IN

COLD
BLOOD
FROM AL

“SCARFACE”

CAPONE to the

“Dapper Don” John Gotti,

the American Mob’s

history is written in

blood. Lawmen insist

they’ve 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, what’s 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 York’s 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
3-5 rise & fall Dan Dolan
6-13 beer barons
design director
14-15 mustache petes Martin Elfers
16-17 lucky
photo director
luciano Ray Fairall
18-19 murder, inc.
senior editors
20-29 glory days David Gardner, Don Gentile
30-36 mafia hit parade
photo editor
37 apalachin Christine Visoke
38 j. edgar
designer
hoover Nicole Perron
39-48 top 20 mob
movies contributors
Susan Baker, Len Feldman,
49 joe valachi Christine Reed, Jordan Rodack
50-53 john gotti chief copy editor
Debbie Ryan
54-55 downfall
56-57 meyer lansky
58-59 mafia’s
new kings
6 copy editor
Evan Karlan

assistant photo editor

Rochelle Wagener

research director
60-62 outlaw bikers Mireya Throop

30 63-67 hip-hop killers

68-69 russian mafia
researchers
Stephanie Keiper
Barbara Koskie
70-72 los Zetas Laurie Miller
73-75 prison gangs Alison Rayman

76-77 ms-13 production director

78-80 tv gangsters 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

National Enquirer (ISSN 1056-3482) is

60 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

“Y
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” Scarfo’s
advice to his real-life
nephew Phil Leonetti,
who went on to big things in the City of
Brotherly Love’s 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 wasn’t alone in that view.
Prohibition had polished the Mafia’s Robin
Hood image and made the gangsters rich
beyond measure.
Sure they were crooks, but the Syndi-
cate provided goods and services – booze,

a m e ri C a n / 3 / 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 federal prosecutor James Walden

were in big demand, but in short sup-
ply. 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
nation’s very core.
UNDER T H E M O B’ s sP EL L
uChicago’s big boss Sam Even celebs like Frank Sinatra,
Giancana (above) was singer Phyllis Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Lana
McGuire’s boyfriend. Lana Turner Turner, Donna Reed and Phyllis
(below) was gangster Johnny McGuire fell under the Mob’s
Stompanato’s lover spell. Incredibly, Hollywood’s
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 Caan’s 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
don’t really have friends – or
scruples of any kind. Former
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 Nostra’s 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. Fac-
ing 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 Mafia’s once-iron
grasp on the nation’s big-money
criminal enterprises has weakened.
New tougher, even more bloodthirsty
gangs have muscled in on the Cosa
Nostra’s turf.
With the rise of the ruthless Rus-
sian Mafia and Latin drug cartels,
the godfathers’ glory days are gone,
and today’s “made men” rule over a
shrinking kingdom of sin.
As TV hood Tony Soprano told his
crew: “It’s good to be in something
from the ground floor. I came too late
for that. But lately, I’m getting the
feeling that I came in at the end. The
best is over.” v

a m e ri Ca n/ 4 / gan g sT e r s
 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 Hollywood’s
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 / 6 / gAn g st e r s

O
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 wouldn’t be needed.
But, in fact, they really should have
built more!
WHI S PE R A PASSWORD
Racketeers took over during Ameri-
ca’s “Noble Experiment,” which lasted
until 1933, by serving up an ocean
of booze to a still-thirsty nation. Un-
told 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 pass-
word to get in, opened for business in
uEven President Warren G. Harding
kept a stash of outlawed booze
A M e ri cA n / 7 / gAn g st e r s
uBeer – and blood – flowed freely
in Prohibition-era America as rival
gangs fought to slake the nation’s
thirst. These two Los Angeles-based
bootleggers had their last supper
interrupted by a hail of bullets
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
The 12 thirsty men argued they’d
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 roll-
ing, adding bootlegging to their gambling,
theft and prostitution enterprises.
In Detroit, the murderous Purple Gang,
mostly Jewish thugs associated with Ca-
pone, 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 Luciano’s Ú
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’ War’s
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
killed – after refusing to pay a poker debt. His
didn’t ever want to do real work. He body was put in a pine box and hauled off for
was a feared pool shark by his early an autopsy on Nov. 4, 1928
teens, then a protege of New York

Arnold rothstein
City’s biggest gamblers. In 1904, he
opened his own gambling house and
soon emerged as the main money man

rAn out of luck

behind Broadway’s floating crap games.
By the time the Chicago White Sox
were bribed to lose the championship to

A M e ri cA n/ 8 / gAn g st e r s

good friend and partner, Meyer
Lansky.
In Atlantic City, N. J., defiant –
and very corrupt – political boss
Enoch “Nucky” Johnson openly de-
clared 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
underworld’s 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 it’s
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 nation’s racetracks
and along New York’s 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, Rothstein’s
fingers were sure to be in it.
uEnoch “Nucky” Johnson ruled
America’s favorite Roaring
Twenties playground, Atlantic City
A cultured man, he was known by many
names – A. R., The Fixer, The Big Bankroll, conference in the nearby Park Central
and The Brain. He was Mr. Broadway
and had his own booth at the famous
Lindy’s restaurant.
But gamblers do drop
bundles from time to
time, and through October
1928, all Broadway was
abuzz with the story of
the three-day stud poker
game that cost Rothstein
more than $300,000.
He was stalling the payoff,
and his fellow players were
displeased. On the night
of Nov. 4, Rothstein was
holding court at Lindy’s
when he took a phone call at 10:20 p.m.
On the line was one George
McManus, a flamboyant Broadway
character who’d been present at the
marathon stud game.
A M e ri cAn / 9 / gAn g st e r s
uRum runner
George
Remus was an
attorney by
day – and an
outlaw all the
time!
infamous turned to bootlegging.
There was handsome Johnny
Roselli helping Hollywood’s
stars enjoy a drink. Public Enemy
No. 1, New York’s 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 inspira-
tion for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “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 city’s numer-
ous inlets and coves became havens
for smugglers bringing liquor in from
Cuba, Mexico and the Bahamas. Ú
There would be a brief creditors’
Hotel, McManus informed him.
Rothstein appeared untroubled by
the prospect. He declined
someone’s offer of a
handgun and strolled
away whistling.
Forty minutes later, a
hotel worker found the
46-year-old Rothstein
crumpled at the servant’s
uUnderworld entrance, his stomach
mouthpiece pierced by a single bullet.
William J. Fallon Through his final, gasping
branded Rothstein hours, he refused to name
a “rat” his killer.
“You stick to your trade,
I’ll stick to mine...Me mudder did it,”
he told cops at his hospital bedside.
A headline the next day seemed
fitting: “Death – The Only Game He
Couldn’t Fix.” v
dutch schultz: too sAvAge to survive
he was born arthur
flegenheImer but the world
knew him as Dutch Schultz, Public Enemy
No. 1, New York’s 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 u Doctors and lawmen at a Newark, N.J., hospital checked the body
gonorrhea infection, was to make sure Arthur “Dutch Schultz” Flegenheimer was really dead
wrapped over Rock’s
eyes. Soon after Joe’s walked into a Bronx set his sights on Schultz, who had more
family paid $35,000 for his police station and than 100 murder victims to his name.
release, the saloon keeper offered to buy a house The Dutchman made it known he was
went blind. for any cop who’d kill going to kill Dewey.
And Shultz even boasted the Mad Dog. Dutch Luciano wouldn’t stand for such
he once cut a man’s heart eventually found Coll lunacy – it was bad for business. While
out. No one doubted this claim – or on his own and sent him to his maker. using the restroom at a Newark, N.J.,
dared to challenge it to his face. Coll was nearly cut in half by gunfire as restaurant on Oct. 23, 1935, Dutch,
BA RB ARI C BRUtAlItY he cowered in a phone booth. 34, was gunned down. He managed
Schultz grew up in The Bronx, N.Y. By the end of Prohibition in 1933, to collect himself and stagger into
At 14, he found work with gangsters Dutch already had $12 million in bootleg the main room, where the notorious
at a local nightclub. Soon, with a pack cash! He made millions more in the cheapskate fished a bloody quarter out
of vicious pals, he was robbing illegal numbers racket, a three-digit lottery of his pocket and asked the owner for
gambling dens. based on the total money bet at a local change – so he could make a five-cent
In 1919, the young thug served time for racetrack. Dutch, phone call!
burglary, the only instance he ever went with the help of a Dutch then
to jail. When he got out, Arthur renamed Mob accountant, collapsed, face
himself Dutch Schultz, after a deceased figured out a way down, on a table.
gangster known for violent tactics. to fix the number He lay there until
And barbaric brutality became results by making police arrived,
Dutch’s trademark as he expanded his last-minute bets. and he was taken
underworld contacts in the early He also to the hospital,
1920s by driving trucks for mobster branched out where he died
Arnold Rothstein. By 1928, he owned into extortion, two days later. No
The Bronx bootlegging business. And using his thugs to uVincent “Mad Dog” Coll (left) one, especially his
when Dutch started taking over rivals’ collect tribute was cut down by Schultz, who former underworld
operations in Manhattan, the streets from frightened was hounded by D.A. Thomas E. pals, shed a tear
ran red with blood. Manhattan Dewey (right) at his passing. But
In July 1931, a former Schultz associate, restaurant owners. his legacy lingers
Vincent “Mad Dog” Coll, warred with his But his violent ways caused Schultz to today. People are still hunting for a
onetime boss, slaughtering 20 members lose favor with other crime kings, in $9 million fortune he’s said to have
of Schultz’s crew. In one round of particular Lucky Luciano. stashed in New York’s Catskills
gunplay, a five-year-old boy was killed. When Special Prosecutor Thomas Mountains so he couldn’t be prosecuted
The incident left Dutch so angry that he 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
ChiCagO’s
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 gang-
sters died on the streets of Chicago
alone, the most notable violence occur-
ring on St. Valentine’s Day in 1929.
Seven men associated with Bugs Mo-
ran’s gang were lined up against a garage
wall and machine-gunned to death by
hit men acting on Capone’s 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. Valentine’s
Day Massacre to find a way to stop
killing one another and continue
making a lot of money. Ú
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 city’s 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 con-
stant 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 con-
ducted 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 com-
peting 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 reorgan-
ize 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 bookmak-
ing, 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 America’s two most powerful
Mafia bosses, Salvatore Maranzano and
Joe Masseria, who BOTH weren’t in-
vited to the gathering, would have to go.
They were considered “Mustache
Petes,” old-timers, unwilling to deal
with gangsters who weren’t Italian, and
unwilling to change. Their days were
coming to a violent, savage end. v
al Capone, amerICa’s
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

A M e ri cA n/ 12 / gAn g st e r s
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 killer’s 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 he’d 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, Capone’s 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 York’s 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 hand-
shaking 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 mobsters Dean O’Banion and Bugs
pinky ring and was chauffeured around Moran, a Capone-ordered hit killed
in a bullet-proof Cadillac that later an assistant state attorney. Capone
became President Franklin Delano was charged, but fixed six grand juries
Roosevelt’s limo. to beat a murder rap.
POWERfU l BEYO nD BEl IEf When seven members of Moran’s
In the end, however, Capone would gang were slain in 1929’s infamous
be brought to justice – not for murder, St. Valentine’s Day Massacre the Irish
extortion or bootlegging. He wound mobster, who was the intended target,
up in Alcatraz, then the said: “Only Capone kills
nation’s 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.
was really brought uIRS agent Frank Wilson He’s currently featured
down by Frank Wilson, (left) and the Treasury in the cable TV hit
the Internal Revenue Department’s Eliot Ness “Boardwalk Empire.” His
agent who went over (right) nailed Capone mansion on Palm Island,
the mobster’s 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 grand-
Chicago 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 Chicago’s 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
TREACHERY AND TERROR
created modern Mafa
I
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 America’s most notorious god-
fathers, 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 Joe’s job.
MU STACHE PETES
To the underworld’s Roaring Twenties
hipsters, Masseria and Maranzano were
“Mustache Petes,” old-time New York
bosses who didn’t like change and resisted
doing business with anyone who wasn’t
Italian. Younger guys saw profit in doing
business with the Irish and Jewish bad
boys – but Joe and Sal wouldn’t hear of it.
uCharles
“Lucky”
Luciano
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
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 every-
power. 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 borough’s 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 business- “Little Augie” Orgen and
men and families offers they lower Manhattan East Side
couldn’t refuse. uThe murder Mob kingpin Abe Wagner,
Reina had pledged loyalty of Gunsel who was so bold he once had
to Masseria, but for years Gaetano Reina one of his goons slap around
triggered a war
had been secretly working as Masseria’s 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 Manhattan’s 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 Joe’s place and met a similar fate
(right) five months later
owned by Owney Madden, who also ran
Harlem’s 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 gar-
roted 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 Maran-
zano. He’d 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 didn’t know it, but he’d be
having lead for dessert!
The twosome started playing cards.
Lucky excused himself to go to the bath-
room 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 he’d forgiven his
enemies and crowned himself “boss of
all bosses.”
A MAFIA “ C O M M ISSIO N”
But the title didn’t last long. Luciano,
now a Maranzano underling, got wind
the new king was planning to take him
out – along with other mobsters includ-
ing 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 Maranzano’s offices on Sept.
10, 1931.
The killers posed as government tax
accountants demanding to see his books.
A M E Ri CAN / 15 / gA N g sT E R s
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 America’s other Mafia families,
Jewish and Irish gangs across the country
and create a National Crime Syndicate.
And that’s 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 York’s 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 super-
vise and sanction activities of the other
families around the U.S.
With their ascension to power, organ-
ized crime in America would become a
moneymaking machine that was bigger
than U.S. Steel! v
 C
harles “Lucky” Luciano ran out of luck when he was
u Under the nailed by ambitious gang-buster Thomas Dewey and sent
mask of a suave, to prison in 1936 – for being a common pimp!
sophisticated And Dewey added insult to the injury, humiliating
businessman, America’s top mobster by revealing at his New York trial
Lucky Luciano that Luciano had caught gonorrhea
was really a SEVEN times bedding prostitutes.
coldblooded But despite his medical issues,
killer and flesh Luciano ran the Big Apple’s biggest
peddler. He brothels with the same business acumen he
tried to con the used to rule the national crime commission.
public by posing During a meeting with one of his madams,
for this 1955 photo “Cokey” Flo Brown, the crime czar declared:
cuddling his pet “I’m gonna organize the cathouses like the
mini-pin A&P,” which at the time was one of the first
nationwide grocery store chains. However,
Luciano was still mortified to be publicly branded uAmbitious
a flesh peddler. It hurt his carefully cultivated, Thomas Dewey
suave chairman-of-the-board image. put Lucky away
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 nation’s under-
world who could challenge his power.
He’d 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 from prison! Then in early 1946, he got a gift from Uncle
was based on moneymaking skills, not ethnic origin. His Sam. He was paroled for contacting his Mafia contacts in
childhood buddy was future Mob superstar Meyer Lansky Sicily who helped the U.S. invade Italy during World War II,
and Jewish underworld kingpin Arnold Rothstein gave him and for having his mob crews protect the New York docks
his first big break. from Nazi sabotage.
Rothstein turned uneducated Luciano into a New York Italian-born Lucky was quickly deported after leaving
dandy with a taste for the finer things. Lucky kept a prison. But just before Christmas 1946, he snuck into Cuba,
permanent room at ManhattanÕs posh Waldorf-Astoria, wore shook hands with pal Lansky, and attended the Havana
silk suits and became a well-known figure in Broadway Conference, a historic pow-wow of crime lords, fictionalized
social circles. in the movie, ÒThe Godfather.Ó
a me ri ca’s most powerful boss Delegates included ChicagoÕs Sam Giancana, Vito Geno-
ÒArnold 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,Ó said from Tampa, Stefano ÒThe UndertakerÓ Magaddino from
Luciano, who also credited his Mob mentor for telling him Buffalo and Carlos Marcello from New Orleans. Jewish mob-
Òabout holdinÕ a door open for a girl.Ó 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 gangsÕ 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
YorkÕs five Mafia crime of Syndicate funds.
families. He was AmericaÕs But weeks after the meet-
most powerful boss, res- ing 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 didnÕt mean had named Vito Genovese
ditty in court. When the uAt age 64, Luciano died boss of his New York fam-
jury came back, they con- from a heart attack at the ily and was eyed by Italian
victed a low-life pimp, not airport in Naples, Italy cops the rest of his life.
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 Na-
mobster with a minimum ples, where he was to meet a
30-year sentence. filmmaker looking to make
However, Luciano con- a movie about the ÒFather
tinued to run his empire of Organized Crime.Ó v

a m e ri can / 17 / ga n g st e r s
M
urder was just busi-
ness, 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 king-
pin 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 ex-
traction – from New York’s 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.
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 tight-
lipped, 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 Luciano’s
hand-picked masters – Jewish mobster
Louis “Lepke” Buchalter and Albert
“The Lord High Executioner” Anasta-
sia, 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
a m e ri ca n/
uLawmen figured they’d
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
Island’s Half Moon Hotel
and landed (circle) on a
roof below. That was the end
of the case
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
18 / ga n g st e r s
of resembling the hit team’s target.
Irving’s murder was big news. Out-
raged citizens demanded justice. And
recently elected crimebuster, New York
prosecutor Bill O’Dwyer, started round-
ing 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 I’m on my way
out, unless I get into the act.” When
O’Dwyer got “Kid Twist” Reles to turn
canary, top mobsters cringed. He helped
uD.A.
William
O’Dwyer
made
hoods
crack
under
pressure
 You could run,
but You couldn’t
hide froM the
Mafia’s 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 couldn’t 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 Island’s
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
bedsheets he’d 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 barber’s chair at a New York hotel. v

a m e ri ca n / 19 / 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

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 / gAn g st e r s
T
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
they’d always craved.
Charismatic gangsters rubbed
shoulders with movie stars in L.A. as
Hollywood turned a blind eye to narcot-
ics, 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
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 Syndicate’s overflowing coffers.
DASH ING BAD BOYS
By spreading enough dough around,
it seemed like the Mob could get away
with anything. Certainly, Hollywood’s
biggest celebrities were starstruck by
the dashing bad boys – psycho Mickey
Cohen, smooth-talking strong-arm
Johnny “Handsome” Roselli, who
represented the Chicago Outfit’s
interests, and charming killer Benjamin
“Bugsy” Siegel.
Siegel had made the Mob’s methods
violently clear after he was sent West
by longtime pal Meyer Lansky. Bugsy’s
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
country’s underground bookie joints. Ú
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
to be a Mafia drug mule – and was
Bugsy Siegel’s 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 world’s
gambling capital. He used his show-
biz connections to help add stardust to
his Las Vegas venture. Ú
A M e ri cA n/
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 cow-
pokes. 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 ”
That made his legit construction
contractor Del Webb nervous. When
sinister types started showing up
as the project neared completion,
Bugsy reassured Webb, saying: “Don’t
worry, we only kill each other.” Six months later, as Siegel sat reading
That was all too true. By the time the “Los Angeles Times” in his actress
the Flamingo opened in December galpal Virginia Hill’s Beverly Hills
1946, Bugsy owed his Mafia masters home, a sniper shot him in the head.
$6 million – and they decided he’d Meyer took over the Flamingo, and
never make good. as the 1950s arrived, “The Strip” began
At a historic summit in Havana, to grow, thanks to Mafia money from
Cuba, over the Christmas holidays, New York, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas
the National Commission, including City, Mo., and Chicago. To keep peace,
Lansky, put a contract out on his life. each member of the Syndicate gave
22 / gA n g st e r s
other members interlocking shares in their
resorts. Everyone got a slice of the pie. And uDapper Benjamin
Hollywood golden boy Johnny Roselli was “Bugsy” Siegel was the
brought in to make sure things ran smoothly. Mafia’s watchdog in
With financing from the Roselli- Hollywood. Here, he
controlled Teamsters Union Central relaxes at an L.A. police
States Pension Fund, up went the station on Aug. 8, 1940,
Tropicana, the Desert Inn, El Cortez, the while being questioned
Sands, the Castaways, the Sundance Hotel about the murder of his
and Casino, the New Frontier, Westin Las boyhood friend Harry
Vegas, the Fremont, the Stardust, Binions, “Big Greenie” Greenberg,
the Dunes, the Aladdin, the Silver Slipper, who ran a movie union
Circus Circus and Harrah’s. racket. Greenberg was
killed in his own driveway
S U N N Y LE GAL GETAWAYS
after threatening to talk
Legitimate gambling was proving to be
about Murder, Inc.
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
Mob’s 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 Mob’s eyes
uBack in 1955, skin was in at the naughty Tropicana
and ears in the Nevada desert, was
in Havana, Cuba. Tampa mob boss Santo Trafficante
owned the joint, which created the modern “showgirl.”
found cut into pieces and stuffed in a
Cuban rebels bombed the place in 1956, which was the 55-gallon drum fished out of
beginning of the end for Mafia dominance on the island the Atlantic Ocean off Miami Beach
in 1976. v

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 JFK’s 1961 murder,
convinced John F. Kennedy died in took the Mob links very seriously.
Dallas as the result of orders issued The committee’s reports noted
by two powerful Mafia bosses, Carlos accused Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey
Marcello of New Orleans and Tampa’s Oswald’s 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 CIA- In 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
lucrative investments uAccused JFK assassin Lee the New Orleans
in the Cuban casinos Harvey Oswald (left) was mobster and
when the cigar- killed by Dallas Mob associate
Tampa boss
chomping Communist Jack Ruby (right)
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 couldn’t rule out that JFK was killed
Illinois presidential vote, felt betrayed by the Mob. Marcello, in particular,
when the Commander-in-Chief’s 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. I’m glad I did. he’s smart and needs help, he’d
I’m sorry I couldn’t 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” Giancana’s
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 they’d make JFK pay

Ultimately, superstars including interracial romance didn’t make

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 Roselli’s babe
Harry James, Milton Berle, the
Marx Brothers, Peggy Lee, Abbott
& Costello, Eartha Kitt, Judy Gar-
land, Red Skelton, Dean Martin
and Frank Sinatra would all head-
line Mob-run casinos.
T H E MO B OWNED YO U
Sometimes it was for cash. Some-
times 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
Momo happy. He feared it would
hurt his “investment” by ruining
both their careers if word leaked
out. Davis was summoned to a sit-
down with one of Momo’s 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
wasn’t 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
“It’s a Wonderful Life.” Ú

A M e ri cAn / 25 / gA n g st e r s

uMafia muscle landed Frank
Sinatra his Oscar-winning role as a
Beat the odds
soldier in “From Here to Eternity”
Roselli made it VERY clear studio
boss Harry Cohn wouldn’t have a won-
derful 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 Cohn’s office and
explained that “certain people”
wanted Sinatra in the flick, so he’d
better change his mind.
“LAB O R U N REST”
Unlike the movie tycoon in “The
Godfather,” Cohn didn’t need to find
a horse’s 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 longshoreman’s union, Ú
‘casino’ Boss
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
country’s 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
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 Stardust’s
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

A M e ri cA n/ 26 / gA n g st e r s
 uHauled before the U.S. Senate’s
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

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
Rosenthal’s car with him in it.
Rosenthal survived, retired
to Florida, and died peacefully
in 2008.
uMilwaukee Mob The 1995 Martin Scorsese
boss Frank “Mad film “Casino” starring Robert
Bomber” Balistrieri De Niro is based on Lefty’s life.
(above) planted In an interview he gave
explosives in Lefty’s after quitting, Rosenthal had
Cadillac. The gambler’s advice for gamblers: “No
brush with death human being – zero – can
was dramatically beat a casino. Anyone who
re-created in the 1995 says he can is a liar.” But Lefty
movie “Casino” (left)
managed to beat the Mob. v

A M e ri cA n / 27 / gAn g st e r s
 The Mafia’s
dirTy Money
wenT To
Las Vegas
Laundries
& caMe back
cLean

uTeamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa (left)

helped the Mafia loot his union’s
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 America’s docks.
With their partner, Teamsters Union
president Jimmy Hoffa, they controlled
the nation’s 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, restau-
rants, hotels, garment centers and the
construction industry.
The Mob collected America’s trash,
paved the nation’s roads and held all
the political strings. There was no
A M e ri cA n / 29 / gA n g st e r s
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
 THE MOB EATS ITS OWN – and
murder is the easy answer to any
underworld dispute!
As these chilling hits prove, the
Mafia certainly hasn’t 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 driver’s seat, a barber’s 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 don’t 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 Capone’s 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

a m e ri ca n/ 30 / ga n g st e r s
 1929 st. Valentine’s Day massacre
 The bloody booze-fueled gang violence in Chicago hit
new heights with a savage slaughter on Valentine’s Day.
That’s 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

 When Chicago mobster “Machine Gun” Jack McGurn was
implicated in the notorious St. Valentine’s 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: “You’ve lost your
jewels and cars and handsome houses, but
1935 Dutch things could still be worse you know... At
schultz least you haven’t lost your trousers!”

 Furious at being indicted for

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 men’s 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

a m e ri can / 31 / gan g st e r s
 1947 Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ siegel
 Handsome and charismatic, Bugsy Siegel was one of the first
“celebrity” gangsters. But even Bugsy’s charm couldn’t 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 Hill’s 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!

a m e ri ca n/ 32 / ga n g st e r s
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, he’s losing
his mind.’ ”

a m e ri ca n / 33 / 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, it’s estimated that
Albert Anastasia was involved in
as many as 200 hits. “The Lord
High Executioner’s” reign came
to an end when two masked
gunman shot him dead as he sat in
a barber’s chair at New York’s 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

a m e ri ca n/ 34 / 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

a m e ri ca n / 35 / 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
York’s 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 Mob’s 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 Lino’s pal John Gotti

a m e ri ca n/ 36 / gan g st e r s
u Joe “The Barber”
Barbara’s 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

U
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
didn’t exist! lawmen watched Barbara’s 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” Barbara’s 53- and his boss Gambino. Don Vito Genovese made a
acre farm in sleepy Apalachin, N.Y. grand entrance as did Chicago’s 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
was all too real. uState trooper boss – and the mobsters scattered, racing to their
BI G DOINGS Edgar Croswell cars, running across fields in $2,000 silk suits and
The bust happened by accident. Barbara, the caught the Mob dropping hundred dollar bills.
ranking godfather of the Pennsylvania Mafia flat-footed 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

a M e ri ca n/ 37 / ga n g st e r s
 A
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 Syndi-
cate 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.
uThe FBI’s 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!
a m e ri ca n/
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 crime-
busting force in
the nation, he
allowed the syndi-
cate to creep into
virtually every
uG-men went after easy targets like U.S. institution!
John Dillinger (top) and (left to right After World War
above) Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd, II, as the Cold War
Why? George “Baby Face” Nelson and George between Russia
The legendary “Machine Gun Kelly” Barnes instead of and the U.S. heated
leader of the FBI trying to root out the secretive Syndicate up, right winger
certainly wasn’t 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 FBI’s 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
A B IG G ER T H REAT to have secret files of their own – document-
So experts say the nation’s 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 couldn’t lie any
agency didn’t have the manpower or the longer. He had egg on his face as crit-
money to win! ics charged he ignored what every kid
When the FBI was in its infancy who’d 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 Hoover’s big blunder. v
38 / gan g st e r s
 married
to the
mob
Hollywood’s
top 20
uWith a raspy
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

gangster movies Coppola’s 1972

monster hit

Hollywood is ga-ga over gangsters! business too, by taking over a union that
Bringing the underworld’s 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 York’s
sensation in the early 1920s. But the tough Hell’s Kitchen. Raft’s portrayal
Mob movie really came into of a nickel-flipping thug
its own during the Great in 1932’s “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 Hollywood’s 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 TinselTown’s uMobster Bugsy sequels chronicled the bloody
crime kings playing ruthless Siegel (left) with old history of the Corleones, a
racketeers in black-and- pal, 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 (1983’s
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”).

a m e ri ca n / 39 / gan g st e r s
 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 Chicago’s organized 1932
crime syndicate. His
immortal final words
scarface
Legendary Chicago gangster Al Capone was nicknamed
are: “Mother of mercy, Scarface, and this blood-soaked chronicle of ’20s gang
is this the end of Rico?” warfare was loosely based on his life. Capone liked the
Legend has it that the film so much he owned a copy, during an era when having
anti-Mob Racketeer a movie of your own was literally unheard of. Paul Muni
Influenced and Corrupt stars as Italian immigrant Antonio “Tony” Camonte who,
Organizations Act – or like Capone, battles the city’s Irish gang. In an obvious
RICO – got its acronym reference to the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929,
from Robinson’s character. several men are gunned down in a garage with two
gunmen dressed in police uniforms.

1931
the public enemy
It’s 1920s Chicago – and small-time bootlegger Tom Powers, played by
James Cagney, claws his way up through the city’s brutal underworld.
The film made Cagney a star, and boasts one of gangster cinema’s 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 O’Banion, and two New York City hoods he’d known as a kid.

a m e ri ca n/ 40 / ga n g st e r s
 1959
al capone
The movie’s tagline
read: “It was the age of
speakeasies and jazz...
1947
when everybody sinned,
ginned and broke the Kiss of Death
law...while a vicious crime Actor Richard Widmark’s
lord almost took over the neurotic, high-pitched laugh
nation!” And actor Rod as a psycho hit man inspired
Steiger delivered a chilling one of the 20th century’s
portrayal of Capone in this most brutal real-life Mob
amazingly accurate biopic. enforcers – “Crazy Joe” Gallo.
It chronicled Capone’s rise In “Kiss of Death,” Widmark’s
through murder, extortion character Tommy Udo pushes
and political fraud. But a wheelchair-bound old lady
while the iconic gangster down a flight of stairs to her
died of advanced syphilis, death without ever stopping
Hollywood’s production his maniacal chuckling. New
code forced the film’s York mobster Gallo began
narrator to attribute his mimicking Udo and acting
death to an “incurable crazy, giving rise to his “Crazy
disease.” Joe” persona. Gallo was
gunned down in Little Italy
in 1972.

a m e ri can / 41 / gan g st e r s
 1960
murder, inc.
Mobsters stop at nothing to keep
their “business” going during the
Great Depression in this gritty
look at New York’s 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.

a m e ri ca n/ 42 / ga n g st e r s
 1972
the
godfather
“I’m gonna make
him an offer he can’t
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 Hollywood’s top
gangster movie – if
not the best movie of
all time. Actor Gianni
Russo later hinted he
landed the role of The
Godfather’s 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 it’s 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, didn’t like how he was
portrayed by legendary acting teacher
Lee Strasberg. After the film’s release,
the miffed mobster reportedly phoned
Strasberg from his Miami home and said:
“Why couldn’t you have made me more
sympathetic? After all, I am a grandfather.”

a m e ri ca n / 43 / ga n g st e r s
 1983
scarface
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 Miami’s
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 film’s most famous line:
“Say hello to my little friend.”

1983
prizzi’s Honor
Even with a post-modern twist, Brooklyn’s 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 film’s black comedy, and the late movie
critic Pauline Kael wrote: “It’s like ‘The Godfather’
acted out by ‘The Munsters.’ ”

a m e ri ca n/ 44 / ga n g st e r s
 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 Capone’s
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 Sinatra’s
daughter, Nancy. After the film’s 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.

a m e ri can / 45 / ga n g st e r s
 1990
miller’s
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 don’t 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.

a m e ri ca n/ 46 / ga n g st e r s
 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 film’s release,
three of Olmos’ consultants
were killed execution-style,
and it was reported that
Olmos was also on the
gang’s 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 family’s safety.

1995
casino Robert De
Niro, Joe Pesci and Sharon
Stone star in this tale of
greed, corruption and
murder in 1970s Las Vegas.
Pesci’s 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 Caan’s pals. The
incriminating conversation
was reportedly caught on
FBI tape.

a m e ri ca n / 47 / gan g st e r s
 2002
road to perdition Tom Hanks plays
Irish Mob enforcer Michael Sullivan who, along with
1997 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
Donnie Brasco The true story
John Rooney. Daniel Craig and Jude Law also play
of FBI legend Joe Pistone, who infiltrated the
vicious outlaws. The rain-swept cinematography
New York-based Bonanno crime family as
– for which Conrad Hill was posthumously awarded
“Donnie Brasco” in the 1970s, stars Al Pacino
an Oscar – and the decision to film on location in
and Johnny Depp. Although the real Pistone
the Windy City gave the film an air of “Capone-era
still lives under the radar and refuses to travel
Chicago” authenticity that critics loved.
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
Boston’s deadly Irish mob
and a police mole (Matt
Damon) each set out to
uncover the other’s
identity before they’re
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.

a m e ri ca n/ 48 / gan g st e r s
J
oseph Valachi came along at uFed-up with
the right time for lawmen and the Mob life and
the wrong time for the Mob. trying to avoid
“Joe Cargo” killed people for a government
mobster Vito Genovese, and when death sentence,
made-man
he turned informer in 1963, he
Joe Valachi
became the first-made Mafia
told Congress
member to squeal. Testifying at the
everything he
congressional “McClellan Hearings,” knew about
Valachi gave Americans their first look the Mafia
inside La Cosa Nostra.
Then-Attorney General Robert Ken-
nedy, gangland’s greatest enemy in

The mob
Washington, hailed Valachi’s televised
testimony as “the
biggest single intel-
ligence breakthrough
yet in combating or-
ganized crime and
racketeering in the

United States.”
When Valachi
uVito broke “omerta,” the
Genovese Mafia’s sacred code
was Valachi’s of silence, in ex-
boss change for a lesser
sentence on a murder
rap, America learned how Mafia mem-
bers were “made” in a secret ritual after
killing for their boss.
As Americans were glued to their
TVs, he revealed how there was a “Com-
mission” 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 Mafia’s structure is now com-
mon knowledge to most Americans,
but Valachi’s 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 expres-
sion 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., identi-
fying bosses and senior men in each
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 congres-
Over the past 30 years, Va- sional Kefauver Committee
lachi’s 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 com- political corruption, but never
pletely disappeared. Denver, established proof that the
Kansas City, Mo., Dallas, Cleve- uFrank Mafia existed.
land, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Costello Joe’s shocking disclosures
N.Y., crews are nonexistent too. wouldn’t sing came as the Mob’s reign in
New Orleans, Tampa. Buf- Las Vegas faded, when reclu-
falo 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 syndicate’s power
knees. was eroding. Genovese put a $100,000
The once-powerful Chicago Syn- price on the turncoat’s 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

K
nown as the “Teflon
Don” for his ability to uSurrounded by his crew, brazen
escape prosecution, and crime lord John Gotti (circled
as the “Dapper Don,” below) hangs around outside
for his habit of wearing his Bergin Hunt and Fish Club
$2,000 silk suits, New headquarters. An artist sketched
the moment (right) in 1992 when
York’s most ruthless
he received a life sentence from
racketeer John Gotti died
Judge I. Leo Glasser
alone from cancer in one

of the federal government’s most secure

prison facilities.
His passing in 2002 marked the
Mafia’s high water mark. As the all-
powerful head of New York’s 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

Gotti was
groomed and
decked out in
expensive Italian

everythinG
designs, the
“Dapper Don”

americans
looked more
like a corporate
executive than

loved, feared
a bloodthirsty
Mafia boss. The
underworld czar
continued to run
his rackets from and hated
about
behind bars in
a federal pen

the mob

a M e ri ca n / 51 / Gan G st e r s
DEAL WITH
Sammy The Bull did
THE DEVIL!
19 hits – but got slap
on the wrist after
ratting out his boss uColdhearted killer Sammy
Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano,
nicknamed for his thick neck and stocky torso, made his Gravano took the witness stand and
put away John Gotti – in what many
Mafia reputation by killing 19 people AND for being the
say was the death blow against the
highest-ranking “made man” ever to turn rat.
modern Mafia in New York
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 took the stand and testified he had killed time and again
Protection Program. on his boss’ orders – even rubbing out his own brother-in-
In 1992, the feds sent Gotti away for life after Gravano law! Gravano and Gotti planned the hit on former Gambino

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 Amer-
icans couldn’t get enough of the smug,
confident crime lord. Gotti played his
role with swagger and defiance.
His headquarters weren’t 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
didn’t 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 barber’s 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
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 1985, he got some help from an unlike-
national crime Commission. ly source. In an unprecedented move,
Don Carlo, a well-read mobster the Feds arrested and put on trial the
who liked to quote Machiavelli’s “The heads of the five New York families,
Prince,” appreciated Gotti’s “piece of the so-called “Commission” which
work” and even promoted him to head ruled the Big Apple and, by extension,
one of his two dozen crews of soldiers. the rest of America’s criminal syndi-
But Gambino distrusted the unedu- cates.
cated, foul-mouthed thug. Don Carlo’s In court together were Gambino
successor, cousin Paul Castellano, Family boss Castellano; Colombo
liked Gotti even less. John was dealing Family head Carmine “Junior” Persico,
in heroin and that broke a Castellano Anthony “Tony Ducks” Corallo of
rule. Wiseguys whispered Gotti wasn’t the Lucchese Family, Philip “Rusty”
long for the world. Rastelli from the Bonanno gang and
The ambitious capo figured he Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno from the
needed to land the first punch. And in Genovese Mob. Salerno was nailed

a M e ri ca n/ 52 / Ga n G st e r s
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
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
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 bath-
robe-wearing mobster who feigned
mental illness.
Prosecutors had damning wiretap
evidence obtained under the mob-
busting 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”
Big Paulie was gunned down on
Dec. 16, 1985 outside a Manhat-
tan restaurant as Christmas shoppers
scattered. Gotti watched from a near-
by 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, gar-
ment manufacturers, garbage-carting
companies and food suppliers.
But a year after taking over the Gam-
bino gang, Gotti was in court accused
of assault. Not surprisingly, the victim
testified he couldn’t identify Gotti.
a M e ri ca n / 53 / Gan G st e r s
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 you’re used
to easy money it’s 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 couldn’t have
happened to a
nicer guy. v
Case dismissed. “I Forgotti,” said a
headline the next day. Smart thing
too. John Favara, a neighbor who’d ac-
cidentally run over and killed Gotti’s
12-year-old son Frank in 1980, was
snatched off the street, stuffed into a
van and never heard from again.
Godfather Gotti’s next trial was
marked by a bomb scare and witness
intimidation. Cocksure John knew he’d
get off as he sat smirking in court. He’d
bribed a juror with $60,000. The ver-
dict: not guilty!
Arrested again, this time for assault-
ing a union official and conspiracy,
Gotti told cops: “I’ll 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, how-
ever. This time the Feds had a Mob rat
to bolster their wiretap evidence:
Salvatore “Sammy The Bull” Gravano
– Gotti’s 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
D
E C I M AT E D
by decades
of relentless
federal prosecu-
tion, 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 Mob’s
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 wasn’t easy until
the 1970s when authorities uMob squealer Vincent “Vinny
Ocean” Palermo (left) is now living
got a new superweapon, the
openly in Texas after helping put New
federal Racketeer Influenced
Jersey gangsters away. Even former
and Corrupt Organizations godfather Joe “The Ear” Massino
Act, which imposes heavy (above) thumbed his nose at former
penalties specifically for either associates by testifying for the Feds.
directing – or taking part in – the However, he’s living undercover
Syndicate’s traditional crimes.
By the 1980s, Mafia power was
further diminished when the FBI the owner of a controversial
helped cut off the Mob’s Las Vegas Houston strip club.
money stream. The Feds also Palermo is still living large as is
loosened the gangs’ testify against their partners in crime former Bonanno family godfather Joe
stranglehold on truck- rather than go to prison – where even “The Ear” Massino, who became the
ing, bartending and Godfather John Gotti was beaten so first head of a New York crime family
construction unions, badly by another inmate he needed ever to turn canary when he faced
removing a power hospitalization! a murder rap. In return for his help
base that helped In the old days, that type of nailing other gangsters and turning
Mafia big shots “disrespect” would’ve never been over $7 million in ill-gotten gains,
blackmail legitimate tolerated by the Mob. But squealing Massino got out of prison last year and
businesses in wasn’t tolerated, either: It was an is now living undercover.
exchange for labor automatic underworld death sentence. “ T h Ey ’ v E lO ST Al l R ESP EcT ”
peace. The Mob proved, time and again, it “These days, nobody is really
“We aggressively could reach anyone, anywhere. terrified of the American Mafia.
uFBI crime attack them, and the But the lawmen running the federal They’ve lost all respect and street
buster David sentences are very Witness Protection Program learned cred,” said a law enforcement source.
Shafer large,” said David to outwit the Mafia, so today’s “rats” “They don’t have the money – or the
Shafer, special agent have no fear of retribution – even muscle – to call all the shots anymore.
who supervises FBI organized crime when they’re exposed like New Jersey Now other bad guys from other ethnic
investigations in New York. crime kingpin-turned-snitch Vincent groups are taking away their play.”
Those long prison sentences “Vinny Ocean” Palermo. He was And there’s not much the Mob can
are convincing the Mafia thugs to outed in 2009 as “Vincent Cabella,” do to stop it! Changing demographics

a m e ri ca n/ 54 / ga n g st e r s
and the assimilation of Italian-
Americans into U.S. society has limited

BattereD,
the Mafia’s traditional recruitment base.
Now the Russian Mafia, Chinese

BruiseD
triads, Mexican drug cartels and
urban street gangs like the Crips and
the Bloods have taken over many

anD
of the Syndicate’s former rackets
and business ventures. In Chicago,

DisrespecteD
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
Syndicate’s coast-to-coast domination
is a thing of the past.
However, law enforcement officials
aren’t 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, they’ll come
out and they’ll start regrouping. They
gotta. There’s too much money, and
you gotta remember their egos won’t
let them walk away.” v

GoinG,
mafia getting
erased
by coppers and
new crime

GoinG, Gone!
cartels

a m e ri ca n / 55 / gan g st e r s
 S
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
NEW YORK’S LOS ANGELES hundreds of other ventures around the globe.
BIG FIVE DeSimone – active Known as the Mob’s Accountant for his financial wizardry,
Bonanno – Active the Jewish gangster was one of the founders and heads of the
notorious National Crime Syndicate, though he took a back
New York, Arizona, MILWAUKEE
seat to the egotistical Italian godfathers.
Connecticut & Florida Balistrieri
But in the end, he outlasted them all!
Colombo – Active – On the ropes
As one of the organization’s major overseers and its
New York, Connecticut
banker, Lansky applied his Midas touch and laundered
& Florida NEW ENGLAND millions through foreign accounts.
Gambino – Active Patriarca – Active in Some lawmen insist Lanksy enriched himself to the tune
New York, Connecticut Boston & Providence, R.I. of a whopping $300 million. He hid most of his loot in Swiss
& Florida banks away from the Internal Revenue Service’s prying eyes
Genovese – Active NEW JERSEY – so he wouldn’t follow in Al Capone’s footsteps by getting
New York, Connecticut DeCavalcante nailed on a tax rap.
& Florida – On the ropes “ BIG G ER T H AN U .S. ST EEL”
Lucchese – Active And in the days before electronic money transfers, he was
New York, Connecticut NEW ORLEANS said to keep a gangland associate as his full-time bagman,
& Florida Marcello ready to carry millions in a briefcase to any place in the globe
– On the ropes – at any time.
BIRMINGHAM “We’re bigger than U.S. Steel,” Lansky once boasted. His
Crime family PENNSYLVANIA famous line was repeated in the movie “The Godfather: Part
eradicated Bruno – Active II,” where his character tries to sucker his Italian-American
in Philadelphia partner played by Al Pacino.
BUFFALO & Atlantic City In real-life, Lansky was just as
Magaddino – Active Bufalino – On the ropes slick. His prowess was so impressive,
LaRocca – Active in he was both loathed and admired by
CHICAGO Pittsburgh & Ohio the very people who were trying to
The Outfit – Active put him behind bars.
in Illinois & Las Vegas ROCHESTER “He would have been chairman of
Crime family the board of General Motors if he’d
CLEVELAND eradicated gone into legitimate business,” an
Porrello – Active FBI agent once begrudgingly said
SAN FRANCISO of Lansky. uCuban dictator
DALLAS Crime family Amazingly, Lansky was able to Fulgencio Batista
Crime family eradicated evade authorities and was only jailed was in Meyer’s
once – for two months in 1953 – on a pocket
eradicated
gambling conviction.
SAN JOSE
Born in 1902, Lansky worked his way out of poverty in
DENVER Cerrito – On the ropes
New York City’s Lower East Side through the ranks of
Crime family organized crime. After doing odd jobs, he teamed up with
eradicated SEATTLE friends Bugsy Siegel and Lucky Luciano in 1918. Together,
Colacurcio – Active they ran a floating craps game.
DETROIT Soon, they moved onto more lucrative projects such as rum
Zerilli – Active ST. LOUIS running and selling muscle to more established mobsters.
Giordano – Active Lansky’s successes didn’t go unnoticed. By 1928, he had
KANSAS CITY attracted a gang of his own and developed a squad of elite hit
Civella – Active TAMPA men for hire, which would later become known as Murder, Inc.
Missouri & Las Vegas Trafficante – Active With the Syndicate gaining more influence and power,
Lansky developed gambling operations in the United States

A M E RI CA N/ 56 / GA N G ST E R S
 Mastermind
and Cuba, where he arranged to pay off Cuban dictator
Fulgencio Batista. It would take Fidel Castro’s rise to power in
1959 to topple Lansky’s operations in the Caribbean country.
Meyer Lansky
He also financed his friend Bugsy Siegel’s Flamingo hotel
casino development in Las Vegas. And even though Lansky
died in bed —
rarely picked up arms himself after his youth, he was the one
who finally authorized Siegel’s execution in 1947 – in part to
save himself from his Syndicate partners who were livid over
and took glory
the business disaster.
But Vegas ultimately boomed and other gambling oppor- days with him
tunities 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 loan-
sharking 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.
He spent his final years living modestly in uShrewd and ruthless Meyer Lansky, a bootlegger, killer and
Miami Beach, Fla., before dying on Jan. 15, 1983, gambler, owned a string of hotels in Cuba. He used his ill-gotten
of lung cancer at age 81. The Mafia’s golden era gains to take over legit businesses – and move into Vegas
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 ÒWonderboyÓ Crea (left) is the top dog in the Lucchese Family, which was the brains behind the heroin
ring made famous by the 1971 movie ÒThe French Connection.Ó Andrew ÒMushÓ Russo (in FBI custody, above) is currently running
the Colombos from behind bars. Chicago boss John ÒNo NoseÕ DiFronzo owes his looks to cops. Word is he sliced off his honker while
T
crawling through a broken window during a 1949 burglary Ð and police gave it back! He then had it surgically re-attached
oday, the Mafia’s 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 Gotti’s old
outfit after wise guy Frank Cali turned
the job down. Word is Cali didn’t want
to be a target for federal prosecutors.
A MU CH LOW E R PROFILE
“That’s 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 hasn’t
always worked.
The Bonannos named Michael
“Mikey Nose” Mancuso their boss last
year even though he’s 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. They’re
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. It’s a part of pop
Meanwhile, Daniel “The Lion” Leo, culture, and that’s 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 it’s better to stay in the
racketeering, The Lion is shadows.”
so far under the radar few But don’t rule out the
made men will even admit rise of another Boss of
his role at the top of the All Bosses, says Scarpo.
nation’s most powerful There’s too much money,
crime family. power and ego at play. And
Chicago boss John the idea of a Don Corleone-
“No Nose” DiFronzo is style Godfather still feeds
cut from the same cloth. gangsters’ imaginations
He’s managed to stay one as much as it also attracts
step ahead of the Feds for the spotlight from lawmen.
decades – and ordered his uPhilly godfather “I think the Mob is
henchmen never to talk ÒUncle JoeÓ tired of the fat, lazy Italian
about him in public! Ligambi beat Americans who turn into
two federal
Joseph “Uncle Joe” rats,” said a law enforcement
racketeering raps
Ligambi, 74, is the current source. “I wouldn’t be sur-
earlier this year
king of Philadelphia’s under- prised if more natural-born
world. He’s known as “old Sicilians or members of the
school,” insisting mobsters avoid splashy Italian-based ‘Ndrangheta crime syndi-
displays 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

M
clubs have been in police crosshairs since the 1950s

otorcycle gangs are says Cook. “They don’t care where they
more organized, settle their rivalries,” he said in an ex-
more sophisticated clusive interview. “Innocent members
and more danger- of the public can easily be hurt. That’s
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 provid-
founded ing muscle or roughing up
in California more than 60 people who have crossed the
years ago. wise guys.
And while they may cul- Supervisory Special FBI
tivate the outlaw image of Agent Jeffrey Sallet, of the
lone wolf desperados, the Providence, R.I., office, The feud extends across the world
Angels and rival biker gangs said mobsters consider biker to other countries with Hells Angels
like the Mongols and the gangs as valuable assets in chapters, like Germany, Denmark, Aus-
Pagans have strong ties with one very specific area. tralia, England and Israel. In January
uBiker gang
the most feared organized
expert
C REAT ING F EAR this year, a Hells Angel was arrested
crime groups in America – in- “They create fear,” said for launching a series of bomb attacks
Steve Cook
cluding the Italian Mob, the Sallet. “And I think that’s on rival gang members in Melbourne,
Mexican drug cartels and even something outlaw motorcycle Australia.
Russian and Ukrainian gangsters. groups specialize in, is creating fear.” The biker gangs revel in their image
That’s the disturbing insight of Kan- Other gangs may carry out their as “Easy Rider” outlaws living free out-
sas City Metro Police Detective Steve crooked operations in the shadows, try- side the confines of society, nicknam-
Cook, the country’s top police expert on ing not to attract attention. But outlaw ing themselves the “one-percenters.”
outlaw motorcycle gangs and an under- bikers roar up full throttle in their leath- But Cook, past president of the
cover officer who has busted countless er jackets daring anybody to stop them. Midwest Outlaw Motorcycle Gang
bikers on drug and gun charges. “They advertise who they are,” says Investigators Association and current
The underworld alliances range from Agent Sallet. “That’s how they generate vice president of the International As-
drug running to protection shakedowns, their fear.” sociation of Undercover Officers, says
extortion, kidnapping, prostitution, “They are kind of a unique sub- they are fundamentally criminal enter-
armed robbery and even murder. group,” adds Cook, who said the Hells prises.
But the bikers specialize in intimida- Angels are currently “at war” with the “I have interviewed many of these
tion. And that’s what makes them still Pagans, the Mongols, the Vagos, the guys from different motorcycle gangs
so “extremely dangerous” to the public, Outlaws and the Bandidos. and every single one of them says they

a m e ri ca n/ 60 / ga n g st e r s
 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
 it is disorganized crime because it’s commit murder, conspiracy and other
not always that well run,” he said. offences.
uIn 1953, “The outlaw motorcycle gangs link Now, as Cook explains, the leaders
Marlon Brando up with the other organized crime keep a lower profile, focusing on mak-
became an groups because they are all operat- ing money rather than bolstering their
anti-hero in ing in the same territory. There is tough guy reputations.
“The Wild One” 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 Mon-
bad 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 co-
fear of the conse- caine from Mexico’s
quences. Now they Sinaloa Cartel.
are more criminally The Angels’ $1 bil-
sophisticated.” lion cocaine, marijuana
are involved in organized crime. That’s H e av i l y - t a t t o o e d and Ecstasy empire was
just how it is. All of them are involved Sonny Barger, at 75 one orchestrated by the Riz-
in drugs – it’s easy revenue for them,” of the Hells Angels’ two zuto crime family in
he said. oldest members, is prob- Canada – with muscle
The cop, who rides motorcycles ably the best-known provided by the Hells
himself, has successfully prosecuted old school member. uAngel Sonny Barger Angels Motorcycle
members of the Hells Angels, the Sons The founding mem- is a founder of the Club.
of Silence, El Forastero, and Galloping ber of the Oakland, Oakland chapter It’s all a far cry from
Goose motorcycle gangs for metham- California, chapter, the Hollywood glamor
phetamine and firearms charges. he’s served two stretches totaling 13 of Marlon Brando’s Black Rebel Mo-
“It’s all about organized crime – years in maximum security prison with torcycle Club in the 1953 classic, “The
although some of the members will say 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

hip-hop
caught in the crossfire

T hit men!
he crowds had flocked to
Las Vegas to watch Mike
Tyson in his prime take
just seconds to win an-
other 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
Gangbangers turn the
across the entire country.
On this night, Sept. 7, 1996, the
most famous rapper in the world,
hood into war zonE
Tupac Shakur, a member of the notori-
ous Bloods, was about to become the
world’s most famous victim of modern hit man, a member of the rival Crips, feud, which was marked by drive-by
street gang warfare. would get away with murder! But vio- shootings and savage beatings. It’s a
And, like other gangland killings lent, mysterious death was nothing new dog-eat-dog world.
stretching back to Prohibition, the in the drug -peddling gangs’ 40-year The Bloods dress in red, the Crips Ú

a m E ri ca n / 63 / Gan G st E r s
u“Gangsta” 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. Biggie’s 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 Tupac’s 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 busi-
ness – 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
California’s Death Row Records, was
caught up in a bitter feud with rapper
Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls,
who was signed by New York’s Bad
Boy Records and linked to the Crips.
The rift was all the more raw for
Tupac because he’d 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 well-
known Crips gang member after the
Tyson fight, they beat him to a pulp in
the MGM lobby.
The attack signed Shakur’s 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 assas-
sin 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 Wal-
lace, got killed six months later in a
March 9, 1997, Los Angeles drive-by,
there was little doubt in anyone’s mind
that it was retribution from the Bloods
for Tupac’s violent end.
According to a “Los Angeles Times”
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 gun-
men 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 Ú

a m E ri ca n / 65 / 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 Febru-
ary 1996, Tupac turned up in court
to support his “homies,” who were
charged with murdering rival gang-
ster Philip Woldemariam. The victim
was gunned down Aug. 25, 1993, after
making a bad mistake – flashing a
rival gang sign at the rapper’s posse.
Snoop was acquitted, and the
November 1996 release of “Tha
Doggfather,” his second album, only
helped burnish his gangsta creden-
tials among his fans, who ate up
uncompromising rap lyrics with
references to urban gangs, guns,
hookers and dope deals.
s hot N i N e t iMes!
But sometimes rap music’s words
can be too close to the bone. A New
York drug lord was suspected of mas-
terminding the hit on 50 Cent, real
name Curtis Jackson, because his
lyrics exposed the gangster’s criminal
activities!
Jackson, who began dealing drugs
at the age of 12, survived the 2000
a m E ri ca n/
murder attempt despite being shot
nine times!
But hip-hop pioneer DJ Jam Master
Jay, born Jason Mizell, wasn’t as lucky.
u50 Cent was shot nine times
– apparently by a gangster
he had angered
66 / Ga n G st E r s
The turntable wizard, who performed
with Run DMC, was executed gang-
style 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 Jay’s killer was
never identified.
Cops say that’s not unusual in
America’s meanest neighborhoods,
where the savage gangs have become
a law to themselves – and even police
don’t dare patrol. In modern Chicago,
the politicians have new gangland mas-
ters 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 harm-
less organization, The Black United
Voters of Chicago, REALLY repre-
sented perverted posses like the Vice
Lords, Gangster Disciples, Black
Disciples, Cobras, Black P Stones and
Black Gangsters.
But bloodshed is finally wash-
ing away some of the gangsta glam-
our. Even Snoop Dogg appeared to
be changing his tune when he said:
“These youngsta’s that’s in it right now
don’t understand the consequences.
They don’t 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 music’s
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

T
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 horse’s butt
compared with Russian organized crime
in America and around the world,” says
Robert I. Friedman, author of the book uLurking among the immigrant community in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach
“Red Mafia.” neighborhood, Russian gangsters use strong-arm tactics to enforce their will.
Police agree. Investigators say the Crew leader Semion Raichel made the FBI’s Most Wanted List (above) after
incredible scope of ruthless Russians’ being accused of vicious crimes
crimes – pulling off brilliant billion-
dollar financial scams that destroy Four members of the Russian Mob, and dumped in the New Melones
companies or executing rival drug dealers Iouri Mikhel, Jurijus Kadamovas, Petro Reservior – even though the gangsters
– is what makes the thugs so dangerous. Krylov and Ainar Altmanis, were con- collected $1.2 million in ransom!
A G RE AT E R T H REAT victed for the 2001 torture murders of The Russian mobsters’ terrible thirst
In fact, lawmen call the Russians, five wealthy people in Stockton, Calif. for blood has sent shock waves through
who now control the world’s dope trade, The gangsters were first drawn to L.A. America’s underworld.
money laundering, teen prostitution by what they saw as “easy money” in the In the Russian neighborhood of
rackets and arms dealing, the “most movie business. Brighton Beach, N.Y., mob crew leader
dangerous people on Earth.” Ameri- But when they weren’t slick enough to Semion Raichel once threw a naked
can intelligence officers even claim the scam Hollywood producers by offering prostitute into a bathtub and threatened
gangsters may be a greater threat to U.S. $50 million in seed money – that didn’t to electrocute her, by tossing a plugged-
security than even global terrorism! exist – for a movie project, they moved in appliance into the water, unless she
Certainly, the mobsters see America on to more basic tricks – like kidnapping. handed over part of her income.
as ripe for the plucking. Incredibly, five victims were snuffed Amazingly, she reported the assault to

A M e Ri cA n/ 68 / gAn g st e R s
 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 orga-
nized 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, master-
mind penny stock manipulations, control
big parts of the diamond trade, smuggle
cigarettes, direct health care and credit
card fraud, launder money, run pornogra-
phy rings, cyber blackmail and gasoline
tax frauds. The gangsters even lured pro
athletes, movie stars and Wall Street ex-
ecutives 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 / gA n g st e R s
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 offi-
cial 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 vio-
lence 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 don’t
go after cops,” says Friedman. “They
don’t go after prosecutors. They don’t
go after American journalists. The
Russians go after everybody. One retired
cop in New York told me, ‘They’ll 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 target-
ing America. He was convicted and is
serving a 25-year sentence.
“Greed drives everything,” the under-
cover FBI agent says. “It’s all available
for the right price. The Russian Mafia
has no heart.” v
 Merciless
drug cartel
is building mountain
of headless corpses
W
hat was expected
to be a leisurely
day on the water
exploded into sav-
age violence and
heartbreak for
David and Tiffany
Hartley–and
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 it’s been plagued by drug cartel
violence so intense U.S. officials have
urged citizens to be careful on Falcon’s
warm waters.
Tiffany says she and her mate had
heard the warnings, but went out
boating anyway, believing it was safe
because “there’d been no problems”
in the months before their vacation.
a M e ri ca n/
“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.
David’s body was never found.
Tiffany narrowly escaped to the arrested a regional Los Zetas leader for
U.S. side of the lake. Lawmen believe Hartley’s murder and for assassinating
the Hartleys had stumbled into the the investigator.
middle of a drug transaction. While the Hartley tragedy was the
HEA D WAS C U T O F F first exposure many people in the U.S.
Cops on both sides of the border had to the merciless Mexican cartel,
turned up the heat – demanding justice Los Zetas were already well-known
for the innocent American. But shortly by authorities for leaving a terrifying
after the slaying, the lead Mexican trail of murder and mayhem through
investigator’s head was cut off – and Mexico – and across the border.
delivered in a suitcase to a local Formed by deserters from an
military post! elite Mexican army special
Two years later, lawmen finally forces unit and rogue
70 / gan g st e r s
uSavage members of Mexico’s 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 Agency’s 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
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

a M e ri can / 71 / gan g st e r s

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 Mexico’s 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 won’t just cut off
your ear, they’ll 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 didn’t just murder their victims
– they hacked up the bodies to the point
a M e ri ca n/
uNine bodies were hung from a bridge across the river from Laredo, Texas, (above) as
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 it’s 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.
Mexico’s problem. Federal officials say the
They’re growing more cartel represents the most
powerful and their reach uU.S. customs serious organized crime
is expanding northward agent Jaime 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
America’s prison system to recruit recruitment efforts to maintain
operatives who don’t 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
72 / gan g st e r s
more dangerous
J than capone!
oaquin “El Chapo”
(“The Short One”)
Guzman has been
officially branded
Chicago’s Public
Enemy Number
One by the city’s
Crime Commission
– a distinction last
held by Al Capone in 1930.
But the horrific murders
and butchery of Guzman’s
feared Sinaloa Mexican drug
cartel leaves Capone’s noto-
rious Prohibition-era Saint
Valentine’s Day Massacre,
which claimed the lives of
seven mobsters, in the shade.
Guzman’s trademark is his
gruesome warning messages
to rivals.
Two years ago, in the
Mexican resort city of Aca-
pulco, the headless bodies of
15 people were found near a
shopping mall with personal
threatening notes to rival traf-
fickers from Guzman himself.
Five heads were also left in
a sack and placed outside an
elementary school as an ulti-
matum to teachers who were
failing to give up half of their
salaries to Mexico’s most
powerful cartel.
ACT O F I N HUMA N I T Y
And in a ghastly act of inhu-
manity, 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 One’s”
ruthless command are noto-
rious henchmen suspected
of committing more than
1,000 murders across
Mexico, including the kill-
uVicious Joaquin
Guzman, known as
“The Short One,” is
armed to the teeth.
A suspected rival
was kidnapped,
killed and skinned
(below). The victim’s
face was sewn on a
soccer ball
ing of cocaine
rival Rodolfo Car-
rillo Fuentes of the
Juarez Cartel.
“What Al Capone
was to beer and
whiskey, Guzman is
to narcotics, says Art
Bilek, the Chicago
Crime Commis-
sion’s executive vice
president.
But the drug lord “is clearly
more dangerous than Al Ca-
pone was at his height,” adds
Bilek, whose city has been
named the nation’s No. 1
destination for heroin ship-
ments and a major hub for
marijuana, cocaine and meth-
amphetamine. Guzman calls
Chicago his gang’s “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 world’s most wanted
fugitive after Osama bin
Laden’s death in 2011 – has
been on the run for years
using a vast collection of
hideouts and underground
fortresses to escape authori-
ties. He’s currently ranked
the 67th most powerful
73 / gan g st E r s
‘El Chapo’
is world’s
most
wanted
fugitive
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 in-
creasingly challenged
by the equally sav-
age Los Zetas. But
right now, El Chapo’s
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 Agency’s
Chicago office.v
O
riginally formed by inmates
who wanted protection and
influence while serving

In the slammer
time, America’s notorious
prison gangs rapidly
evolved into criminal
enterprises that have sunk
tenacious roots into the It’s Often just
a matter Of kIll
nation’s 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
Or be kIlled
and outside U.S. penitentiaries.
Behind bars, authorities often strug-
gle to find punishments tough enough
to tame crime bosses and their hench-
men – 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

prison
founded in 1964 by a group of Irish
bikers at California’s San Quentin
prison in response to what they
saw as the racial segregation of
America’s 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
nation’s prison population, the gang

powerh
is thought to be behind 20% of all
prison murders. Distinctive tattoos in-
clude 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 hood-
lums 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’

A M e ri cA n/ 74 / gA n g st e r s

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
houses
America’s streets
A M e ri cA n / 75 / gAn 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 city’s total mur-
der rate! Members have an alliance
with the Aryan Brotherhood as the
two are sworn enemies of the Black
Guerilla Family.
■ Black guerilla Family
While some black street gangs like
the Bloods and the Crips may fight turf
wars on the outside, they come togeth-
er 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 gang’s chief source
of income is through the jailhouse
sale of heroin, crack cocaine and
methamphetamine. Launched in Puerto
Rico’s 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 fear-
some reputation for the severity of
attacks on both fellow inmates and
prison staff. Formed by young white
supremacists in California’s juvenile
halls, it is now one of the state’s fast-
est growing gangs – and is believed
to have spread into the Southwest and
America’s heartland. v
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 don’t wear Italian suits or
$200 Nike sneakers. They belong to Amer-
ica’s most brutal gang – and they want you
to know all about it.
Formed in Los Angeles in the 1980s
by immigrant Salvador-
ians, they pride themselves on their
notoriously ruthless behavior.
They even have their own sign
u Former gang-banger Christian Antunez
joined MS-13 after it spread from
Los Angeles to Honduras. He found
religion and quit, but still remembers the
organization’s secret sign language
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 you’re in, it’s supposed to be for life. One of
the few exceptions is if the member has a child and
wants to settle down with a family. But even then
you just can’t walk away.
When a California-based member
 u Intricate
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 Ð and the
more respect he
commands on
the street and
in prison

rrors
Bloodthirsty
ms-13 preys on
kids & thrives
on revenge
of the gang tried to quit last year, bloodthirsty revenge and retri-
lawmen say he was ordered to buy his bution for any real or imagined
“freedom” for a hefty sum – or watch slights. The punishment for
his children be tortured and killed! disobedience can be death.
MS-13 began among Salvadorian uA pre-teen Certainly, the gang has bla-
refugees as a way to band together member of tant disregard for human life.
to protect themselves from Mexican American- Edwin Ramos, a 21-year-old
born MS-13
gangs in the U.S. Many of the origi- MS-13 die-hard, shot dead
hides behind
nal members had escaped the brutal Anthony Bologna, 47, and his
a bandanna at
civil war in their native country. two sons, Michael, 20, and
a 2013 public
Now the gang embraces Hondurans, gang rally in
Matthew, 16, after they acciden-
Guatemalans and Nicaraguans. El Salvador tally blocked his car from turning
The gang is especially prevalent down a narrow San Francisco
in urban areas of Los Angeles, San street as they drove home from
Francisco, Washington, D.C., Bos- a family barbecue.
ton, New York, Maryland and Houston, Texas. The organization Ramos was sentenced to life behind bars – and cheered
has 30,000 members. About 10,000 live in the U.S. by gang mates for his killing spree when he arrived in a
MS-13 is heavily involved in burglaries, auto thefts, drug California prison to begin his sentence. His bloodthirsty
dealing, home-invasion robberies, human trafficking, weapons murders made him “a man of respect.”
smuggling, illegal firearm sales, carjackings, extortion, murder, Meanwhile, a two-year undercover FBI investigation ended
rape, prostitution, assault and witness intimidation. last year with the arrest of 19 MS-13 members. The sting
Their trademark is a blue or black bandanna around the revealed close links with a Mexican Mafia prison gang.
neck, wrist or forehead, and they often wear sports jerseys “These aren’t low-level drug dealers. We bought weapons,
with the number 13, 23 or 3. Favorites are basketball star Allen we bought narcotics and we conducted undercover trans-
Iverson’s number 3 jersey and former NFL quarterback Kurt actions to target this gang, and to develop our way up to the
Warner’s number 13. important leadership,” said Timothy Delaney, special agent
Leaders impose a strict code of behavior enforced by in charge of the Los Angeles FBI criminal division. v

a m e ri ca n / 77 / gan g st e r s
Sopranos gave
gangSterS a
good name
Until HBO BrOUgHt new Jersey wisegUy
Tony Soprano into America’s 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 Tony’s 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 he’s 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 drama’s 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 THE SOPRANOS took care of business after
reality show from ‘Pawn Stars’ to ‘Wicked Tuna.’ The same Flanked by his soldiers assuming control of his New
goes for Mob-related docudramas like ‘Growing up Gotti,’ Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri Jersey-based crime family in
‘Mob Wives’ and the new ‘The Capones.’” (real-life tough guy Tony the HBO series’ 2000 season.
“Unfortunately, these alleged reality TV gangsters and Sirico) and Banda Bing strip While struggling to keep his
their relations are depicted living ‘the good life’ in a rowdy, club owner Silvio Dante wife Carmela (Edie Falco)
clownish, petty and embarrassing light. Tony Soprano would (Steven Van Zandt), Tony happy, deal with Mob rats
have shot himself in the head if he had to live with any of Soprano (James Gandolfini) and lawmen, Soprano
them! Bada-bing, bada-boom!”
a m e ri ca n/ 78 / ga n g St e r S
 THE CAPONES
Reelz Channel’s 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
Capone’s uncle, this 2014 launch is a
blatant attempt to cash in on Mobster
chic. Meanwhile, ANOTHER Capone clan
(not on TV) claims they’re “Scarface’s” 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! That’s 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 D’Avanzo, Renee Graziano, Alicia DiMichele Garofalo
and Natalie Guercio, the “Wives” aren’t necessarily married to the Mob! Big Ang has
only dated wiseguys! The others have racketeer relatives – or husbands – put away
for Mob-related crimes. Renee’s ex, Hector Pagan Jr., is now a gangland rat. The self-
confessed 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 Gotti’s 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 Chicago’s 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 Italian-
Americans as criminals. The show was canceled in 1963 – apparently after
the producers and sponsors were made offers they couldn’t refuse!

BOARDWALK
EMPIRE
Based on the antics of Atlantic
City’s 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-holds-
barred 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