a man

who lived in the shadows like a big
gray rat waiting for his cheese, said
his own criminal defense lawyer
William Fallon, who represented
Arnold in the World Series fiasco.
Whatever the action was,
bootlegging, drugs, bribery and
especially gambling, Rothsteins
fingers were sure to be in it.

uEnoch Nucky Johnson ruled

Americas favorite Roaring
Twenties playground, Atlantic City

infamous turned to bootlegging.

There was handsome Johnny
Roselli helping Hollywoods
stars enjoy a drink. Public Enemy
No. 1, New Yorks Dutch Schultz,
warred with rivals Legs Diamond
and Mad Dog Coll over booze
distribution. Handsome Bugsy
Siegel got his start with bootleg
booze and would later help make
Las Vegas a Mob town.
In Cincinnati, attorney George
Remus, believed to be the inspiration for F. Scott Fitzgeralds The
Great Gatsby, was dubbed the
King of the Bootleggers, growing
so wealthy he once threw a party
where he gave every male guest a
diamond watch and each of their
wives a new car.
In Tampa, Fla., the citys numerous inlets and coves became havens
for smugglers bringing liquor in from
Cuba, Mexico and the Bahamas.

A cultured man, he was known by many

There would be a brief creditors
names A. R., The Fixer, The Big Bankroll, conference in the nearby Park Central
and The Brain. He was Mr. Broadway
Hotel, McManus informed him.
and had his own booth at the famous
Rothstein appeared untroubled by
Lindys restaurant.
the prospect. He declined
But gamblers do drop
someones offer of a
bundles from time to
handgun and strolled
time, and through October
away whistling.
1928, all Broadway was
Forty minutes later, a
abuzz with the story of
hotel worker found the
the three-day stud poker
46-year-old Rothstein
game that cost Rothstein
crumpled at the servants
uUnderworld
more than $300,000.
entrance, his stomach
mouthpiece
He was stalling the payoff,
pierced by a single bullet.
William J. Fallon
and his fellow players were
Through his final, gasping
branded Rothstein
displeased. On the night
hours, he refused to name
a rat
of Nov. 4, Rothstein was
his killer.
holding court at Lindys
You stick to your trade,
when he took a phone call at 10:20 p.m.
Ill stick to mine...Me mudder did it,
On the line was one George
he told cops at his hospital bedside.
McManus, a flamboyant Broadway
A headline the next day seemed
character whod been present at the
fitting: Death The Only Game He
marathon stud game.
Couldnt Fix. v
A M e ri cAn /

/ gAn g st e r s

dutch schultz: too sAvAge to survive

he was born arthur
flegenheImer but the world
knew him as Dutch Schultz, Public Enemy
No. 1, New Yorks top Prohibition
bootlegger and a numbers racket kingpin.
Dutch was the toughest of the
tough guys, who earned his reputation
settling arguments with a bullet in the
mouth and, in some cases, he was
even MORE savage.
When New York saloon keeper
Joe Rock refused to
buy beer from the
Dutchman, Schultz had
him kidnapped, beaten
and hung by his thumbs
on a meat hook. Then a
gauze bandage, smeared
with discharge from a
gonorrhea infection, was
wrapped over Rocks
eyes. Soon after Joes
family paid $35,000 for his
release, the saloon keeper
went blind.
And Shultz even boasted
he once cut a mans heart
out. No one doubted this claim or
dared to challenge it to his face.

BA RB ARI C BRUtAlItY

Schultz grew up in The Bronx, N.Y.

At 14, he found work with gangsters
at a local nightclub. Soon, with a pack
of vicious pals, he was robbing illegal
gambling dens.
In 1919, the young thug served time for
burglary, the only instance he ever went
to jail. When he got out, Arthur renamed
himself Dutch Schultz, after a deceased
gangster known for violent tactics.
And barbaric brutality became
Dutchs trademark as he expanded his
underworld contacts in the early
1920s by driving trucks for mobster
Arnold Rothstein. By 1928, he owned
The Bronx bootlegging business. And
when Dutch started taking over rivals
operations in Manhattan, the streets
ran red with blood.
In July 1931, a former Schultz associate,
Vincent Mad Dog Coll, warred with his
onetime boss, slaughtering 20 members
of Schultzs crew. In one round of
gunplay, a five-year-old boy was killed.
The incident left Dutch so angry that he

u Doctors and lawmen at a Newark, N.J., hospital checked the body

to make sure Arthur Dutch Schultz Flegenheimer was really dead

walked into a Bronx

set his sights on Schultz, who had more
police station and
than 100 murder victims to his name.
offered to buy a house The Dutchman made it known he was
for any cop whod kill
going to kill Dewey.
the Mad Dog. Dutch
Luciano wouldnt stand for such
eventually found Coll
lunacy it was bad for business. While
on his own and sent him to his maker.
using the restroom at a Newark, N.J.,
Coll was nearly cut in half by gunfire as
restaurant on Oct. 23, 1935, Dutch,
he cowered in a phone booth.
34, was gunned down. He managed
By the end of Prohibition in 1933,
to collect himself and stagger into
Dutch already had $12 million in bootleg the main room, where the notorious
cash! He made millions more in the
cheapskate fished a bloody quarter out
numbers racket, a three-digit lottery
of his pocket and asked the owner for
based on the total money bet at a local
change so he could make a five-cent
racetrack. Dutch,
phone call!
with the help of a
Dutch then
Mob accountant,
collapsed, face
figured out a way
down, on a table.
to fix the number
He lay there until
results by making
police arrived,
last-minute bets.
and he was taken
He also
to the hospital,
branched out
where he died
into extortion,
two days later. No
uVincent Mad Dog Coll (left)
using his thugs to
one, especially his
was cut down by Schultz, who
collect tribute
former underworld
was hounded by D.A. Thomas E.
from frightened
pals, shed a tear
Dewey (right)
Manhattan
at his passing. But
restaurant owners.
his legacy lingers
But his violent ways caused Schultz to
today. People are still hunting for a
lose favor with other crime kings, in
$9 million fortune hes said to have
particular Lucky Luciano.
stashed in New Yorks Catskills
When Special Prosecutor Thomas
Mountains so he couldnt be prosecuted
Dewey targeted the Mob in the 30s, he
for income tax evasion. v

A M e ri cA n/

10

/ gA n g st e r s

Nearly 800
gaNgsters
died iN
ChiCagOs
wars

uOn Feb. 14, 1929, Chicago gangster George Bugs Moran (right) got a Valentine
from Mafia king Al Capone. Seven Moran henchmen were lined up against a wall
and machine-gunned to death
Even corrupt cops and there were
many got in on the action. A Seattle,
Wash., police lieutenant, Roy Olmstead,
became King of the Puget Sound
Bootleggers by smuggling liquor from
Canada. He earned more in one week
than he would over 20 years as a cop!
Instead of winning a moral crusade
against booze, Prohibition spawned
immorality. Particularly damning was
the lack of enforcement, which led to
the rise of the Mob, whose members,
like Capone, used bribery, intimidation,
and murder to stay in business and wipe
out the competition.
Prohibition saw some 5,000 lives

taken in bootleg-related mayhem

among rival gangs. Nearly 800 gangsters died on the streets of Chicago
alone, the most notable violence occurring on St. Valentines Day in 1929.
Seven men associated with Bugs Morans gang were lined up against a garage
wall and machine-gunned to death by
hit men acting on Capones orders.
The brutality so shocked the nation
that even the gangsters got worried.
So they had a sit-down in Atlantic City
three months after the St. Valentines
Day Massacre to find a way to stop
killing one another and continue
making a lot of money.
A M e ri cA n /

11

/ gAn g st e r s

u Desperate to end the bloodshed that was

hurting business, mobsters from all over America
gathered in Atlantic City in 1929. It was the first
attempt to create a nationwide crime syndicate

They came from all over. Capone

was there, even posing for photos on
the citys Boardwalk. Meyer Lansky,
a newlywed, brought his bride Anne
and got the Presidential Suite at the
Breakers Hotel. He was the one who
called for the sit-down. His friend
Luciano came along, as did Mafia
powerhouses Frank Costello, Vito
Genovese and Albert Anastasia. Dutch
Schultz and Bugsy Siegel also joined
the historic get-together, the first
time an attempt was made to form an
organized National Crime Syndicate.
Town boss Johnson guaranteed no
police presence.

DOW n tO BUSInESS

For the first three days of the

underworld gathering, there was a constant round of parties at the hotels as
Johnson supplied plenty of liquor,
food and girls for entertainment. For
the guests who brought their wives
or girlfriends, Johnson provided the
women with fur capes as gifts.
But then it was down to business.
There were several important items
to discuss, including the rival gangs
constant competition for imported
and bootleg liquor, the desire to end
violence and what to do with the booze
business when Prohibition ended.
The Atlantic City delegates conducted their more serious discussions
and business, in conference rooms
atop the Ritz and Ambassador Hotels.

But some informal talks were held

out in the open, with the delegates
taking their socks off and rolling up
their pants for walks along the beach.
Decisions were made to stop competing with each other, try to pool
resources to maximize profits and
develop a national monopoly in the
illegal liquor traffic.
Once Prohibition ended, the
bosses decided they would reorganize themselves and their gangs into
cooperating organizations, investing
in legitimate breweries, distilleries and
liquor importation franchises.
The delegates also held discussions
about taking a larger interest in illegal
gambling activities such as bookmaking, horse racing and casinos.
The glory days were still ahead for
organized crime and, with coffers
filled by Prohibition profits, gangsters
expanded their empires and touched
almost every phase of American life.
There was one last decision the
men at that Atlantic City conference
made. At some point, the racketeers
decided Americas two most powerful
Mafia bosses, Salvatore Maranzano and
Joe Masseria, who BOTH werent invited to the gathering, would have to go.
They were considered Mustache
Petes, old-timers, unwilling to deal
with gangsters who werent Italian, and
unwilling to change. Their days were
coming to a violent, savage end. v

A M e ri cA n/

12

/ gAn g st e r s

al Capone, amerICas
most notorIous
gangster, died 67 years ago,
his syphilis-addled mind diminished
to that of a 12-year-old.
But to this day, his legend is
untouchable.
With his blue pinstripe suit
and fedora, cigar-chomping Al
was the image of the Roaring
Twenties gangster, his fashion sense
offsetting the knife marks on his
left cheek, which earned him the
nickname Scarface.

OWnED C H ICAg O

Through bribery, intimidation

and murder, Capone owned
Chicago during the Prohibition.
His enforcers carried official
cards issued by the city that
read: To the Police Department:
you will extend the courtesies of

uMob kingpin Al Capone was a celebrity despite a rap sheet that

included an arrest for carrying a concealed weapon (left). During
a 1930 baseball game, Chicago Cubs star Gabby Hartnet eagerly
signed an autograph for the killers son, Albert Sonny Capone,
who is surrounded by bodyguards. Capone feared kidnapping and
assassination. He had a bullet-proof Cadillac (right) specially-made
to insure hed survive an ambush

scArfAce cApone: king of chicAgo

this department to the bearer.
He ran his bootlegging, prostitution
and gambling operations like a
business a syndicate a model for
organized crime lords that followed.
By 1928, Capones syndicate was
grossing an estimated $105 million
a year.
The portly son of a New York
barber, Capone cut his criminal teeth
as muscle for New Yorks Five Points
gang. He moved to Chicago and rose
from near obscurity when he took
over the South Side turf of his crime
mentor Johnny Torrio in 1925. Soon
Capone was prince of the entire city
after having all his rivals rubbed out.
Al loved the role. His urge to be
seen in public was unique among
racketeers, who usually abhorred
publicity. Capone was a handshaking pal to the working class. He
contributed to charities. He went to
ballgames, posing with the players.
He enjoyed nights at the opera.
And he flaunted his riches. He had
a mansion in Florida. He operated his
business from a posh Chicago hotel

suite, wore an 11.4-carat diamond

pinky ring and was chauffeured around
in a bullet-proof Cadillac that later
became President Franklin Delano
Roosevelts limo.

mobsters Dean OBanion and Bugs

Moran, a Capone-ordered hit killed
an assistant state attorney. Capone
was charged, but fixed six grand juries
to beat a murder rap.
When seven members of Morans
POWERfU l BEYO nD BEl IEf
In the end, however, Capone would
gang were slain in 1929s infamous
be brought to justice not for murder, St. Valentines Day Massacre the Irish
extortion or bootlegging. He wound
mobster, who was the intended target,
up in Alcatraz, then the
said: Only Capone kills
nations harshest pen,
like that.
for failing to pay his
Al is still part of
income tax.
American culture the
Treasury Dept. Agent
face of the Mafia. Stars
Eliot Ness and his team
from Rod Steiger to
of untouchables got
Robert De Niro have
the credit, but Capone
played him in movies.
uIRS agent Frank Wilson
was really brought
Hes currently featured
(left) and the Treasury
down by Frank Wilson,
in the cable TV hit
Departments Eliot Ness
the Internal Revenue
Boardwalk Empire. His
(right) nailed Capone
agent who went over
mansion on Palm Island,
the mobsters books
in Miami Beach where
with a fine tooth comb.
he died in 1947 at age 48 recently sold
Still, Capone left the streets of
for more than $7 million. And his grandChicago littered with bodies, and
niece, Deirdre Capone, published a book
got away with that. He was powerful
in 2012 about pleasant memories of
beyond belief.
dear old Uncle Al, who was cut down
During a turf war with Chicagos Irish by an STD, not a gangland assassin. v
A M e ri cAn /

13

/ gAn g st e r s

War to end a
I
TREACHERY AND TERROR
created modern Mafa

t was a war both sides lost but

shrewd gangster Charles Lucky
Luciano won! The results forever
changed the face of the Mafia and
organized crime in the U.S.
Known as the Castellammarese
War, after the picturesque Sicilian
fishing village whose main export
was Americas most notorious godfathers, the Mob power struggle pitted
Giuseppe Joe the Boss Masseria, the
self-proclaimed capo di tutti capi
(the boss of all bosses) against Salvatore
Maranzano, who wanted Joes job.

uAs part of the war for control of New

York City, gang moll Vivian Gordon, who

ran a Mafia honey trap, was strangled
and dumped in a Big Apple park

MU STACHE PETES

To the underworlds Roaring Twenties

hipsters, Masseria and Maranzano were
Mustache Petes, old-time New York
bosses who didnt like change and resisted
doing business with anyone who wasnt
Italian. Younger guys saw profit in doing
business with the Irish and Jewish bad
boys but Joe and Sal wouldnt hear of it.

uCharles
Lucky
Luciano

And the terrible twosome had some- his mistress Bronx apartment, he was
thing else in common besides mutual greeted with a shotgun blast. Maranzano
hatred: unbridled greed and a lust for responded by declaring war and everypower. Their bootlegging rivalry, which body went to the mattresses, holing up
had triggered bloody skirmishes, became as rival hit squads roamed the city.
an all-out war on Feb. 26, 1930, when
The 1930 New York homicide rate
Masseria literally iced an ice man.
soared: 421 slayings, up 18 percent
His name is Gaetano Reina.
from 1929. At least 66 of the
He ran his own Mafia crew
murders were gang rubouts,
which served up ice and ice
all unsolved.
boxes to residents of The Bronx
By spring 1930, bleary-eyed
and the boroughs speakeasies.
detectives were fruitlessly
People needed someone to
working the slaughters of
provide ice in the days before
nightspot baron Frankie
refrigeration and the Mob
Marlow, garment boss Jacob
cashed in by making businessLittle Augie Orgen and
men and families offers they
lower Manhattan East Side
uThe murder
couldnt refuse.
Mob kingpin Abe Wagner,
of Gunsel
Reina had pledged loyalty
who was so bold he once had
Gaetano Reina
to Masseria, but for years
one of his goons slap around
triggered a war
had been secretly working as
Masserias son! Bad move.
a double agent, and feeding
He met his maker when
information to his paisano Maranzano, someone kicked in the door of his digs
who was born in Castellamare.
at Manhattans Hatfield Hotel and
But eventually Joe the Boss fig- opened fire.
ured things out. As Reina was leaving
Next came a shootout at Club Abbey
M ERiC A N/

14

/ gAN g sT E R s

all Wars!
uIll-fated Joe The Boss Masseria (left) lies dead on a restaurant floor still clutching a playing card
after being betrayed by his top lieutenant. Salvatore Maranzano took Joes place and met a similar fate
(right) five months later

owned by Owney Madden, who also ran

Harlems famed Cotton Club. There were
many witnesses to the incident, but cops
reported nobody saw a thing. Gang moll
Vivian Gordon, who ran a Broadway
blackmail and sex racket, turned up garroted in a park. Finally, the public and
the politicians were starting to notice.
Luciano, a top Masseria lieutenant,
had enough too. The war was hurting
business. He made a deal with Maranzano. Hed kill Masseria, but the violence
between the gangs would have to end.
There could be no reprisals.
On April 15, 1931, Joe the Boss joined
Luciano for lunch at a Coney Island
restaurant. The two enjoyed a hearty
meal. Masseria didnt know it, but hed be
having lead for dessert!
The twosome started playing cards.
Lucky excused himself to go to the bathroom as his gunmen entered. Two bullets
to the head and one through the heart left
Masseria dead on the floor with the
ace of spades clutched in his hand!

When Lucky emerged from the

bathroom, he feigned astonishment,
insisting he had no knowledge of what
had happened. It was reported that the
gunmen were Luciano cronies Albert
Anastasia, Vito Genovese, Joe Adonis
and Bugsy Siegel.
Maranzano kept his word. He ended
the war, announced hed forgiven his
enemies and crowned himself boss of
all bosses.

A MAFIA C O M M ISSIO N

But the title didnt last long. Luciano,

now a Maranzano underling, got wind
the new king was planning to take him
out along with other mobsters including Al Capone who might pose a threat
to his leadership.
Crafty Luciano beat him to the
punch and arranged for three hit men,
provided by his partner Meyer Lansky,
to visit Maranzanos offices on Sept.
10, 1931.
The killers posed as government tax
accountants demanding to see his books.
A M E Ri CAN /

15

Maranzano was shot and stabbed to death.

At last, the Mustache Petes were
gone. The winner was Luciano, who
was eager to end the bloodshed, ally
with Americas other Mafia families,
Jewish and Irish gangs across the country
and create a National Crime Syndicate.
And thats just what Lucky did. There
would be no single head of the Mafia
anymore, no boss of all bosses.
Instead, Luciano created a Mafia
Commission to work things out. It
was made up of the criminal legends
who headed New Yorks five families
Luciano himself, Vincent Mangano,
Tommy Gagliano, Joseph Bonanno
and Joe Profaci plus Chicago boss
Capone and Buffalo Mafia kingpin
Stefano Magaddino. They would supervise and sanction activities of the other
families around the U.S.
With their ascension to power, organized crime in America would become a
moneymaking machine that was bigger
than U.S. Steel! v

/ gA N g sT E R s

u Under the
mask of a suave,
sophisticated
businessman,
Lucky Luciano
was really a
coldblooded
killer and flesh
peddler. He
tried to con the
public by posing
for this 1955 photo
cuddling his pet
mini-pin

harles Lucky Luciano ran out of luck when he was

nailed by ambitious gang-buster Thomas Dewey and sent
to prison in 1936 for being a common pimp!
And Dewey added insult to the injury, humiliating
Americas top mobster by revealing at his New York trial
that Luciano had caught gonorrhea
SEVEN times bedding prostitutes.
But despite his medical issues,
Luciano ran the Big Apples biggest
brothels with the same business acumen he
used to rule the national crime commission.
During a meeting with one of his madams,
Cokey Flo Brown, the crime czar declared:
Im gonna organize the cathouses like the
A&P, which at the time was one of the first
nationwide grocery store chains. However,
uAmbitious
Luciano was still mortified to be publicly branded
Thomas Dewey
a flesh peddler. It hurt his carefully cultivated,
put Lucky away
suave chairman-of-the-board image.
In fact, the tough guy visibly cringed
as 40 hookers took the stand against him. Said a pal, he was
being brought down by a bunch of whores, and it hurt
his ego because there was no one in the nations underworld who could challenge his power.
Hed wiped out the Mustache Pete older Mafia

a m e ri ca n/

16

/ ga n g st e r s

uThe crafty crime kingpin was deported to his Italian homeland in 1946 (left). But the convicted pimp still held an iron grip
on the American Mob while partying with his stylish pals in Rome three years later

bosses, and formed the National Crime Syndicate, which

was based on moneymaking skills, not ethnic origin. His
childhood buddy was future Mob superstar Meyer Lansky
and Jewish underworld kingpin Arnold Rothstein gave him
his first big break.
Rothstein turned uneducated Luciano into a New York
dandy with a taste for the finer things. Lucky kept a
permanent room at Manhattans posh Waldorf-Astoria, wore
silk suits and became a well-known figure in Broadway
social circles.

from prison! Then in early 1946, he got a gift from Uncle

Sam. He was paroled for contacting his Mafia contacts in
Sicily who helped the U.S. invade Italy during World War II,
and for having his mob crews protect the New York docks
from Nazi sabotage.
Italian-born Lucky was quickly deported after leaving
prison. But just before Christmas 1946, he snuck into Cuba,
shook hands with pal Lansky, and attended the Havana
Conference, a historic pow-wow of crime lords, fictionalized
in the movie, The Godfather.
Delegates included Chicagos Sam Giancana, Vito Genoa me ri cas most powerful boss
Arnold taught me how to dress, how to use knives vese and Frank Costello from New York, Santo Trafficante
and forks and things like that at the dinner table, said from Tampa, Stefano The Undertaker Magaddino from
Luciano, who also credited his Mob mentor for telling him Buffalo and Carlos Marcello from New Orleans. Jewish mobabout holdin a door open for a girl. But Mr. Lucky was sters from around the country were also present to discuss
mum about what, if anything, Rothstein taught him about La Cosa Nostra, and their gangs involvement in narcotics
handling prostitutes.
and the Cuban casinos.
At the time of his trial
Luciano was the honored
for being a whoremaster,
guest. He got a suitcase
Lucky sat atop one of New
filled with $2 million, a cut
Yorks five Mafia crime
of Syndicate funds.
families. He was Americas
But weeks after the meetmost powerful boss, resing ended, the feds got wind
pected by Mobsters across
that Lucky was in Cuba and
the nation, and pocketing
pressured the government to
$10 million a year.
chase him back to Italy. He
But that didnt mean
had named Vito Genovese
ditty in court. When the
boss of his New York famuAt age 64, Luciano died
jury came back, they conily and was eyed by Italian
from a heart attack at the
victed a low-life pimp, not
cops the rest of his life.
airport in Naples, Italy
a major crime lord. And
He died in 1962 at age 64,
the judge, well aware that
still trying to be a big shot,
Luciano had to be taken
suffering a heart attack on
off the streets, slapped the
the floor of the airport in Namobster with a minimum
ples, where he was to meet a
30-year sentence.
filmmaker looking to make
However, Luciano cona movie about the Father
tinued to run his empire
of Organized Crime. v
a m e ri can /

17

/ ga n g st e r s

urder was just business, nothing personal

even if they always
liked you!
Organized crime
lords in the 1930s
needed to whack
people a witness, a
belligerent loan shark,
an uncooperative union leader and,
naturally, get away with it. So mob kingpin Lucky Luciano created an outfit of
ruthless killers-for-hire that became
known as Murder, Inc.
They were a gang of 30 vicious
toughs of Irish, Jewish and Italian extraction from New Yorks slums who
were under the thumb of top crime lords.
During a decade of Mob mayhem, they
rubbed-out more than 1,000 victims
around America. All were hard as nails.

uLawmen figured theyd

smashed Murder, Inc. when
hitman Abe Kid Twist Reles
agreed to sing. But Reles took
a dive from the window of
his sixth-floor room in Coney
Islands Half Moon Hotel
and landed (circle) on a
roof below. That was the end
of the case

k e pt o n mo b retainer

Abe Kid Twist Reles, the most

feared killer, liked to use an ice pick.
Eagle-eyed
gunman
Gioacchino
Dandy Jack Parisi was so tightlipped, one lawman said: If you hung
him up by the thumbs for eight weeks,
he might tell you his first name.
Fearsome Seymour Blue Jaw
Magoon, got his moniker because he
always looked like he needed a shave.
Headquarters was a candy store in
Brooklyn. Orders came from Lucianos
hand-picked masters Jewish mobster
Louis Lepke Buchalter and Albert
The Lord High Executioner Anastasia, who would become the Gambino
crime family head.
Murder, Inc.s employees were kept
on a mob retainer $1,000-a-month
with bonuses for exemplary killings. It
was a staggering amount of money for
the times. They lived better than kings
as long as they killed willingly.
The business, however, suffered a

hostile takeover attempt after a botched

hit on July 25, 1939.
That morning, Parisi and Magoon
were outside a Bronx apartment house,
set to gun down one of the residents,
Philip Orlovsky, a former garment
union boss, as he left the building.
Orlovsky, however, was already at a
barber shop getting a shave.
The killers, instead, whacked another
tenant, classical music publisher Irving
Penn, who had the horrible misfortune

a m e ri ca n/

18

/ ga n g st e r s

of resembling the hit teams target.

Irvings murder was big news. Outraged citizens demanded justice. And
recently elected crimebuster, New York
prosecutor Bill ODwyer, started rounding up every punk in sight.
Naturally, some started spilling the
beans. Other Murder, Inc. boys learned
their co-workers were squealing too.
So Magoon joined the chorus telling
the cops: It looks like Im on my way
out, unless I get into the act. When
ODwyer got Kid Twist Reles to turn
canary, top mobsters cringed. He helped

uD.A.
William
ODwyer
made
hoods
crack
under
pressure

You could run,

but You couldnt
hide froM the
Mafias hit Men
uAs New York detectives Albert Beron and Harry States stand guard, dazed assassins
(from left, above) Harry Strauss, Martin Buggsy Goldstein, Kid Twist Reles and
Harry Malone check out the ammo and weapons scooped up during their arrests. Tough
guys Louis Lepke Buchalter and Albert Anastasia (left) ran the outfit

solve about 85 murders and sent Lepke

to the chair. Reles was about to give up
Anastasia when he had an accident on
Nov. 12, 1941, and got a new nickname:
The canary who sang but couldnt fly.
While in an early version of the
witness protection program, with cops
supposedly stationed right outside
his door, Kid Twist fell to his death

from a window of Coney Islands

Half Moon Hotel just days before he
was scheduled to finger Anastasia to
a grand jury. The official story was
that Reles, who was played by Peter
Falk in the 1960 movie Murder,
Inc., died trying to escape. Cops
claimed he was trying to get away by
shimmying down a rope made from
a m e ri ca n /

19

bedsheets hed flung out of the window.

But Luciano claimed his Lord High
Executioner had killed the rat
proving you could run, but NEVER
hide, from the Mafia.
And Anastasia learned that lesson
the hard way too. He died in a hail of
bullets in 1957 while getting a shave
in a barbers chair at a New York hotel. v

/ ga n g st e r s

How the Mafa bougHt AMericA

A M e ri cA n/

20

/ gAn g st e r s

he world was their oyster.

They had the money. They
had the muscle. They had the
politicians in their pocket.
And in the heady days after
Lucky Luciano helped win
World War II, the made
men finally had the respect
theyd always craved.
Charismatic gangsters rubbed
shoulders with movie stars in L.A. as
Hollywood turned a blind eye to narcotics, gambling and prostitution rings. The

uHollywood heavyweight Mickey

Cohen (left) survived a bomb that
destroyed his home. His underworld
buddy Johnny Roselli (right) , who
ran the International Alliance of
Theatrical Stage Employees union,
moved to Vegas

u By September 1959, the

Mob had crapped out in
Cuba, and Las Vegas was
the only legit game in
town. Everyday Americans
flocked to Sin City for a
taste of the action and
the chance to rub shoulders
with real-life gangsters
and celebrities

A M e ri cA n /

21

Mafia lit up the Nevada desert with their

Sin City casinos. And, with a feverish
conga beat, the lavish, legal gambling
havens of Cuba were pouring millions
into the Syndicates overflowing coffers.

DASH ING BAD BOYS

By spreading enough dough around,

it seemed like the Mob could get away
with anything. Certainly, Hollywoods
biggest celebrities were starstruck by
the dashing bad boys psycho Mickey
Cohen, smooth-talking strong-arm
Johnny Handsome Roselli, who
represented the Chicago Outfits
interests, and charming killer Benjamin
Bugsy Siegel.
Siegel had made the Mobs methods
violently clear after he was sent West
by longtime pal Meyer Lansky. Bugsys
job was to help L.A. Mob boss Jack
Dragna run the gambling joints and
get an iron grip on unions, particularly
those associated with making movies.
While he was at it, Bugsy used Mob
money to start up a wire service that
sent West Coast racetrack results to the
countrys underground bookie joints.

/ gAn g st e r s

He opened a drug route from Mexico

to the U.S., using beautiful starlets
and call girls as mules.
Thanks to Siegel, a major heroin
distribution center went right through
the American heartland, by way of
Kansas City, Mo., turf of Mafia boss
Nicholas Civella, who got rich by
charging a toll on shipments.
It was all an open secret and made
for delicious gossip flavored with just
a hint of danger. Siegel was pals with
the biggest stars: Clark Gable, Gary
Cooper, George Raft and Cary Grant,
as well as studio execs Louis B. Mayer
and Jack Warner. Actress Jean Harlow
was a godmother to his daughter
Millicent. Boyhood chum Raft even
arranged for him to get screen tests!
Bugsy led an extravagant life throwing
lavish parties at his Beverly Hills home.
He seduced scores of actresses and the
wife of an Italian count. The love affair

uActress Virginia Hill was said

uThe Fabulous Flamingo hotel

(above) was built with Mob
money. Gang czar Meyer Lansky
(right) ended up controlling the
once-swanky gambling playpen

When neW York racketeer

BugsY siegel appeared
on the Las Vegas scene in 1946,
gambling was legal, but the city was
a dusty backwater catering to cowpokes. Still, it smelled like money!
So Bugsy got busy. He strong-armed
a takeover of the nearly completed
Flamingo hotel from businessman
William Wilkerson. Then he
convinced Meyer Lansky to get
Mafia money to turn the place into
a palace.
Each bathroom in the 93-room
hotel got its own sewer system
(cost: $1.1 million). Due to the
plumbing alterations, the boiler
room had to be enlarged (cost:
$113,000). The kitchen was made
bigger too (cost: $29,000).
Bugsy was padding the bills and
skimming money off the top.

WE ON LY K IL L EAC H OT H ER

to be a Mafia drug mule and was

Bugsy Siegels main squeeze

between Bugsy and actress Virginia Hill,

who was said to be a drug courier, would
eventually wind up on a Hollywood
screen in the movie Bugsy, with their
parts being played by Warren Beatty and
Annette Bening.
But the movie business was peanuts
to Siegel. He dreamed big, of turning
dumpy little Las Vegas into the worlds
gambling capital. He used his showbiz connections to help add stardust to
his Las Vegas venture.

That made his legit construction

contractor Del Webb nervous. When
sinister types started showing up
as the project neared completion,
Bugsy reassured Webb, saying: Dont
worry, we only kill each other.
That was all too true. By the time
the Flamingo opened in December
1946, Bugsy owed his Mafia masters
$6 million and they decided hed
never make good.
At a historic summit in Havana,
Cuba, over the Christmas holidays,
the National Commission, including
Lansky, put a contract out on his life.

A M e ri cA n/

22

/ gA n g st e r s

Six months later, as Siegel sat reading

the Los Angeles Times in his actress
galpal Virginia Hills Beverly Hills
home, a sniper shot him in the head.
Meyer took over the Flamingo, and
as the 1950s arrived, The Strip began
to grow, thanks to Mafia money from
New York, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas
City, Mo., and Chicago. To keep peace,
each member of the Syndicate gave

other members interlocking shares in their

resorts. Everyone got a slice of the pie. And
Hollywood golden boy Johnny Roselli was
brought in to make sure things ran smoothly.
With financing from the Rosellicontrolled Teamsters Union Central
States Pension Fund, up went the
Tropicana, the Desert Inn, El Cortez, the
Sands, the Castaways, the Sundance Hotel
and Casino, the New Frontier, Westin Las
Vegas, the Fremont, the Stardust, Binions,
the Dunes, the Aladdin, the Silver Slipper,
Circus Circus and Harrahs.

uDapper Benjamin
Bugsy Siegel was the
Mafias watchdog in
Hollywood. Here, he
relaxes at an L.A. police
station on Aug. 8, 1940,
while being questioned
about the murder of his
boyhood friend Harry
Big Greenie Greenberg,
who ran a movie union
racket. Greenberg was
killed in his own driveway
after threatening to talk
about Murder, Inc.

S U N N Y LE GAL GETAWAYS

Legitimate gambling was proving to be

as big a moneymaker as Prohibition Era
bootleg booze. With Cuban President
Fulgencio Batista as a partner, the Mafia
had branched out overseas too setting
up a legal offshore haven just 90 miles
away from Miami.
Cuban gambling palaces like the
Tropicana and the elegant Hotel Nacional
provided sunny legal getaways for
the rich and very rich. Marlon Brando
played congas, Eartha Kitt performed
and then-U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy
enjoyed a three-call-girl orgy at the Hotel
Commodoro, courtesy of notorious

Mafia kingpin Santo Trafficante!

But despite the Cuban hijinks, it
was Vegas that cemented the modern
Mobs grip on American pop culture.
Sin City was a wide-open town where
farmers from Nebraska could be
treated like swells while rubbing
shoulders with celebrities and
real-life gangsters.
Best of all, what happened in
Vegas stayed in Vegas. But there were
exceptions: Roselli, the Mobs eyes
and ears in the Nevada desert, was
found cut into pieces and stuffed in a
55-gallon drum fished out of
the Atlantic Ocean off Miami Beach
in 1976. v

uBack in 1955, skin was in at the naughty Tropicana

in Havana, Cuba. Tampa mob boss Santo Trafficante
owned the joint, which created the modern showgirl.
Cuban rebels bombed the place in 1956, which was the
beginning of the end for Mafia dominance on the island

A M e ri cA n /

23

/ gA n g st e r s

Was the MoB poWerful

hit is not far-fetched.
enough to assassinate
The House Select Committee
a president?
on Assassinations, convened in the
To this day, many investigators are
mid-70s to probe JFKs 1961 murder,
convinced John F. Kennedy died in
took the Mob links very seriously.
Dallas as the result of orders issued
The committees reports noted
by two powerful Mafia bosses, Carlos
accused Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey
Marcello of New Orleans and Tampas
Oswalds New Orleans roots. The
Santo Trafficante. Certainly, both had
documents also revealed Jack Ruby,
the motive!
the strip club owner who gunned
Trafficante seethed
Oswald down, had
after JFK failed to
a relationship
provide firepower
with Marcello!
to help the CIAIn addition,
backed Bay of Pigs
government
rebels win back Cuba
investigators
from Fidel Castro in
detailed meetings
1961. Two years earlier,
arranged by Jimmy
Trafficante had lost
Hoffa between
uAccused JFK assassin Lee
lucrative investments
the New Orleans
Harvey Oswald (left) was
in the Cuban casinos
mobster and
killed by Dallas Mob associate
when the cigarTampa boss
Jack Ruby (right)
chomping Communist
Trafficante with
took over.
the specific goal
Meanwhile, Little Man Marcello,
of killing Kennedy!
knowing Mob muscle had sent Kennedy
Ultimately, the committee
to the White House by rigging the
couldnt rule out that JFK was killed
Illinois presidential vote, felt betrayed
by the Mob. Marcello, in particular,
when the Commander-in-Chiefs
the committee said, had the motive,
brother Bobby became Attorney
means and opportunity to have
General and declared war on the Mafia. President John F. Kennedy assassinated.
Marcello fought back.
Gambino Family godfather Paul
Talking about the JFK assassination,
Castellano once boasted: ...the
Marcello said: Yeah, I had the son
president of the United States, if
of a bitch killed. Im glad I did.
hes smart and needs help, hed
Im sorry I couldnt have done it
come to us. I could do a favor for
myself! And the notion of a Mob
the president. v

uBlonde Kim
Novak and her
lover Sammy
David Jr. were both
part of Chicago
Godfather Sam
Momo Giancanas
Hollywood stable

A M e ri cA n /

24

/ gAn g st e r s

moB put contract on JFK!

uPresident John F. Kennedy won the Oval Office with Mob help.
But once he was in the White House, his FBI director J. Edgar
Hoover and Attorney General brother Bobby went after the
Mafia. Godfathers Santo Trafficante and Carlos Marcello (right)
swore theyd make JFK pay

Ultimately, superstars including

Harry James, Milton Berle, the
Marx Brothers, Peggy Lee, Abbott
& Costello, Eartha Kitt, Judy Garland, Red Skelton, Dean Martin
and Frank Sinatra would all headline Mob-run casinos.

T H E MO B OWNED YO U

uLuscious Lana Turner (left) dated

Mob gorilla Johnny Stompanato who
was stabbed to death by her daughter.
Meanwhile, Donna Reed, who won an Oscar
for From Here to Eternity, was Mafiosi
Johnny Rosellis babe

Sometimes it was for cash. Sometimes for favors. And sometimes

it was because the Mob owned
you. Chicago boss Sam Momo
Giancana had a percentage in
a lot of stars, including blonde
beauty Kim Novak and Sinatra
Rat-Packer Sammy Davis Jr. But
they were united by something
other than their Mob ties: Kim and
Sammy were lovers!
And their then-scandalous

A M e ri cAn /

25

/ gA n g st e r s

interracial romance didnt make

Momo happy. He feared it would
hurt his investment by ruining
both their careers if word leaked
out. Davis was summoned to a sitdown with one of Momos boys
and ordered to break things off.
He did as he was told. Giancana
had made it clear losing half of his
property one way or the other
was better than losing it all!
But hanging with the Mafia
wasnt all Hollywood heartbreak.
Handsome Johnny Roselli
knew how to stick up for his
friends. His bedmates included
Betty Hutton, Lana Turner, and
even the seemingly demure Donna
Reed, star of the feel-good movie
Its a Wonderful Life.

casino Boss
Beat the odds

uMafia muscle landed Frank

Sinatra his Oscar-winning role as a
soldier in From Here to Eternity

Roselli made it VERY clear studio

boss Harry Cohn wouldnt have a wonderful life or ANY life at all when
the movie mogul refused to put Mob
paisano Frank Sinatra into the film
From Here to Eternity. After getting
word from New York Mafia Prime
Minister Frank Costello, Roselli
sauntered into Cohns office and
explained that certain people
wanted Sinatra in the flick, so hed
better change his mind.

LAB O R U N REST

Unlike the movie tycoon in The

Godfather, Cohn didnt need to find
a horses head in his bed to get the
message. He immediately cast Ol
Blue Eyes in his Oscar-winning role
as Private Maggio.
From Hollywood to Vegas to Chicago
to New York, Mob kingpins could
make or break anybody.
The Syndicate had learned labor
unrest was a good way to extort
legitimate businesses. Through corrupt
locals of the longshoremans union,

the naMe frank leftY

rosenthal MaY not
ring a Bell, but in Mob-run
Las Vegas there were those who
bowed to him in honor and others
too scared to look him in the eye.
Frank ran four casinos for the
Syndicate: the Stardust, Fremont,
Marina and Hacienda. The joints
were built with $62 million
looted from the Teamsters Union
by the Kansas City, Mo., Detroit
and Chicago Mafia families.
Lefty, a sports handicapping
genius who operated the
countrys biggest bookie-running
operation back in Chicago,
arrived in Sin City in 1968. He
met Allen Glick, whose dummy
corporation owned the Mob
casinos on paper, and announced
he was in charge.
If you interfere with anything
I do here, you will never leave
this corporation alive, Rosenthal
told Glick.
Rosenthal had two sides. He
was a gangster who used Mob
goons to crush cheaters hands
with rubber mallets. He was

A M e ri cA n/

26

/ gA n g st e r s

uRosenthal signed Vegas

legends Siegfried &
Roy to a long-term deal

also a visionary who

introduced sports
betting to Vegas along
with female blackjack
dealers, moves that
doubled the Stardusts
income in less than a year.
Big acts like Siegfried
& Roy were signed
to long-term deals by
Rosenthal. He even had
his own local TV show,
where he railed against
the ever-growing rules
of the Nevada Gaming
Commission, and

uHauled before the U.S. Senates

Rackets Subcommittee on Sept.
7, 1961, Mob casino king Frank
Lefty Rosenthal refused
to answer questions about an
attempt to fix a college football
game by bribing players

uMilwaukee Mob
boss Frank Mad
Bomber Balistrieri
(above) planted
explosives in Leftys
Cadillac. The gamblers
brush with death
was dramatically
re-created in the 1995
movie Casino (left)

A M e ri cA n /

27

/ gAn g st e r s

chit-chatted with guests who

included Liberace, Bob Hope
and Wayne Newton.
As Mafia influence in Vegas
began to fade, Milwaukee capo
Frank Mad Bomber Balistrieri
blamed Lefty. He blew up
Rosenthals car with him in it.
Rosenthal survived, retired
to Florida, and died peacefully
in 2008.
The 1995 Martin Scorsese
film Casino starring Robert
De Niro is based on Leftys life.
In an interview he gave
after quitting, Rosenthal had
advice for gamblers: No
human being zero can
beat a casino. Anyone who
says he can is a liar. But Lefty
managed to beat the Mob. v

The Mafias
dirTy Money
wenT To
Las Vegas
Laundries
& caMe back
cLean

uTeamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa (left)

helped the Mafia loot his unions
pension funds and build Las Vegas.
With Hoffa and the truckers in their
pocket, Mob leaders could extort
legitimate businesses by shutting
down deliveries or calling strikes

the Mafia controlled Americas docks.

With their partner, Teamsters Union
president Jimmy Hoffa, they controlled
the nations highway shipping.
With just a quiet word to the right
labor boss, the godfathers could shut
down food services, commercial

bakeries, laundries, breweries, meat

suppliers, soft drink companies, restaurants, hotels, garment centers and the
construction industry.
The Mob collected Americas trash,
paved the nations roads and held all
the political strings. There was no
A M e ri cA n /

29

part of American life it did not touch

or corrupt.
But that would change. And like
so many racketeers set up by their
supposed buddies, the arrogant Mob
bosses would never see it coming
until it was too late. v

/ gA n g st e r s

THE MOB EATS ITS OWN and

murder is the easy answer to any
underworld dispute!
As these chilling hits prove, the
Mafia certainly hasnt suffered a
shortage of bullets for snitches,
turncoats and rival racketeers who
stood in the way of power and profits.
The end can come at any time in
the drivers seat, a barbers chair, or
even at home. With the Mob, how you
are murdered sends a message and
the more public the execution, the
better the point is made!
Corpses with heads blown to
pieces, restaurant floors running with
blood, and cars riddled with bullets
all helped cement the power of
organized crime bosses.
As Colombo Family consigliere
(adviser) Salvatore Profaci told an
underling during a phone call taped
by the FBI: Goodfellas dont sue
goodfellas, goodfellas kill goodfellas
to settle their business differences.

1928 Frankie Yale

Brooklyn crime boss Frankie Yale crossed Chicago kingpin Al Capone and paid the price. Yale supplied

most of his pal Capones whiskey during Prohibition until a Capone spy fingered Yale for highjacking some of
the booze. On July 1, goons ambushed Yale on his way home, and sprayed his brand-new coupe with buckshot
and submachine gun bullets. Yale died at the wheel, and crashed the coupe into a brownstone
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/ ga n g st e r s

1929 st. Valentines Day massacre

The bloody booze-fueled gang violence in Chicago hit

new heights with a savage slaughter on Valentines Day.

Thats when Al Capone furious his
nemesis George Bugs Moran had
rubbed out two top Italian bootleggers
sent gunmen dressed as cops to a
garage at 2122 North Clark Street.
The thugs announced a raid,
lined seven North Siders
against a wall and cut
them to pieces

1936 Jack mcgurn

1935 Dutch
schultz
Furious at being indicted for

When Chicago mobster Machine Gun Jack McGurn was

implicated in the notorious St. Valentines Day Massacre, his
gangster pals turned on him. He was mowed down by three
assassins with machine guns on Feb. 15. Near his body, the killers
tossed a Valentine that read: Youve lost your
jewels and cars and handsome houses, but
things could still be worse you know... At
least you havent lost your trousers!

federal tax evasion, bootlegger

Dutch Schultz asked the Mafia
Commission for permission to
kill special prosecutor Thomas
Dewey. The Commission refused,
and ordered a hit on Schultz
instead. He was gunned down
in the mens room of the Palace
Chop House in Newark, N.J.,
on Oct. 23. Refusing to die in
a bathroom, Schultz staggered
to his table. He passed away in
a hospital 22 hours later
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/ gan g st e r s

1947 Benjamin Bugsy siegel

Handsome and charismatic, Bugsy Siegel was one of the first

celebrity gangsters. But even Bugsys charm couldnt spare him

from getting whacked when he ran afoul of the Mob. Siegel was
assassinated on June 20 with a military-style rifle as he sat on his
and mistress Virginia Hills couch in Hollywood reading the Los
Angeles Times. His killer fired through the window, striking him
five times. One shot blew his left eye right out of its socket!

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1951 tony trombino & tony Brancato

The two Tonys Kansas City mobsters Tony Trombino and Tony Brancato were arrested 46 times

on charges ranging from robbery and rape to assault. In May 1951, they stole $3,500 from the sports betting
operation at the Mob-controlled Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. L.A. crime boss Jack Dragna ordered a
hit and on Aug. 6, they were found shot to death in the front seat of a car near Hollywood Boulevard

1951 Willie moretti

An underboss of

the Genovese crime

family, Willie Moretti
sealed his fate when
he testified before
the U.S. Senate
Select Committee
on Organized
Crime. He was shot
while eating lunch
in Cliffside Park,
N.J., on Oct. 4. It
was supposedly
a mercy killing
because he was sick,
government witness
Joe Valachi later
said. Crime boss Vito
Genovese told me,
The Lord have mercy
on his soul, hes losing
his mind.

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/ gan g st e r s

1957 albert
the executioner
anastasia
As the leader of

Murder, Inc., and

boss of the Gambino
crime family for
most of the 1950s
and one of the
members of the National Crime
Syndicate, its estimated that
Albert Anastasia was involved in
as many as 200 hits. The Lord
High Executioners reign came
to an end when two masked
gunman shot him dead as he sat in
a barbers chair at New Yorks Park
Sheraton Hotel on Oct. 25

1971 Joseph colombo

Head of the Colombo crime
family, Joe Colombo Sr. was
shot three times on June 28
by a street hustler posing as a
photojournalist at an Italian
Unity Day rally in New York.
Rival mobster Crazy Joe
Gallo, a minor Big Apple celeb,
was blamed for the hit. He
got whacked 10 months later.
Colombo remained paralyzed
until his death from cardiac
arrest in 1978

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/ ga n g st e r s

1979 carmine galante

Carmine Cigar Galante, acting boss
of the Bonanno crime family, invoked
Cosa Nostra leaders wrath by taking
over the narcotics market and refusing
to split the profts with the other crime
families. The hood, who was a clinically
diagnosed psychopath, got killed on
July 12 while eating lunch on the patio
of an Italian eatery in Brooklyn, N.Y.
He died with his trademark cigar still
clenched in his teeth

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/ gan g st e r s

1980 angelo Bruno

Angelo The Gentle Don Bruno

headed the Philadelphia underworld

for two decades. But he fought New
Yorks crime families for control of
the lucrative Atlantic City gambling
industry, and it cost him. On March 21,
Bruno was killed by a shotgun blast to
the back of the head as he sat in his car
outside his home in South Philly. New
York Mobster Antonio Tony Bananas
Caponigro reportedly ordered the hit

1985 Paul castellano and tom Bilotti

The Don of the Gambino family, Big Paul Castellano

was assassinated on Dec. 16 on the order of power-hungry

John Gotti. Castellano and his driver, Tom Bilotti (below),
who had just been appointed underboss, were shot to
death by a hit team wearing white trench coats and black
Russian Ushanka hats. Their bodies were left in front of
the Sparks Steak House in midtown Manhattan

1990 eddie Lino

Mob hit men are everywhere! Unlucky Eddie

Lino was gunned down on Nov. 6 by two New York
City Police Department detectives on the Mobs payroll.
After pulling him over for a bogus traffc violation,
crooked cops Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa
fred nine bullets into Lino as he sat behind the wheel
of his Mercedes. The hit was ordered by another crime
family who wanted to weaken Linos pal John Gotti
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36

/ gan g st e r s

u Joe The Barber

Barbaras 53-acre ranch in
Apalachin, N.Y., was the
site of a Syndicate summit
that proved the American
Mafia was real. Attendees
included (below, from left to
right) Joseph Barbara, Vito
Genovese, Carlo Gambino,
Santo Trafficante, Sam
Giancana, Paul Castellano,
Joe Profaci and Joe Marcello

Bungled Mafa summit was

Beginning of the end

ntil Nov. 14, 1957, most Americans suspected shop was suddenly overwhelmed by his massive order,
there was a National Crime Syndicate running which made local state trooper Edgar Croswell curious.
the big-money rackets, but the FBI insisted it
So, on the day of the Mob meet, Croswell and a few other
didnt exist!
lawmen watched Barbaras place as limo after limo
All that changed when coppers
arrived. New York godfather Joe Profaci, 60, was
broke up a Mob summit at Joseph
first. He was followed by rising capo Paul Castellano
Joe The Barber Barbaras 53and his boss Gambino. Don Vito Genovese made a
acre farm in sleepy Apalachin, N.Y.
grand entrance as did Chicagos Sam Giancana, Santo
The spectacle of wise guys running
Trafficante and Joe Marcello from New Orleans.
through cow dung in $500 Italian shoes turned
Suddenly, a housekeeper spotted Croswell
the Mafia into a laughing stock but proved it
taking down license plate numbers. She told her
uState trooper
was all too real.
boss and the mobsters scattered, racing to their
Edgar Croswell
cars, running across fields in $2,000 silk suits and
BI G DOINGS
caught the Mob
The bust happened by accident. Barbara, the
dropping hundred dollar bills.
flat-footed
ranking godfather of the Pennsylvania Mafia
About 60 gangsters were hauled in. They all said
families, wanted a sit-down to discuss new
they were visiting a sick friend. They got slapped
federal laws against the lucrative narcotics trade, issues in with minor fines. But the consequences were major.
the garment industry, loan sharking, casino operations and
The summit forced FBI director J. Edgar Hoover to
disloyal hoods who needed to disappear.
acknowledge the existence of a National Crime Syndicate.
It was big doings and Barbara needed a lot of prime meat The feds would now declare total war on the Mafia. It was
to feed his 100 invited guests. The tiny Apalachin butcher the beginning of the end. v
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/ ga n g st e r s

fter his G-men cut down

bank robber John Dillinger
in the summer of 1934,
FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover
elevated fellow thief Charles
Arthur Pretty Boy Floyd
to Public Enemy No. 1
followed by legendary bandits, Baby
Face Nelson, Machine Gun Kelly and
Ma Barker and her sons.
Nowhere on the list were Syndicate kingpins Meyer Lansky, Lucky
Luciano, Bugsy Siegel, Frank Costello,
Louis Lepke, Albert Anastasia and
Joe Profaci, to name just a few of the
vicious hoodlums who ran organized
crime in the United States.
Until the 1957 Apalachin raid caught
100 Mafiosi in one place and officially
revealed the existence of a countrywide
organized crime syndicate, Hoover had
repeatedly told Americans there was no
such thing.

grab big headlines by catching big name

crooks. He concentrated on those who
were easy to snare.
While bragging that the capture of
small-time hoods and bank robbers proved
the FBI was the
greatest crimebusting force in
the nation, he
allowed the syndicate to creep into
virtually every
U.S. institution!
uG-men went after easy targets like
After World War
John Dillinger (top) and (left to right
II,
as the Cold War
above) Charles Pretty Boy Floyd,
Why?
between Russia
George Baby Face Nelson and George
The legendary
and the U.S. heated
Machine Gun Kelly Barnes instead of
leader of the FBI
up, right winger
trying to root out the secretive Syndicate
certainly wasnt
Hoover went after
dumb or blind. He had files on top mob- Communists, civil rights leaders and
sters and their politician pals. Hoover, liberals. The FBIs bulldog boss believed
a betting man, even rubbed shoulders subversives were a bigger threat to the
with the gangsters at various racetracks!
country than Mafia chiefs, who were said
to have secret files of their own documentA B IG G ER T H REAT
So experts say the nations top lawmen ing HIS cross-dressing homosexuality!
DELIBERATELY put his head in the
But whatever the reason for his silence,
sand and lied to America to avoid when the rats ran away at the Apalachin
a war against organized crime his Mob Summit, Hoover couldnt lie any
agency didnt have the manpower or the longer. He had egg on his face as critmoney to win!
ics charged he ignored what every kid
When the FBI was in its infancy whod ever seen a gangster movie knew
in the 30s and 40s, Hoover the Outfit was real. The FBI was finally
had to fight hard for funds to forced to send agents after the Syndicate.
increase the size of his staff. But the war took decades to win thanks
To get the gold, he had to to Hoovers big blunder. v

uThe FBIs powerful

director, J. Edgar
Hoover who was
betting on horse
races when this photo
was snapped on
May 22, 1954 had
secrets of his own.
Word is racketeers
had compromising
photos of the closet
homosexual dressed
in drag!

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/ gan g st e r s

married

to the

mob

uWith a raspy

Hollywoods

top
20
gangster movies

Hollywood is ga-ga over gangsters!

business too, by taking over a union that
Bringing the underworlds savagery,
specialized in providing extras for film
greed and gore to the silver screen has
crowd scenes.
been big business since former mobster
Soon Siegel was hanging with old
Joe Brown became a silent movie
pal Raft, who grew up in New Yorks
sensation in the early 1920s. But the
tough Hells Kitchen. Rafts portrayal
Mob movie really came into
of a nickel-flipping thug
its own during the Great
in 1932s Scarface was so
Depression when Americans
realistic, mobsters have
gobbled up tales of fast
deliberately imitated him
living and easy money.
ever since.
Upcoming actors James
But Hollywoods gangland
Cagney, Edward G. Robinson
gold standard is the 1972
and George Raft, a
classic The Godfather.
semi-reformed small-time
The blockbuster and its two
hood, became TinselTowns
sequels chronicled the bloody
uMobster Bugsy
crime kings playing ruthless
history of the Corleones, a
Siegel (left) with old
racketeers in black-andpal, actor George Raft New York-based organized
white dramas like Public
crime family and paved
Enemy, Little Caesar and Scarface.
the way for a blood-soaked parade of
The Mob was also flourishing behind
dramas starring drug dealers (1983s
the scenes. Handsome hatchet man Bugsy Scarface), crooked cops (The
Siegel was dispatched from New York
Departed), Mafia wiseguys
to set up an L.A. gambling operation. But
(Goodfellas) and urban gangs
he decided to muscle in on the movie
(New Jack City).
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39

/ gan g st e r s

voice based
on the growl
of real-life
New York Mafia
boss Frank The
Prime Minister
Costello, Marlon
Brando became
The Godfather
in Francis Ford
Coppolas 1972
monster hit

1931
Little caesar

As murderous thug
Rico Bandello, actor
Edward G. Robinson set
the standard for movie
gangsters. But in real life,
Robinson was a cultured
man passionate about
fine art. On the silver
screen, Little Caesar
is gunned down by a cop
after reaching the top
of Chicagos organized
crime syndicate. His
immortal final words
are: Mother of mercy,
is this the end of Rico?
Legend has it that the
anti-Mob Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act or
RICO got its acronym
from Robinsons character.

the public enemy

scarface

1932

Legendary Chicago gangster Al Capone was nicknamed

Scarface, and this blood-soaked chronicle of 20s gang
warfare was loosely based on his life. Capone liked the
film so much he owned a copy, during an era when having
a movie of your own was literally unheard of. Paul Muni
stars as Italian immigrant Antonio Tony Camonte who,
like Capone, battles the citys Irish gang. In an obvious
reference to the St. Valentines Day Massacre of 1929,
several men are gunned down in a garage with two
gunmen dressed in police uniforms.

1931

Its 1920s Chicago and small-time bootlegger Tom Powers, played by

James Cagney, claws his way up through the citys brutal underworld.
The film made Cagney a star, and boasts one of gangster cinemas most
memorable scenes as Tom blows up at his girl Kitty (actress Mae
Clarke) and shoves a grapefruit in her face. Cagney later said he based his
performance on a real-life Chicago gangster, Irish-American thug Charles
Dean OBanion, and two New York City hoods hed known as a kid.
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1959
al capone
The movies tagline
read: It was the age of
speakeasies and jazz...
when everybody sinned,
ginned and broke the
law...while a vicious crime
lord almost took over the
nation! And actor Rod
Steiger delivered a chilling
portrayal of Capone in this
amazingly accurate biopic.
It chronicled Capones rise
through murder, extortion
and political fraud. But
while the iconic gangster
died of advanced syphilis,
Hollywoods production
code forced the films
narrator to attribute his
death to an incurable
disease.

1947
Kiss of Death
Actor Richard Widmarks
neurotic, high-pitched laugh
as a psycho hit man inspired
one of the 20th centurys
most brutal real-life Mob
enforcers Crazy Joe Gallo.
In Kiss of Death, Widmarks
character Tommy Udo pushes
a wheelchair-bound old lady
down a flight of stairs to her
death without ever stopping
his maniacal chuckling. New
York mobster Gallo began
mimicking Udo and acting
crazy, giving rise to his Crazy
Joe persona. Gallo was
gunned down in Little Italy
in 1972.
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1960
murder, inc.

Mobsters stop at nothing to keep

their business going during the
Great Depression in this gritty
look at New Yorks underworld.
The screenplay was based on
a novel about Murder, Inc., a
Brooklyn gang that operated in
the 30s. The film launched the
career of actor Peter Falk (right),
who earned an Oscar nomination
playing Murder, Inc.s top hit
man, Abe Reles. Falk chose his
wardrobe from second-hand
stores, saying he searched for
clothes that gave him the East
Coast wise guy look.

1964
robin and the 7 Hoods In a twist on the

Robin Hood legend, Frank Sinatra plays a gangster who robs from
the rich and gives to the poor in Prohibition Era Chicago. The
Chairman of the Board recruited his Rat Pack pals Sammy Davis Jr.
and Dean Martin for the musical. Sinatra was close to Mob bosses
Carlo Gambino, Sam Giancana and Lucky Luciano. The Godfather
character Johnny Fontane, whose career was helped by links to
organized crime, is widely believed to have been based on Sinatra.

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1972

the
godfather

Im gonna make
him an offer he cant
refuse. Screen legend
Marlon Brando uttered
that line as Mafia
boss Don Corleone
and turned The
Godfather into an
instant classic. Based
on the novel by Mario
Puzo and directed by
Francis Ford Coppola,
The Godfather is
widely recognized
as Hollywoods top
gangster movie if
not the best movie of
all time. Actor Gianni
Russo later hinted he
landed the role of The
Godfathers traitorous
son-in-law, Carlo Rizzi,
by tapping his real-life
Mafia connections.

1974
the godfather: part ii

The word Mafia was never spoken in

The Godfather, but its heard three
times in this blockbuster sequel, which
pits the young Don Michael Corleone
(Al Pacino, right) against shrewd
old-timer Hyman Roth. Roth is loosely
based on real-life mobster Meyer Lansky.
Lansky, however, didnt like how he was
portrayed by legendary acting teacher
Lee Strasberg. After the films release,
the miffed mobster reportedly phoned
Strasberg from his Miami home and said:
Why couldnt you have made me more
sympathetic? After all, I am a grandfather.
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scarface

1983

Like the gangsters of the original

Scarface, Cuban immigrant Tony
Montana rose through the ranks
to achieve his American dream
heading a criminal empire. For Tony,
that meant sitting on top of Miamis
cocaine business. The film inspired
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to name
his international corporation Montana
Management. When a heavily armed
hit squad arrives to kill him, Montana
(Al Pacino) grabs a grenade launcher
and growls the films most famous line:
Say hello to my little friend.

prizzis Honor

1983

Even with a post-modern twist, Brooklyns Prizzi crime

clan stayed true to the gangster code and put family
honor above all. The film centers on two professional
killers, Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner, who fall
in love and marry. In the end, the married mobsters are
hired to kill each other. Iconic director John Huston
focused on the films black comedy, and the late movie
critic Pauline Kael wrote: Its like The Godfather
acted out by The Munsters.

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1987
the Untouchables Based on the memoir of federal agent Eliot Ness, the

star-studded film tells the story of Ness (Kevin Costner) team of federal agents known
as The Untouchables for their fearlessness and their efforts to bring Chicago kingpin Al
Capone (Robert De Niro) to justice during Prohibition. A stickler for authenticity, De Niro,
who also starred in The Godfather: Part II and Goodfellas, tracked down Capones
original tailors to make him an authentic movie wardrobe.

1990
goodfellas Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci star in this Martin

Scorsese-directed gangster flick about the rise and fall of Lucchese crime family associate
Henry Hill. During filming, Liotta received two (fake) horse heads in his dressing room to
welcome him to the world of Mob flicks one from De Niro and the other from Frank Sinatras
daughter, Nancy. After the films release, the real Hill was so proud that he bragged that the
movie was about his life, forcing the FBI to boot him from the Witness Protection Program.
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1990

millers
crossing Tom Reagan

(Gabriel Byrne) is a man with

divided loyalties. The longtime
confidant and adviser of an
Irish political boss (Albert
Finney) during the Prohibition
era, Tom eventually teams up
with his boss Italian rival (John
Turturro). During filming in New
Orleans, crooked local cops
would routinely show up to try
to shake down the production
company. Director Joel Coen
later said the modern bad apples
in blue were acting precisely
like the cops depicted in his film,
and they dont even care!

1991
new Jack city Wesley Snipes stars as the

leader of a New York City gang during the crack cocaine

wars of the late 1980s and Ice-T is the undercover
detective who infiltrates the gang in order to bring it
down. Snipes, who served nearly three years in jail for
failing to file federal tax returns, came close to facing
drug charges in real life. Cops believed the actor tossed a
package of marijuana from his motorcycle during a now
infamous high-speed chase in 1994. But since there were
no fingerprints or other proof, no charges were ever filed.

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1992
american me

Edward James Olmos directs

and stars in the fictional
account of the rise of
the Mexican Mafia in the
California prison system.
Soon after the films release,
three of Olmos consultants
were killed execution-style,
and it was reported that
Olmos was also on the
gangs hit list for making
the movie. In a 1996 federal
racketeering case against
the Mexican Mafia, it was
revealed that the group
had extorted money and
property from the actor,
possibly in exchange for his
and his familys safety.

1995
casino Robert De

Niro, Joe Pesci and Sharon

Stone star in this tale of
greed, corruption and
murder in 1970s Las Vegas.
Pescis character gets
whacked in the flick. The
actor almost got a taste of
real-life Mob justice in the
early 80s after skipping
out on a hotel bill. Mobster
Anthony The Animal Fiato
was approached by actor
James Caan to take care of
Pesci for stiffing the Miami
hotel, which was owned
by one of Caans pals. The
incriminating conversation
was reportedly caught on
FBI tape.

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2002
road to perdition

Tom Hanks plays

Irish Mob enforcer Michael Sullivan who, along with
his young son, seeks revenge for the murder of his
family. The film also stars Paul Newman, giving the
final movie performance of his career as Mob boss
John Rooney. Daniel Craig and Jude Law also play
vicious outlaws. The rain-swept cinematography
for which Conrad Hill was posthumously awarded
an Oscar and the decision to film on location in
the Windy City gave the film an air of Capone-era
Chicago authenticity that critics loved.

1997
Donnie Brasco

The true story

of FBI legend Joe Pistone, who infiltrated the
New York-based Bonanno crime family as
Donnie Brasco in the 1970s, stars Al Pacino
and Johnny Depp. Although the real Pistone
still lives under the radar and refuses to travel
to cities with a high Mob presence because of
a contract on his life, he went to the Big Apple
during the filming to coach Pacino and Depp
in their roles.

2006

the
Departed

An undercover cop (Leo

DiCaprio) who infiltrates
Bostons deadly Irish mob
and a police mole (Matt
Damon) each set out to
uncover the others
identity before theyre
exposed. The Martin
Scorsese film also stars Jack
Nicholson, Martin Sheen,
Alec Baldwin and Vera
Farmiga. Nicholson based
his role as vicious Irish
mobster Frank Costello
on real-life South Boston
gang boss James Whitey
Bulger, who was sentenced
last year to two life
sentences for racketeering
and masterminding
eleven murders.

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oseph Valachi came along at

the right time for lawmen and
the wrong time for the Mob.
Joe Cargo killed people for
mobster Vito Genovese, and when
he turned informer in 1963, he
became the first-made Mafia
member to squeal. Testifying at the
congressional McClellan Hearings,
Valachi gave Americans their first look
inside La Cosa Nostra.
Then-Attorney General Robert Kennedy, ganglands greatest enemy in
Washington, hailed Valachis televised
testimony as the
biggest single intelligence breakthrough
yet in combating organized crime and
racketeering in the
United States.
When
Valachi
broke
omerta,
the
uVito
Mafias sacred code
Genovese
of silence, in exwas Valachis
boss
change for a lesser
sentence on a murder
rap, America learned how Mafia members were made in a secret ritual after
killing for their boss.
As Americans were glued to their
TVs, he revealed how there was a Commission of five Mafia families in New
York, which moderated Mob disputes
nationwide. He disclosed how the Mafia
families were a well-organized empire
of evil, with soldiers on the bottom to
caporegimes (lieutenants) in the middle
and consiglieres as advisers to the dons.

T he F I RST MA FIA RAT

Thanks to The Godfather movies,

the Mafias structure is now common knowledge to most Americans,
but Valachis testimony was a big deal.
The first Mafia rat made it necessary
for lawmen to admit that they were facing
a well-oiled crime corporation governed
by rules and regulations.
Valachi also introduced a new expression into the language when asked if the
crime families called themselves the
Mafia.
No, Valachi said. We call it Cosa
Nostra. Our Thing.
Valachi exposed Mob families in
New York City, New Jersey, Buffalo,
N.Y., Chicago, Detroit, Tampa, Fla.,
Boston and Providence, R.I., identifying bosses and senior men in each

uFed-up with
the Mob life and
trying to avoid
a government
death sentence,
made-man
Joe Valachi
told Congress
everything he
knew about
the Mafia

The mob
unmasked!

Joe Cargo Valachi

spills the beans on tV
group. He confirmed there were at least does the Mob maintain momentum.
2,000 made men in the Big Apple,
Until Valachi, there had been several
and personally identified 289 of the bureaucratic attempts to investigate and
383 hoodlums that had been profiled define just what organized crime was:
by crime-busting investigators.
most notably the congresOver the past 30 years, Vasional Kefauver Committee
lachis testimony both on
which roamed the country
an off the record helped the
interviewing gangsters like
FBI do significant damage
Frank Costello, who refused
to the Mob. The Cosa Nostra
to talk. They exposed some
in California has almost compolitical corruption, but never
pletely disappeared. Denver,
established proof that the
uFrank
Kansas City, Mo., Dallas, CleveMafia existed.
Costello
land, Pittsburgh, Rochester,
Joes shocking disclosures
wouldnt sing
N.Y., crews are nonexistent too.
came as the Mobs reign in
New Orleans, Tampa. BufLas Vegas faded, when reclufalo and New England are shadows of sive billionaire Howard Hughes decided
their former selves. The gangs in Detroit, he wanted to be king of Sin City and
Philadelphia and New Jersey are on their bought 17 resorts. The syndicates power
knees.
was eroding. Genovese put a $100,000
The once-powerful Chicago Syn- price on the turncoats head. But it was
dicate is greatly reduced in numbers never collected. Valachi died in 1971 at a
and effectiveness. Only in New York federal prison in Texas of a heart attack. v
a m e ri Can /

49

/ gan g st e r s

the last
godfather
Dapper Don John Gotti
clawed his way to the top &
DieD a Mafia superstar

nown as the Teflon

Don for his ability to
escape prosecution, and
as the Dapper Don,
for his habit of wearing
$2,000 silk suits, New
Yorks most ruthless
racketeer John Gotti died
alone from cancer in one

uSurrounded by his crew, brazen

crime lord John Gotti (circled
below) hangs around outside
his Bergin Hunt and Fish Club
headquarters. An artist sketched
the moment (right) in 1992 when
he received a life sentence from
Judge I. Leo Glasser

of the federal governments most secure

prison facilities.
His passing in 2002 marked the
Mafias high water mark. As the allpowerful head of New Yorks Gambino
crime family, Gotti was the last true
American Godfather, thought to be
pulling the strings right up until the day
he died.
In truth, Gotti was a celebrity and
a superstar embodying everything
Americans loved, feared and hated
about the Mob. He was tough, loyal and
refused to turn squealer. He was a vicious,
a M e ri ca n/

50

/ Gan G st e r s

uImmaculately
groomed and
decked out in
expensive Italian
designs, the
Dapper Don
looked more
like a corporate
executive than
a bloodthirsty
Mafia boss. The
underworld czar
continued to run
his rackets from
behind bars in
a federal pen

Gotti was
everythinG
americans
loved, feared
and hated
about
the mob

a M e ri ca n /

51

/ Gan G st e r s

DEAL
WITH
THE
DEVIL!
Sammy The Bull did
19 hits but got slap
on the wrist after
ratting out his boss

Salvatore Sammy the Bull Gravano,

nicknamed for his thick neck and stocky torso, made his
Mafia reputation by killing 19 people AND for being the
highest-ranking made man ever to turn rat.
Gravano was the underboss for the Gambino Crime
Family, second only to gang leader John Gotti, when he
turned canary in exchange for a life in the federal Witness
Protection Program.
In 1992, the feds sent Gotti away for life after Gravano

heartless killer who loved the good

life. And for a while, at least, it seemed
like he could get away with anything!
News organizations chronicled his
every public move and fascinated Americans couldnt get enough of the smug,
confident crime lord. Gotti played his
role with swagger and defiance.
His headquarters werent a secret.
Everyone knew it was a social club
in Little Italy. Everybody knew he had
another clubhouse in Queens called
the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club. He
didnt lurk in shadows. He basked in
the limelight.

A S MI RK O N HIS FAC E

Every day, Gotti sat on his clubhouse

throne, a barbers chair, and got his hair
trimmed to perfection. He wore pure
white shirts with his silk suits and $200
hand-painted ties. During courthouse
appearances, he sat most days with a
smirk on his face, the contemptuous
sneer of a coldblooded murderer who
knew the fix was in.
A high school dropout turned truck
hijacker, Gotti was sworn into La Cosa
Nostra in 1973. He whacked a gang
traitor at the behest of his boss, Carlo

uColdhearted killer Sammy

Gravano took the witness stand and
put away John Gotti in what many
say was the death blow against the
modern Mafia in New York

took the stand and testified he had killed time and again
on his boss orders even rubbing out his own brother-inlaw! Gravano and Gotti planned the hit on former Gambino

uGodfather Gallery: Carlo Gambino, Paul Big Paulie Castellano, Carmine

Junior Persico, Anthony Tony Ducks Corallo and Anthony Fat Tony Salerno
(from left to right) all ran New York crime families
Gambino, who then was top dog on the
national crime Commission.
Don Carlo, a well-read mobster
who liked to quote Machiavellis The
Prince, appreciated Gottis piece of
work and even promoted him to head
one of his two dozen crews of soldiers.
But Gambino distrusted the uneducated, foul-mouthed thug. Don Carlos
successor, cousin Paul Castellano,
liked Gotti even less. John was dealing
in heroin and that broke a Castellano
rule. Wiseguys whispered Gotti wasnt
long for the world.
The ambitious capo figured he
needed to land the first punch. And in

a M e ri ca n/

52

/ Ga n G st e r s

1985, he got some help from an unlikely source. In an unprecedented move,

the Feds arrested and put on trial the
heads of the five New York families,
the so-called Commission which
ruled the Big Apple and, by extension,
the rest of Americas criminal syndicates.
In court together were Gambino
Family boss Castellano; Colombo
Family head Carmine Junior Persico,
Anthony Tony Ducks Corallo of
the Lucchese Family, Philip Rusty
Rastelli from the Bonanno gang and
Anthony Fat Tony Salerno from the
Genovese Mob. Salerno was nailed

family boss Paul Castellano, and the

two watched the rubout go down.
Mob experts say Gravano turned
informant because he was fed up with
all the attention the publicity-seeking
Gotti was bringing to La Cosa Nostra.
But Gravano brought even MORE
attention to the outfit as scores of
other Mafia affiliates went down with
Gotti as a result of his testimony.
However, despite his murder
confessions, Sammy served less than
five years for racketeering. For a time,
he disappeared with a new identity
and a new life set up by the Feds.
But The Bull got antsy living far from
New York. He missed the respect
he once commanded on the streets
and, ironically, missed the notoriety of
being a gangster. He agreed to a book
about his life.
In 1997, Gravano plugged the book
in a TV interview with Diane Sawyer
and even dared Mafia hit men to
come looking for him at his Arizona
hideaway. He said he would have a
deadly welcome for them if
they were stupid enough to try to

collect the contract on his life.

Miraculously, the Mafia did not
assassinate him sending a message
he was now small potatoes and
beneath contempt. But Sammy the
Snitch turned out to be his own worst
enemy, proving that once youre used
to easy money its hard to work for a
living like a regular guy.
In 2000,
the former
wiseguy was
charged along
with his
son, Gerard,
appropriately
nicknamed
Baby Bull, of
masterminding
an Ecstasy ring
in Arizona.
Sammy, now
68, sits in a
cage, serving 20
years. Feds say
it couldnt have
happened to a
nicer guy. v

uLike father,
like son; In
2002, Sammy
The Bull and
his kid Gerard
were sent to
the slammer
in Arizona
for running
a massive
drug ring.
Now balding
and ravaged
by Graves
Disease,
Sammy got
20 years. His
boy got nine
and is now
out of the
Big House

instead of the REAL Genovese boss,

Vincent The Chin Gigante, the bathrobe-wearing mobster who feigned
mental illness.
Prosecutors had damning wiretap
evidence obtained under the mobbusting R.I.C.O. law which proved
the Commission was a criminal
conspiracy dealing in murder and
racketeering. All the dons went to jail
except Castellano. Gotti made sure
his boss would never see the inside of
a cell by rubbing him out BEFORE
the trial ended.

I F O RG OT T I

uAs part of his plan to convince

lawmen he was harmless, Mafia
family boss Vinny The Chin Gigante
wandered the streets around his
Manhattan apartment muttering to
himself and wearing a bathrobe. He
was arrested and imprisoned anyway

Big Paulie was gunned down on

Dec. 16, 1985 outside a Manhattan restaurant as Christmas shoppers
scattered. Gotti watched from a nearby limo. He was now head of a crime
family that grossed about $500 million
a year, from gambling, loan-sharking,
stock fraud, extortion from unions, garment manufacturers, garbage-carting
companies and food suppliers.
But a year after taking over the Gambino gang, Gotti was in court accused
of assault. Not surprisingly, the victim
testified he couldnt identify Gotti.
a M e ri ca n /

53

Case dismissed. I Forgotti, said a

headline the next day. Smart thing
too. John Favara, a neighbor whod accidentally run over and killed Gottis
12-year-old son Frank in 1980, was
snatched off the street, stuffed into a
van and never heard from again.
Godfather Gottis next trial was
marked by a bomb scare and witness
intimidation. Cocksure John knew hed
get off as he sat smirking in court. Hed
bribed a juror with $60,000. The verdict: not guilty!
Arrested again, this time for assaulting a union official and conspiracy,
Gotti told cops: Ill lay you three to
one I beat it. He did. Not surprisingly,
the victim actually gave evidence FOR
THE DEFENSE!
A fourth trial was different, however. This time the Feds had a Mob rat
to bolster their wiretap evidence:
Salvatore Sammy The Bull Gravano
Gottis good friend and underboss
who turned squealer to save his own
skin after being charged with murder.
Gotti got a life sentence and the
smirk was finally wiped off his face
for keeps. v

/ Gan G st e r s

E C I M AT E D
by
decades
of relentless
federal prosecution, turncoats
and
harsh
competition
from ruthless
new underworld
organizations, the American
Mafia is battered, bruised
and disrespected.
Gone are the days of
ruling the underworld
enforcing their will with
savage efficiency while
laughing at lawmen who
were either bought off or
powerless to stop them. Other
crime syndicates have taken
over huge chunks of the Mobs
turf and Mafia kingpins
have finally lost their ability to
cheat justice.

A N E W S U PE RW E APON

Winning battles against

the Mafia wasnt easy until
the 1970s when authorities
got a new superweapon, the
federal Racketeer Influenced
and Corrupt Organizations
Act, which imposes heavy
penalties specifically for either
directing or taking part in the
Syndicates traditional crimes.
By the 1980s, Mafia power was
further diminished when the FBI
helped cut off the Mobs Las Vegas
money stream. The Feds also
loosened the gangs
stranglehold on trucking, bartending and
construction unions,
removing a power
base that helped
Mafia big shots
blackmail legitimate
businesses
in
exchange for labor
peace.
We aggressively
uFBI crime
attack them, and the
buster David
sentences are very
Shafer
large, said David
Shafer, special agent
who supervises FBI organized crime
investigations in New York.
Those long prison sentences
are convincing the Mafia thugs to

uMob squealer Vincent Vinny

Ocean Palermo (left) is now living
openly in Texas after helping put New
Jersey gangsters away. Even former
godfather Joe The Ear Massino
(above) thumbed his nose at former
associates by testifying for the Feds.
However, hes living undercover

testify against their partners in crime

rather than go to prison where even
Godfather John Gotti was beaten so
badly by another inmate he needed
hospitalization!
In the old days, that type of
disrespect wouldve never been
tolerated by the Mob. But squealing
wasnt tolerated, either: It was an
automatic underworld death sentence.
The Mob proved, time and again, it
could reach anyone, anywhere.
But the lawmen running the federal
Witness Protection Program learned
to outwit the Mafia, so todays rats
have no fear of retribution even
when theyre exposed like New Jersey
crime kingpin-turned-snitch Vincent
Vinny Ocean Palermo. He was
outed in 2009 as Vincent Cabella,

a m e ri ca n/

54

/ ga n g st e r s

the owner of a controversial

Houston strip club.
Palermo is still living large as is
former Bonanno family godfather Joe
The Ear Massino, who became the
first head of a New York crime family
ever to turn canary when he faced
a murder rap. In return for his help
nailing other gangsters and turning
over $7 million in ill-gotten gains,
Massino got out of prison last year and
is now living undercover.

T h Ey v E lO ST Al l R ESP EcT

These days, nobody is really

terrified of the American Mafia.
Theyve lost all respect and street
cred, said a law enforcement source.
They dont have the money or the
muscle to call all the shots anymore.
Now other bad guys from other ethnic
groups are taking away their play.
And theres not much the Mob can
do to stop it! Changing demographics

and the assimilation of ItalianAmericans into U.S. society has limited

the Mafias traditional recruitment base.
Now the Russian Mafia, Chinese
triads, Mexican drug cartels and
urban street gangs like the Crips and
the Bloods have taken over many
of the Syndicates former rackets
and business ventures. In Chicago,
politicians openly court the support of
gangbangers like the Vice Lords, Black
Disciples, Black Gangsters and Cobras
in the same way their Prohibition-era
ancestors romanced Al Capone.
However, the Mafia still has a
limited presence in the Windy City, the
Northeast, and parts of Canada. The
Syndicates coast-to-coast domination
is a thing of the past.
However, law enforcement officials
arent ready to count the Mafia out
and many still consider the Mob
the largest organized crime group
in the U.S. And, depending on who
you listen to, the Mafia is poised to
make a comeback.
It will regroup, says a former
mobster, who asked not to be
identified. Everybody will lay low
and see what happens. Then all of a
sudden, little by little, theyll come
out and theyll start regrouping. They
gotta. Theres too much money, and
you gotta remember their egos wont
let them walk away. v

BattereD,
BruiseD
anD
DisrespecteD

GoinG,
GoinG, Gone!

mafia getting
erased
by coppers and
new crime
cartels

a m e ri ca n /

55

/ gan g st e r s

NEW YORKS
BIG FIVE
Bonanno Active
New York, Arizona,
Connecticut & Florida
Colombo Active
New York, Connecticut
& Florida
Gambino Active
New York, Connecticut
& Florida
Genovese Active
New York, Connecticut
& Florida
Lucchese Active
New York, Connecticut
& Florida
BIRMINGHAM
Crime family
eradicated
BUFFALO
Magaddino Active
CHICAGO
The Outfit Active
in Illinois & Las Vegas
CLEVELAND
Porrello Active
DALLAS
Crime family
eradicated
DENVER
Crime family
eradicated
DETROIT
Zerilli Active
KANSAS CITY
Civella Active
Missouri & Las Vegas

LOS ANGELES
DeSimone active
MILWAUKEE
Balistrieri
On the ropes
NEW ENGLAND
Patriarca Active in
Boston & Providence, R.I.
NEW JERSEY
DeCavalcante
On the ropes

BIG G ER T H AN U .S. ST EEL

NEW ORLEANS
Marcello
On the ropes
PENNSYLVANIA
Bruno Active
in Philadelphia
& Atlantic City
Bufalino On the ropes
LaRocca Active in
Pittsburgh & Ohio
ROCHESTER
Crime family
eradicated
SAN FRANCISO
Crime family
eradicated
SAN JOSE
Cerrito On the ropes
SEATTLE
Colacurcio Active
ST. LOUIS
Giordano Active
TAMPA
Trafficante Active

A M E RI CA N/

tanding just over 5 feet 4 inches tall and

weighing less than 140 pounds, Meyer Lansky
hardly looked the part of a ruthless Mafia kingpin.
Yet despite his small stature, he loomed large
as the brains of the most notorious, richest and
savage criminal empire of the 20th Century.
For nearly five decades, Lansky manipulated,
strong-armed and worked his magic on a host of
illicit underworld endeavors from Prohibition
bootlegging, to gambling operations, labor racketeering and
hundreds of other ventures around the globe.
Known as the Mobs Accountant for his financial wizardry,
the Jewish gangster was one of the founders and heads of the
notorious National Crime Syndicate, though he took a back
seat to the egotistical Italian godfathers.
But in the end, he outlasted them all!
As one of the organizations major overseers and its
banker, Lansky applied his Midas touch and laundered
millions through foreign accounts.
Some lawmen insist Lanksy enriched himself to the tune
of a whopping $300 million. He hid most of his loot in Swiss
banks away from the Internal Revenue Services prying eyes
so he wouldnt follow in Al Capones footsteps by getting
nailed on a tax rap.

56

And in the days before electronic money transfers, he was

said to keep a gangland associate as his full-time bagman,
ready to carry millions in a briefcase to any place in the globe
at any time.
Were bigger than U.S. Steel, Lansky once boasted. His
famous line was repeated in the movie The Godfather: Part
II, where his character tries to sucker his Italian-American
partner played by Al Pacino.
In real-life, Lansky was just as
slick. His prowess was so impressive,
he was both loathed and admired by
the very people who were trying to
put him behind bars.
He would have been chairman of
the board of General Motors if hed
gone into legitimate business, an
FBI agent once begrudgingly said
of Lansky.
uCuban dictator
Amazingly, Lansky was able to
Fulgencio Batista
evade authorities and was only jailed
was in Meyers
once for two months in 1953 on a
pocket
gambling conviction.
Born in 1902, Lansky worked his way out of poverty in
New York Citys Lower East Side through the ranks of
organized crime. After doing odd jobs, he teamed up with
friends Bugsy Siegel and Lucky Luciano in 1918. Together,
they ran a floating craps game.
Soon, they moved onto more lucrative projects such as rum
running and selling muscle to more established mobsters.
Lanskys successes didnt go unnoticed. By 1928, he had
attracted a gang of his own and developed a squad of elite hit
men for hire, which would later become known as Murder, Inc.
With the Syndicate gaining more influence and power,
Lansky developed gambling operations in the United States
/ GA N G ST E R S

Mastermind
Meyer Lansky
died in bed
and took glory
days with him

and Cuba, where he arranged to pay off Cuban dictator

Fulgencio Batista. It would take Fidel Castros rise to power in
1959 to topple Lanskys operations in the Caribbean country.
He also financed his friend Bugsy Siegels Flamingo hotel
casino development in Las Vegas. And even though Lansky
rarely picked up arms himself after his youth, he was the one
who finally authorized Siegels execution in 1947 in part to
save himself from his Syndicate partners who were livid over
the business disaster.
But Vegas ultimately boomed and other gambling opportunities emerged in the Bahamas and London, where Meyer
made sure he had a slice of the pie.
Lansky funneled the cash he earned from
gambling, drug smuggling, prostitution and loansharking into legitimate enterprises such as hotels
and golf courses. His underworld partners joined
him in these ventures too.
But by 1970, fearing federal indictments for
income-tax evasion and other charges, Lansky
fled to Israel seeking to gain permanent residency.
His request for asylum sparked a 26-month-battle
between the Jewish nation and the U.S.
Ultimately, Israel expelled him and he wound
up back in America to face several indictments.
He was cleared of all charges, partly because of his
chronic ill health.
uShrewd and ruthless Meyer Lansky, a bootlegger, killer and
He spent his final years living modestly in
gambler, owned a string of hotels in Cuba. He used his ill-gotten
Miami Beach, Fla., before dying on Jan. 15, 1983,
gains to take over legit businesses and move into Vegas
of lung cancer at age 81. The Mafias golden era
was buried with him. v
A M E RI CAN /

57

/ GA N G ST E R S

uSurrounded by federal
agents and New York cops,
Domenico Greaseball Cefalu
was cuffed during a 2008 raid
that nailed him and 60 other
thugs for murder, extortion and
racketeering. Amazingly, Cefalu
only did about two years in jail.
After he got out, the bakery
salesman became godfather of
the Gambino Crime Family

A m e ri cA N/

58

/ gAN g st e r s

uLabor racketeer Steven Wonderboy Crea (left) is the top dog in the Lucchese Family, which was the brains behind the heroin
ring made famous by the 1971 movie The French Connection. Andrew Mush Russo (in FBI custody, above) is currently running
the Colombos from behind bars. Chicago boss John No Nose DiFronzo owes his looks to cops. Word is he sliced off his honker while
crawling through a broken window during a 1949 burglary and police gave it back! He then had it surgically re-attached

oday, the Mafias most

powerful godfathers have
retreated to the shadows.
Gone are the days when
the crime kingpins basked in
their notoriety and flaunted
their wealth. But only their
public profile has changed.
Modern Mob bosses
still are driven by greed and the
lust for power. And they are still
absolutely ruthless.
Right now, Sicilian-born Gambino
Family crime boss Dominico Greaseball
Cefalu is among the most influential
mobsters in America, according to law
enforcement sources.
Incredibly, the 66-year-old lives with
his mother and works at a New York
City bakery supply company! Police say
he only became head of John Gottis old
outfit after wise guy Frank Cali turned
the job down. Word is Cali didnt want
to be a target for federal prosecutors.

A MU CH LOW E R PROFILE

Thats how it is these days. The

Mob has finally learned to keep a much
lower profile, says Ed Scarpo, editor
and founder of the respected Cosa
Nostra News website.
The other New York families are
trying to follow suit. But it hasnt
always worked.
The Bonannos named Michael
Mikey Nose Mancuso their boss last
year even though hes doing fifteen
years in prison.

Crippled by government prosecutions, leadership crisis. Part of the problem

the Lucchese group answers to Steven the modern Mob faces is that many of
Wonderboy Crea who did time for the best and the brightest second- or
running labor rackets. Crea has stayed third-generation family members are
under the radar since his probation becoming doctors and lawyers. Theyre
ended in 2009.
not interested in becoming gangsters,
But Andrew Mush Russo, head said George Anastasia, a newsman
of the Colombo Family, got sent away and author who specializes in covering
for 33 months last year. Talk on the organized crime.
streets says his New York City prison
The American Mafia is now a brand,
cell is his new office.
like Prada or Versace. Its a part of pop
Meanwhile, Daniel The Lion Leo, culture, and thats not a good thing if
73, is the cagey boss of the Genovese you are supposed to be a criminal secret
gang. Despite serving five years society. The smarter ones are realizing
for loan sharking and
that its better to stay in the
racketeering, The Lion is
shadows.
so far under the radar few
But dont rule out the
made men will even admit
rise of another Boss of
his role at the top of the
All Bosses, says Scarpo.
nations most powerful
Theres too much money,
crime family.
power and ego at play. And
Chicago boss John
the idea of a Don CorleoneNo Nose DiFronzo is
style Godfather still feeds
cut from the same cloth.
gangsters imaginations
Hes managed to stay one
as much as it also attracts
step ahead of the Feds for
the spotlight from lawmen.
uPhilly godfather
decades and ordered his
I think the Mob is
Uncle Joe
henchmen never to talk
tired of the fat, lazy Italian
Ligambi beat
about him in public!
Americans who turn into
two federal
Joseph Uncle Joe
rats, said a law enforcement
racketeering raps
Ligambi, 74, is the current
source. I wouldnt be surearlier this year
king of Philadelphias underprised if more natural-born
world. Hes known as old
Sicilians or members of the
school, insisting mobsters avoid splashy Italian-based Ndrangheta crime syndidisplays of money, power and blood that cate make a major push in the U.S. and
attract the law.
force a return to the old days of Omerta
Still, experts say the Mafia has a and make their point in blood. v
A m e ri cA N /

59

/ gAN g st e r s

uBeefy biker Andrew Lozano (above), who rode with the Vagos, was collared
by California cops in 2011. A judge dismissed all charges but outlaw motorcycle
clubs have been in police crosshairs since the 1950s

otorcycle gangs are says Cook. They dont care where they
more
organized, settle their rivalries, he said in an exmore sophisticated clusive interview. Innocent members
and more danger- of the public can easily be hurt. Thats
ous than they have not something that matters to them.
ever been since the
The Hells Angels, in particular,
first Hells Angels have a historic allegiance to certain
chapter was
Mob families, often providfounded
ing muscle or roughing up
in California more than 60
people who have crossed the
years ago.
wise guys.
And while they may culSupervisory Special FBI
tivate the outlaw image of
Agent Jeffrey Sallet, of the
lone wolf desperados, the
Providence, R.I., office,
Angels and rival biker gangs
said mobsters consider biker
like the Mongols and the
gangs as valuable assets in
Pagans have strong ties with
one very specific area.
uBiker gang
the most feared organized
C REAT ING F EAR
expert
crime groups in America inThey create fear, said
Steve Cook
cluding the Italian Mob, the
Sallet. And I think thats
Mexican drug cartels and even
something outlaw motorcycle
Russian and Ukrainian gangsters.
groups specialize in, is creating fear.
Thats the disturbing insight of KanOther gangs may carry out their
sas City Metro Police Detective Steve crooked operations in the shadows, tryCook, the countrys top police expert on ing not to attract attention. But outlaw
outlaw motorcycle gangs and an under- bikers roar up full throttle in their leathcover officer who has busted countless er jackets daring anybody to stop them.
bikers on drug and gun charges.
They advertise who they are, says
The underworld alliances range from Agent Sallet. Thats how they generate
drug running to protection shakedowns, their fear.
extortion, kidnapping, prostitution,
They are kind of a unique subarmed robbery and even murder.
group, adds Cook, who said the Hells
But the bikers specialize in intimida- Angels are currently at war with the
tion. And thats what makes them still Pagans, the Mongols, the Vagos, the
so extremely dangerous to the public, Outlaws and the Bandidos.
a m e ri ca n/

60

/ ga n g st e r s

The feud extends across the world

to other countries with Hells Angels
chapters, like Germany, Denmark, Australia, England and Israel. In January
this year, a Hells Angel was arrested
for launching a series of bomb attacks
on rival gang members in Melbourne,
Australia.
The biker gangs revel in their image
as Easy Rider outlaws living free outside the confines of society, nicknaming themselves the one-percenters.
But Cook, past president of the
Midwest Outlaw Motorcycle Gang
Investigators Association and current
vice president of the International Association of Undercover Officers, says
they are fundamentally criminal enterprises.
I have interviewed many of these
guys from different motorcycle gangs
and every single one of them says they

uA horde of Hells Angels rolled into San Jose, Calif., for

the 2011 funeral of club member Steve Tausan. Police
said he was shot down while attending the send-off of
ANOTHER biker, Jethro Pettigrew, who was murdered in
Nevada during a showdown with members of the Vagos

The Angels Are

AT WAr WITh The
MOngOls, PAgAns
AnD BAnDIDOs

Born to Be
wild!
Outlaw bike
gangs run drugs,
hookers &
errands for mob

a m e ri can /

61

/ gan g st e r s

uIn 1953,
Marlon Brando
became an
anti-hero in
The Wild One

are involved in organized crime. Thats

just how it is. All of them are involved
in drugs its easy revenue for them,
he said.
The cop, who rides motorcycles
himself, has successfully prosecuted
members of the Hells Angels, the Sons
of Silence, El Forastero, and Galloping
Goose motorcycle gangs for methamphetamine and firearms charges.
Its all about organized crime
although some of the members will say

it is disorganized crime because its commit murder, conspiracy and other

not always that well run, he said.
offences.
The outlaw motorcycle gangs link
Now, as Cook explains, the leaders
up with the other organized crime keep a lower profile, focusing on makgroups because they are all operat- ing money rather than bolstering their
ing in the same territory. There is tough guy reputations.
always going to be a nexus of these
INT ERC EP T ED A P L ANE
groups.
He also says the Angels criminal net
Generally the motorcycle gangs has spread much wider. On Oct. 13,
now are smarter. They think things 2010, U.S. drug agents intercepted a
through. Individually they are not as plane flying from Los Angeles to Monbad as they were. You
treal and discovered
had some members
$5.5 million in cash
who were completely
repayment of a loan
hardcore and would
provided by the Mafia
do anything without
so bikers could buy cofear of the consecaine from Mexicos
quences. Now they
Sinaloa Cartel.
are more criminally
The Angels $1 bilsophisticated.
lion cocaine, marijuana
H e av i l y - t a t t o o e d
and Ecstasy empire was
Sonny Barger, at 75 one
orchestrated by the Rizof the Hells Angels two
zuto crime family in
oldest members, is probCanada with muscle
ably the best-known
provided by the Hells
uAngel Sonny Barger
old school member.
Angels
Motorcycle
is a founder of the
The founding memClub.
Oakland chapter
ber of the Oakland,
Its all a far cry from
California,
chapter,
the Hollywood glamor
hes served two stretches totaling 13 of Marlon Brandos Black Rebel Moyears in maximum security prison with torcycle Club in the 1953 classic, The
convictions for assault with intent to Wild One.v

u The Hells Angels provided security at the Dec. 6. 1969, Altamont Rock
Festival in California, reportedly for $500 worth of beer. While Mick Jagger
and the Rolling Stones were performing Sympathy for the Devil (above),
a crazed, gun-toting fan tried to storm the stage and was stabbed to death
by an Angel, who was cleared of any charges
a m e ri ca n/

62

/ gan g st e r s

uArmed and dangerous,

these men dress in the style
of gang members blue for
the Crips and red for the
Bloods as they celebrate
a thug life glorified
by millionaire hip-hop
music stars. The criminal
organizations frequently
clash over control of their
local drug trade and
innocent victims are
caught in the crossfire

hip-hop
T hit men!
he crowds had flocked to
Las Vegas to watch Mike
Tyson in his prime take
just seconds to win another knockout bout at the
MGM Grand.
But a very different
kind of fight was brewing
behind the scenes, a grudge
match between two heavyweight street
gangs in a turf war that had spread
an aura of intimidation and violence
across the entire country.
On this night, Sept. 7, 1996, the
most famous rapper in the world,
Tupac Shakur, a member of the notorious Bloods, was about to become the
worlds most famous victim of modern
street gang warfare.
And, like other gangland killings
stretching back to Prohibition, the

Gangbangers turn the

hood into war zonE

hit man, a member of the rival Crips,

would get away with murder! But violent, mysterious death was nothing new
in the drug -peddling gangs 40-year
a m E ri ca n /

63

feud, which was marked by drive-by

shootings and savage beatings. Its a
dog-eat-dog world.
The Bloods dress in red, the Crips

/ Gan G st E r s

uGangsta rapper Biggie Smalls (above) ran with the

Crips and put a bounty on rival musician Tupac Shakur
(right), a notorious Blood. Both men died in a hail of lead
about six months apart. Biggies GMC Suburban (below)
was riddled by bullets on March 9, 1997

a m E ri ca n/

64

/ Gan G st E r s

uThe brutal life detailed in Tupacs hip-hop lyrics caught up with him
in Las Vegas (above) when he was killed in a drive-by shooting after
confronting a rival gangster. Just hours before, Tupac and his Death Row
Records producer Suge Knight (right) had swapped their thug life
outfits for tuxedoes to attend a championship prize fight

wear blue. They

may live doors
apart, but they
are
sworn
enemies. And
while both groups
are passionate about
hip-hop, the urban
street music that
glorifies the gangsta life, the war
even extended to the recording business making stars marked men!
When 25-year-old Tupac headed to
Vegas for the Tyson fight, he was the
most successful hip-hop artist ever,
with a hit Hollywood movie under his
belt. But Shakur, under contract to
Californias Death Row Records, was
caught up in a bitter feud with rapper
Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls,
who was signed by New Yorks Bad
Boy Records and linked to the Crips.
The rift was all the more raw for
Tupac because hed been robbed and

shot five times at a New York recording

studio two years earlier. He blamed
the ambush on Smalls. So when he
and his entourage spotted a wellknown Crips gang member after the
Tyson fight, they beat him to a pulp in
the MGM lobby.
The attack signed Shakurs death
warrant. Minutes later, the rapper and
his ex-con record company boss Suge
Knight were driving down Vegas
Strip in a black BMW. A Crips assassin pulled up next to them in a white
Cadillac. Four bullets hit Tupac in the
chest, and he died six days later.
Knight was wounded in the head,
but survived. When Smalls, whose
real name was Christopher Wallace, got killed six months later in a
March 9, 1997, Los Angeles drive-by,
there was little doubt in anyones mind
that it was retribution from the Bloods
for Tupacs violent end.
According to a Los Angeles Times
a m E ri ca n /

65

investigation, Smalls, then just 24,

was tight with Crips gang leaders and
even offered to pay handsomely for any
gangbanger willing to hit Shakur.
Cops believe Orlando Anderson,
the Crip beaten at the MGM by Tupac
and his posse, and Wardell Poochie
Fouse, a Blood enforcer, are the gunmen in the tit-for-tat murders. Both
later died in gang-related violence
without spilling the beans.

escap ed t h e c r o ssf ir e

In modern street gangs, no one

talks. Ever. While Tupac and Smalls
were both killed in public places
with numerous witnesses, no one
was ever charged in connection with
their deaths, which are still officially
unsolved.
But some rappers have escaped the
crossfire with their lives even if only
by dumb luck.
Snoop Dogg, real name Calvin
Broadus Jr., frequently ran into

/ Gan G st E r s

uBodyguard McKinley Lee and his rapper boss Snoop Dogg await the verdict in their Feb. 20, 1996, murder trial. Both beat
the rap for killing a gangbanger from another crew

trouble with the law as a teenager. He

was said to be a member of the feared
Rollin 20 Crips gang in his native
Long Beach, Calif. And, like Tupac, he
was a Death Row Records star with a
rags-to-riches rise.
When Snoop and his bodyguard
went on trial for murder in February 1996, Tupac turned up in court
to support his homies, who were
charged with murdering rival gangster Philip Woldemariam. The victim
was gunned down Aug. 25, 1993, after
making a bad mistake flashing a
rival gang sign at the rappers posse.
Snoop was acquitted, and the
November 1996 release of Tha
Doggfather, his second album, only
helped burnish his gangsta credentials among his fans, who ate up
uncompromising rap lyrics with
references to urban gangs, guns,
hookers and dope deals.

murder attempt despite being shot

nine times!
But hip-hop pioneer DJ Jam Master
Jay, born Jason Mizell, wasnt as lucky.

s hot N i N e t iMes!

But sometimes rap musics words

can be too close to the bone. A New
York drug lord was suspected of masterminding the hit on 50 Cent, real
name Curtis Jackson, because his
lyrics exposed the gangsters criminal
activities!
Jackson, who began dealing drugs
at the age of 12, survived the 2000

u50 Cent was shot nine times

apparently by a gangster
he had angered

a m E ri ca n/

66

/ Ga n G st E r s

The turntable wizard, who performed

with Run DMC, was executed gangstyle in his Queens, N.Y. recording
studio on Oct. 30, 2002. Word is he,
too, angered the dope peddler who
had 50 Cent shot. But Jays killer was
never identified.
Cops say thats not unusual in
Americas meanest neighborhoods,
where the savage gangs have become
a law to themselves and even police
dont dare patrol. In modern Chicago,
the politicians have new gangland masters to replace the aging Mafia.
In a recent report, it emerged 30
politicians seeking office in the
citywide 2011 elections met with
street gang representatives to seek
their support and a seemingly harmless organization, The Black United
Voters of Chicago, REALLY represented perverted posses like the Vice
Lords, Gangster Disciples, Black
Disciples, Cobras, Black P Stones and
Black Gangsters.
But bloodshed is finally washing away some of the gangsta glamour. Even Snoop Dogg appeared to
be changing his tune when he said:
These youngstas thats in it right now
dont understand the consequences.
They dont realize that their life is on
the line every five minute. v

uWith Joe Run Simmons, Darryl DMC McDaniels,

Jason Jam Master Jay Mizell (above right) became a
hip-hop superstar in the group Run DMC. Mizell was
fatally shot in the head at his Queens, N.Y. recording
studio (right). Although there were five other people
there, the gunmen were never identified

Rap musics
hisToRy
is soaked
in blood
a m E ri ca n /

67

/ Gan G st E r s

Meaner than

the Mob
Russian Mafa is now
MoRe poweRful than the
Americans who taught them

he bloodthirsty Russian
Mafia is using murder,
kidnapping, blackmail and
white-collar crime to extend
evil tentacles to every corner
of the United States!
The vicious gangsters are
so coldblooded, they even
strike fear into the Cosa
Nostra, which can seem soft and cuddly
by comparison!
These days Italian organized crime
in the U.S. is a pimple on a horses butt
compared with Russian organized crime
in America and around the world, says
Robert I. Friedman, author of the book
Red Mafia.
Police agree. Investigators say the
incredible scope of ruthless Russians
crimes pulling off brilliant billiondollar financial scams that destroy
companies or executing rival drug dealers
is what makes the thugs so dangerous.

A G RE AT E R T H REAT

In fact, lawmen call the Russians,

who now control the worlds dope trade,
money laundering, teen prostitution
rackets and arms dealing, the most
dangerous people on Earth. American intelligence officers even claim the
gangsters may be a greater threat to U.S.
security than even global terrorism!
Certainly, the mobsters see America
as ripe for the plucking.

uLurking among the immigrant community in Brooklyns Brighton Beach

neighborhood, Russian gangsters use strong-arm tactics to enforce their will.
Crew leader Semion Raichel made the FBIs Most Wanted List (above) after
being accused of vicious crimes
Four members of the Russian Mob,
Iouri Mikhel, Jurijus Kadamovas, Petro
Krylov and Ainar Altmanis, were convicted for the 2001 torture murders of
five wealthy people in Stockton, Calif.
The gangsters were first drawn to L.A.
by what they saw as easy money in the
movie business.
But when they werent slick enough to
scam Hollywood producers by offering
$50 million in seed money that didnt
exist for a movie project, they moved
on to more basic tricks like kidnapping.
Incredibly, five victims were snuffed

A M e Ri cA n/

68

/ gAn g st e R s

and dumped in the New Melones

Reservior even though the gangsters
collected $1.2 million in ransom!
The Russian mobsters terrible thirst
for blood has sent shock waves through
Americas underworld.
In the Russian neighborhood of
Brighton Beach, N.Y., mob crew leader
Semion Raichel once threw a naked
prostitute into a bathtub and threatened
to electrocute her, by tossing a pluggedin appliance into the water, unless she
handed over part of her income.
Amazingly, she reported the assault to

uA Russian mobster hides behind a gas mask as he displays his

wares. The Red Mafia deals in arms world-wide and boss Viktor
Bout (right) was convicted of conspiring to sell weapons to
terrorists who were specifically targeting Americans

New York City cops and Raichel was

busted. But before his trial, her phone
rang, and a man who said he was calling
from her parents house in Ukraine, told
the woman someone wanted to talk to
her. Her three-year-old child screamed
into the phone: Mommy, Mommy,
Mommy, they will kill me! The charges
against Raichel were dropped when the
hooker refused to testify.
Since then, the Russians have become
even MORE brazen.
Emerging during the latter stages of
the Soviet Union when thousands of
hardcore criminals were released from
Siberian labor camps, the Russian organized crime syndicates eventually left the
Eastern Bloc for new homes in America.
Working under the protection of the

original American Mob, the Russians set

up in Brighton Beach graduating from
prostitution, drugs and protection rackets
to more sophisticated crimes!
Now the Russians run guns, mastermind penny stock manipulations, control
big parts of the diamond trade, smuggle
cigarettes, direct health care and credit
card fraud, launder money, run pornography rings, cyber blackmail and gasoline
tax frauds. The gangsters even lured pro
athletes, movie stars and Wall Street executives to an illegal $100 million poker
ring that funneled profits overseas.
Russian racketeer Vadim Trincher,
53, cut a deal with Feds after his
gambling operation based in a swank
New York condo was taken apart.
Actors Tobey Maguire and Leonardo
A M e Ri cA n /

69

DiCaprio, both poker fanatics, were

linked to his high-stakes games.
So was Russian fugitive Alimzhan
Tokhtakhounov, who is wanted by
the Feds for bribing an Olympic official at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt
Lake City. The Russian fat cat is said
to have raked in $20 million from
the betting ring.
But despite their slick scams
and celebrity veneer, brutal violence always lurks beneath the
surface when you are dealing
with the Russian Mafia.
And it will stop at nothing.
Italian organized crime has
an unwritten rule that they dont
go after cops, says Friedman. They
dont go after prosecutors. They dont
go after American journalists. The
Russians go after everybody. One retired
cop in New York told me, Theyll shoot
you just to see if their gun works.
Adds an undercover FBI agent who
infiltrated the gang: They have no
qualms about murdering people. They
will even sell their souls to the devil if it
means a big payday.
That was never more evident than
events surrounding the arrest of notorious
Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who
was captured in Thailand in 2008.
Despite the 9/11 bloodbath that killed
thousands, the Russian conspired to
sell weapons to a terrorist group targeting America. He was convicted and is
serving a 25-year sentence.
Greed drives everything, the undercover FBI agent says. Its all available
for the right price. The Russian Mafia
has no heart. v

/ gA n g st e R s

Merciless
drug cartel
is building mountain
of headless corpses

hat was expected

to be a leisurely
day on the water
exploded into savage violence and
heartbreak
for
David and Tiffany
Hartleyand
ultimately thrust
the ruthless Los Zetas Mexican drug
gang into the American spotlight.
In September 2010, the young
American married couple traveled
to Falcon Lake, a dammed section
of the Rio Grande river that straddles
the border between Texas and Mexico
and is near the heartland of Los
Zetas operations.
The lake is a popular recreation
destination. However, in recent
years its been plagued by drug cartel
violence so intense U.S. officials have
urged citizens to be careful on Falcons
warm waters.
Tiffany says she and her mate had
heard the warnings, but went out
boating anyway, believing it was safe
because thered been no problems
in the months before their vacation.

We figured everything had kind of

calmed down, she says wistfully. Sadly,
the violence was only heating up.
As David, 30, and Tiffany, then
29, were riding jet skis toward
Guerrero Viejo, a half-submerged
ghost town on the Mexican side of
the water, Los Zetas soldiers began
chasing them. David was shot in
the head.
Davids body was never found.
Tiffany narrowly escaped to the
U.S. side of the lake. Lawmen believe
the Hartleys had stumbled into the
middle of a drug transaction.

HEA D WAS C U T O F F

Cops on both sides of the border

turned up the heat demanding justice
for the innocent American. But shortly
after the slaying, the lead Mexican
investigators head was cut off and
delivered in a suitcase to a local
military post!
Two years later, lawmen finally

a M e ri ca n/

70

/ gan g st e r s

arrested a regional Los Zetas leader for

Hartleys murder and for assassinating
the investigator.
While the Hartley tragedy was the
first exposure many people in the U.S.
had to the merciless Mexican cartel,
Los Zetas were already well-known
by authorities for leaving a terrifying
trail of murder and mayhem through
Mexico and across the border.
Formed by deserters from an
elite Mexican army special
forces unit and rogue

uSavage members of Mexicos Los Zetas killed David Hartley right in front of his wife Tiffany as they jet-skied on Falcon Lake (left),
where lawmen hunted for his body. The outlaws were armed with weapons purchased in Texas (above) and sent across the border to
slaughter innocents. Victims were beheaded (below) and warnings were attached to their bodies with stakes driven into their chests!
law enforcement officials, Los Zetas
originally served as enforcers for the
Gulf Cartel. But the two organizations
had a violent split in 2009.
Since then, Los Zetas have quickly
assumed the title of the most feared
drug gang in Mexico unleashing a
brutal wave of terror in a nation already
rocked by barbaric killings.
The Zetas have assumed the
role of being the No. 1 organization

responsible for the majority of the

homicides, beheadings, kidnappings
and extortions that take place in
Mexico, says Ralph Reyes, the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Agencys chief for
Mexico and Central America.
The Zetas are feared on both sides
of the border for their indiscriminate
use of violence. They
kidnap civilians at random,
murder without thought

a M e ri can /

71

and deliberately mutilate victims

to terrorize their enemies and build
mountains of skulls.

G R U ESO M E T RO P H IES

The dismembered bodies of Zetas

victims are often found hanging from
bridges throughout Mexico. Members
of rival cartels, law enforcement
officials and innocent victims caught
in the wrong place at the wrong time
are routinely beheaded. The gruesome

/ gan g st e r s

uNine bodies were hung from a bridge across the river from Laredo, Texas, (above) as
a grim warning to people who want to fight the cartel. Los Zetas was responsible for
shipping a pyramid of pot and cocaine (left) into Colorado

trophies are mounted on poles or

even used instead of a ball in terrifying
soccer matches that have been caught
on film.
The Zetas are determined to gain
the reputation of being the most
sadistic, cruel and beastly organization
that ever existed, said George W.
Grayson, a professor of government
at the College of William & Mary that
specializes in Mexican drug gangs.
Many of Mexicos existing drug
cartels will kill their enemies, but not
go out of their way to do it. The Zetas
look forward to inflicting fear on
their targets. They wont just cut off
your ear, theyll cut off your head and
think nothing of it.

N O LO N G E R LO O K E D LIKE HUMANS

That was never more apparent than

in December 2009, when the thugs
laid waste to a back street on the border
town of Reynosa, Mexico just across
the Rio Grande from McAllen, Texas.
They didnt just murder their victims
they hacked up the bodies to the point

they no longer looked like humans. Deep the U.S. and take advantage of the
lacerations tore deep into their bloodied proposed national amnesty on illegal
torsos and their heads were beaten in immigrants. Once granted the special
like pinatas. The road was lined red with status, the gangsters will then run drug
blood as butchered limbs lay scattered operations inside America! So far, two
across the tarmac.
illegal immigrants have been linked to
And its not just their savage murder the plot and lawmen in other states
methods that spread fear, but also the are conducting investigations.
sheer volume of their bloodlust.
But the Zetas want immediate
In April 2011, Mexican authorities results, too. In their attempt to wrest
dug up 127 bodies from mass control of drug routes in America and
graves in the northeastern state protect their operations, Los Zetas
of Tamaulipas, just across the border has ordered assassinations and other
from Brownsville, Texas.
acts of violence against U.S. law
The victims, Mexicans and Central enforcement officers.
and South American migrants, were
In 2011, a hit squad ambushed
targeted because they refused to work two U.S. Immigration and Customs
for Los Zetas as gunmen or
Enforcement agents on a
drug mules, officials believe.
major Mexican highway
Women were raped while
250 miles north of Mexico
men were forced to fight for
City. Jaime Zapata was
their lives in gladiator-like
fatally shot three times in
death matches.
the chest while his partner
But as Tiffany Hartley found
Victor Avila Jr., was wounded
out, the gang is no longer just
twice in the leg.
Mexicos problem.
Federal officials say the
Theyre growing more
cartel represents the most
uU.S. customs
powerful and their reach
serious organized crime
agent Jaime
is expanding northward
threat
confronting
the
Zapata was
spanning the United States
U.S. The Federal Bureau
murdered by
from Texas to Baltimore
of Investigation recently
Los Zetas
and more than 276 cities
issued
the
following
in between.
warning: The FBI judges
And they are very cagey about with high confidence that Los
planning their invasion. Los Zetas use Zetas will continue to increase its
Americas prison system to recruit recruitment efforts to maintain
operatives who dont have Hispanic their drug-trafficking and support
roots and can escape the scrutiny Latin operations, which may increase
gang members often attract.
violence along the Southwest
An even more insidious strategy border posing a threat to U.S.
calls for Los Zetas soldiers to enter national security. v

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72

/ gan g st e r s

more dangerous

oaquin El Chapo
(The Short One)
Guzman has been
officially branded
Chicagos Public
Enemy
Number
One by the citys
Crime Commission
a distinction last
held by Al Capone in 1930.
But the horrific murders
and butchery of Guzmans
feared Sinaloa Mexican drug
cartel leaves Capones notorious Prohibition-era Saint
Valentines Day Massacre,
which claimed the lives of
seven mobsters, in the shade.
Guzmans trademark is his
gruesome warning messages
to rivals.
Two years ago, in the
Mexican resort city of Acapulco, the headless bodies of
15 people were found near a
shopping mall with personal
threatening notes to rival traffickers from Guzman himself.
Five heads were also left in
a sack and placed outside an
elementary school as an ultimatum to teachers who were
failing to give up half of their
salaries to Mexicos most
powerful cartel.

ACT O F I N HUMA N I T Y

And in a ghastly act of inhumanity, Sinaloa gang members

kidnapped a 26-year-old man
in 2010 and chopped up
his body. They then sliced
the skin from his face and
stitched it onto a soccer ball.
There was a note with the
body that read Happy New
Years because this will be
your last.
Under The Short Ones
ruthless command are notorious henchmen suspected
of committing more than
1,000
murders
across
Mexico, including the kill-

than capone!
El Chapo
is worlds
most
wanted
fugitive

uVicious Joaquin
Guzman, known as
The Short One, is
armed to the teeth.
A suspected rival
was kidnapped,
killed and skinned
(below). The victims
face was sewn on a
soccer ball

ing of cocaine
rival Rodolfo Carrillo Fuentes of the
Juarez Cartel.
What Al Capone
was to beer and
whiskey, Guzman is
to narcotics, says Art
Bilek, the Chicago
Crime
Commissions executive vice
president.
But the drug lord is clearly
more dangerous than Al Capone was at his height, adds
Bilek, whose city has been
named the nations No. 1
destination for heroin shipments and a major hub for
marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine. Guzman calls
Chicago his gangs home
port and loves the Windy
City because the 70 local
a m E ri Ca n/

street gangs are a ready-made

retail network.
The 56-year-old, 5-foot-6
crime billionaire named
the worlds most wanted
fugitive after Osama bin
Ladens death in 2011 has
been on the run for years
using a vast collection of
hideouts and underground
fortresses to escape authorities. Hes currently ranked
the 67th most powerful

73

/ gan g st E r s

person on the planet by

Forbes magazine.
And he is happy to throw
his cash around to retain
his freedom. Guzman once
boasted he spends $5 million
a month in bribes to law
enforcement officers.
After
fighting
vicious turf wars in
Mexico, the Sinaloa
cartel came out on
top and pushed into
the U.S. However,
his gang has been increasingly challenged
by the equally savage Los Zetas. But
right now, El Chapos
organization peddles
heroin, cocaine and
meth to more than
1,000 U.S. cities.
In fact, more than half of
the drugs entering America
from Mexico are supplied by
the Sinaloa cartel. In Chicago
alone, Guzman is thought to
control 70 to 80 percent of
the drug trade.
Virtually all of our major
investigations at some point
lead back to him, said
Jack Riley, director of the
Drug Enforcement Agencys
Chicago office.v

riginally formed by inmates

who wanted protection and
influence while serving
time, Americas notorious
prison gangs rapidly
evolved into criminal
enterprises that have sunk
tenacious roots into the
nations mean streets.
The gangs, split almost exclusively
along racial lines, are heavily involved
in the drug trade, prostitution, extortion
and murder. They have become a law
enforcement nightmare, both inside
and outside U.S. penitentiaries.
Behind bars, authorities often struggle to find punishments tough enough
to tame crime bosses and their henchmen who are facing life without
parole and have no hope of ever being
free. And inmates who DO get released
follow orders without question because
the gangs are relentless.
Quite often, the only way to be
accepted into a prison gang is to carry
out a murder behind bars. And death is
the ONLY way out, especially in what
lawmen say are the five most dangerous
organizations.

Aryan Brotherhood
The white supremacist group was
founded in 1964 by a group of Irish
bikers at Californias San Quentin
prison in response to what they
saw as the racial segregation of
Americas lock-ups. Also known as
AB or the Brand, the Brotherhood
is thought to have about 20,000
exclusively white male members, some
behind bars and some on the outside.
Despite making up about 1% of the
nations prison population, the gang
is thought to be behind 20% of all
prison murders. Distinctive tattoos include the numbers 666 and shamrocks.
Charles Manson, probably the most
famous member, carved a swastika on
his forehead and was given protection
from other gangs by the AB.
Mexican Mafia
One of the oldest and deadliest
prison gangs in the U.S. was formed
in 1957 when 13 Mexican street hoodlums teamed up in a juvenile prison
in Tracy, Calif. The number 13 is
used as a symbol by the gang, which
also goes under the name La Eme

In the slammer
Its Often just
a matter Of kIll
Or be kIlled

prison
powerh

A M e ri cA n/

74

/ gA n g st e r s

 Spanish for the letter M. It is probably

the most powerful gang in California
and Texas slammers. In San Antonio
alone, members are responsible
for 10% of the citys total murder rate! Members have an alliance
with the Aryan Brotherhood as the
two are sworn enemies of the Black
Guerilla Family.

u Tattoos show gang allegiance.

White supremacists in the Aryan
Brotherhood often use the
Nazi swastika, which psycho
Charles Manson had inked into
his forehead after joining the
pack. Other crews have more
elaborate symbols (left)

Violent crime clans

extend their
eViL grip to
Americas streets

houses
A M e ri cA n /

75

Black guerilla Family

While some black street gangs like
the Bloods and the Crips may fight turf
wars on the outside, they come together behind bars to unite against other
racial groups as members of the Black
Guerilla Family. The club was formed
by former Black Panther George
Jackson in San Quentin in 1966, and
it is the largest and most politically
active of the American prison gangs.
There are estimated to be at least 300
full-time BGF members and as many
as 50,000 associates, all of them
black. They are involved in a range of
criminal operations including drug
peddling, car theft and murder.
neta
Hispanic members claim to be part
of an education-orientated group
focusing on teaching Latin culture.
But while some of the estimated
8,000 associates may be active with
inmate rights, the gangs chief source
of income is through the jailhouse
sale of heroin, crack cocaine and
methamphetamine. Launched in Puerto
Ricos Oso Blanco prison in 1970,
Neta is now active on the east coast of
the U.S.
nazi Low riders
The Nazi Low Riders are willing
to do anything necessary to prove
themselves more violent and more
extreme than the more established
Aryan Brotherhood. The NLR has
about 1,000 members, mainly in the
Los Angeles and Orange County
areas, and has fast earned a fearsome reputation for the severity of
attacks on both fellow inmates and
prison staff. Formed by young white
supremacists in Californias juvenile
halls, it is now one of the states fastest growing gangs and is believed
to have spread into the Southwest and
Americas heartland. v

/ gAn g st e r s

tattooed te
W

ith terrifying tattoos covering their faces

and bodies, MS-13 gangsters make no
attempt to pretend they are a secret society.
These thugs dont wear Italian suits or
$200 Nike sneakers. They belong to Americas most brutal gang and they want you
to know all about it.
Formed in Los Angeles in the 1980s
by immigrant Salvadorians, they pride themselves on their
notoriously ruthless behavior.
They even have their own sign

language to go with their distinctive body ink. The size of the

tattoos marks the seniority of the member, with older or more
prominent leaders boasting the biggest designs.
The body art sends a clear message: Keep away or pay
the consequences.
And the consequences are not very pretty! An Oklahoma
teen was tortured and killed in 2011 when she balked at joining
an MS-13 prostitution ring. Cops say other girls were forced
to witness the murder to enforce obedience.
Ruthless MS-13 soldiers prey on kids. They actively seek
out recruits who are much younger than those asked to join
other outlaw groups.

PASS A h Az ing rit uAl

Gang-busting detectives say MS-13 meaning Mara

Salvatrucha (Salvadorian Crew Gang) sends members
to hang around middle schools to lure kids into its
web with skip parties offering sex, drugs and alcohol
to students who play hooky.
But if the youngsters want to join the gang they must first
pass a hazing ritual, being beaten by other members. Before
they are fully accepted, recruits must then carry out a mission
usually some kind of violent act ordered by a gang boss.
Once youre in, its supposed to be for life. One of
u Former gang-banger Christian Antunez
the few exceptions is if the member has a child and
joined MS-13 after it spread from
wants to settle down with a family. But even then
Los Angeles to Honduras. He found
you just cant walk away.
religion and quit, but still remembers the
When a California-based member
organizations secret sign language

u Intricate

rrors
of the gang tried to quit last year,
lawmen say he was ordered to buy his
freedom for a hefty sum or watch
his children be tortured and killed!
uA pre-teen
MS-13 began among Salvadorian
member of
refugees as a way to band together
Americanto protect themselves from Mexican
born MS-13
gangs in the U.S. Many of the origihides behind
nal members had escaped the brutal
a bandanna at
civil war in their native country.
a 2013 public
Now the gang embraces Hondurans,
gang rally in
Guatemalans and Nicaraguans.
El Salvador
The gang is especially prevalent
in urban areas of Los Angeles, San
Francisco, Washington, D.C., Boston, New York, Maryland and Houston, Texas. The organization
has 30,000 members. About 10,000 live in the U.S.
MS-13 is heavily involved in burglaries, auto thefts, drug
dealing, home-invasion robberies, human trafficking, weapons
smuggling, illegal firearm sales, carjackings, extortion, murder,
rape, prostitution, assault and witness intimidation.
Their trademark is a blue or black bandanna around the
neck, wrist or forehead, and they often wear sports jerseys
with the number 13, 23 or 3. Favorites are basketball star Allen
Iversons number 3 jersey and former NFL quarterback Kurt
Warners number 13.
Leaders impose a strict code of behavior enforced by

a m e ri ca n /

ink is a badge
of honor for
members of
MS-13, who
use tattoos to
reveal their
gang seniority,
loyalty and
crimes. The
larger the skin
art, the more
status a member
has and the
more respect he
commands on
the street and
in prison

Bloodthirsty
ms-13 preys on
kids & thrives
on revenge
bloodthirsty revenge and retribution for any real or imagined
slights. The punishment for
disobedience can be death.
Certainly, the gang has blatant disregard for human life.
Edwin Ramos, a 21-year-old
MS-13 die-hard, shot dead
Anthony Bologna, 47, and his
two sons, Michael, 20, and
Matthew, 16, after they accidentally blocked his car from turning
down a narrow San Francisco
street as they drove home from
a family barbecue.
Ramos was sentenced to life behind bars and cheered
by gang mates for his killing spree when he arrived in a
California prison to begin his sentence. His bloodthirsty
murders made him a man of respect.
Meanwhile, a two-year undercover FBI investigation ended
last year with the arrest of 19 MS-13 members. The sting
revealed close links with a Mexican Mafia prison gang.
These arent low-level drug dealers. We bought weapons,
we bought narcotics and we conducted undercover transactions to target this gang, and to develop our way up to the
important leadership, said Timothy Delaney, special agent
in charge of the Los Angeles FBI criminal division. v

77

/ gan g st e r s

Sopranos gave
gangSterS a
good name
Until HBO BrOUgHt new Jersey wisegUy
Tony Soprano into Americas living rooms in 1999, TV
gangsters were portrayed as flashy tough guys with itchy
trigger fingers, black fedoras and the peculiar habit of talking
out of the sides of their mouths. But Tony made mobsters
human the misunderstood guy next door, stepping out of
his house in a bathrobe to fetch the morning paper.
Viewers instantly identified with Tonys struggle to be a
good husband and a good provider for his family. He was
just like them: fighting to make ends meet against long odds.
OK, so hes a killer. But he had a conscience, right? Why else
would he be seeing a therapist for his emotional issues.
TV critic Len Feldman called the crime drama an American
morality tale, which made the nation very aware of the real
organized crime presence in suburban America. But it also
made racketeers the ultimate anti-hero, said Feldman.
The Sopranos was trendsetting TV, Feldman explained.
Its catchphrase, Fuggetaboutit, became a household word.
The dramas slick ad campaigns featuring the cast dressed
to the nines and lined up like a Mob crew, arms folded with
tough expressions, has been imitated by practically every
reality show from Pawn Stars to Wicked Tuna. The same
goes for Mob-related docudramas like Growing up Gotti,
Mob Wives and the new The Capones.
Unfortunately, these alleged reality TV gangsters and
their relations are depicted living the good life in a rowdy,
clownish, petty and embarrassing light. Tony Soprano would
have shot himself in the head if he had to live with any of
them! Bada-bing, bada-boom!
a m e ri ca n/

78

THE SOPRANOS
Flanked by his soldiers
Paulie Walnuts Gualtieri
(real-life tough guy Tony
Sirico) and Banda Bing strip
club owner Silvio Dante
(Steven Van Zandt), Tony
Soprano (James Gandolfini)
/ ga n g St e r S

took care of business after

assuming control of his New
Jersey-based crime family in
the HBO series 2000 season.
While struggling to keep his
wife Carmela (Edie Falco)
happy, deal with Mob rats
and lawmen, Soprano

THE CAPONES
Reelz Channels reality TV
gangsters are as cheesy as the pizza
they serve in their Lombard, Ill., eatery,
according to critic Len Feldman. Featuring
a wild family run by patriarch Dominic
The Boss Capone (center), who claims
his great-great-grandfather was Al

Capones uncle, this 2014 launch is a

blatant attempt to cash in on Mobster
chic. Meanwhile, ANOTHER Capone clan
(not on TV) claims theyre Scarfaces real
heirs! Sounds like trouble! The Capones
has a few funny moments, but will
probably wind up sleeping with the fishes.
Says critic Feldman: Fuggetaboutit!

MOB WIVES
Good girls gone bad make awful TV! Thats the assessment of critics who find
the VH1 cable series launched in 2011 hard to swallow. Featuring (left to right, below)
Angela Big Ang Raiola, Drita DAvanzo, Renee Graziano, Alicia DiMichele Garofalo
and Natalie Guercio, the Wives arent necessarily married to the Mob! Big Ang has
only dated wiseguys! The others have racketeer relatives or husbands put away
for Mob-related crimes. Renees ex, Hector Pagan Jr., is now a gangland rat. The selfconfessed hit man is the feds star witness against reputed New York hoods Richard
Riccardi and Luigi Grasso, who are facing racketeering charges.

retained an iron grip on his

crew until the show stopped
in 2007 with a controversial
fade to black and no real
ending. Despite the final
episode, The Sopranos was
widely proclaimed the best TV
series of all time!
a m e ri can /

79

/ ga n g St e r S

GROWING UP GOTTI
Starring Dapper Don John Gottis grandsons
(from left: Frank, Carmine and John Agnello) and
daughter Victoria, a critic said this 2004 A&E reality
series had the warmth of an ice pick. Victoria and
her kids, fathered by notorious racketeer Carmine
Agnello, lived large for 41 episodes in a garish Long
Island, N.Y., mansion that eventually went into
foreclosure after their show was snuffed. Victoria
later appeared on Celebrity Apprentice, where she
was eliminated after two weeks. She did a 2013 guest
spot on Real Housewives of New Jersey. Her sons
are still trying for a TV comeback.

THE UNTOUCHABLES
Launched in 1959, this ABC crime drama (right) told the story of
G-man Eliot Ness (Robert Stack) and his team of investigators as they
battled Chicagos notorious criminal underworld during Prohibition.
TV critic Len Feldman gives high ratings to the series for its realistic
and hard-hitting portrayal of gangsters, including Al Capone. But not
everyone loved the show. Superstar Frank Sinatra joined a nationwide
crusade against The Untouchables, claiming it painted ItalianAmericans as criminals. The show was canceled in 1963 apparently after
the producers and sponsors were made offers they couldnt refuse!

BOARDWALK
EMPIRE
Based on the antics of Atlantic
Citys Prohibition-era crime
czar Enoch Nucky Johnson,
this HBO drama starring Steve
Buscemi is a smash hit in the
tradition of The Sopranos,
winning 17 Emmy Awards since
its 2010 launch. Gritty and dark,
the drama takes a non-holdsbarred look at the racketeer
lifestyle in the 1920s and 1930s
that mixed a potent cocktail of
illegal booze and politics. In real
life, Johnson went to prison on
federal income tax charges. He
was released in 1945 and died
in a New Jersey nursing home,
apparently flat broke, in 1968.
a m e ri ca n/

80

/ ga n g St e r S

Tony Soprano
will alwayS be The
godfaTher of TV
crime dramaS

You can get much farther

with a kind word and
a gun than You can with a
kind word alone.
Al CApone