The Real Mafia | Not The Fake Shit | The Re-Written Mafia Bible | The Introduction

the rise decline and resurgence of America's most powerful mafia empires by selwyn raab narrated by Paul Costanzo introduction everyone I know in the New York area has brushed up against the American Mafia at one time or another most were unaware of it over the greater part of the 20th century and into the new millennium the Mafia aka the Cosa Nostra and the mob generated a toxic effect on the lives of all New Yorkers and untold millions of Americans from coast-to-coast surreptitiously rifling our pockets and damaging our overall quality of life much of the nation unwittingly subsidized in myriad ways the nation's five most powerful and traditional Cosa Nostra organized crime gangs all based in New York who prefer the warmer title of families from their New York headquarters the families collectively created a vast domain establishing outposts along the East Coast and in plumb spots in Florida California and elsewhere one of their sweetest financial coos was pioneering the secret acquisitions of big-time casinos in Las Vegas converting a drowsy desert town into an international gambling mecca unquestionably the gangs known as the Bonanno Colombo Gambino Genovese and Lucchese crime families evolved into the reigning giants of the underworld for decades they alone possessed the authority and veto power to dominate many of the country's other mafia organizations reducing some to virtual satellites New York the Cosa Nostra's crown jewel supported them through indirect mob taxes on the purchases of clothing and basic foods like vegetables fruit fish and meat they siphoned handsome illegal profits when drivers filled up at gasoline pumps they controlled waterfront commerce in the country's largest port they preyed on our garbage inflating the cost of discarding every piece of refuse from homes and work sites they in on a billion-dollar construction industry extracting payoffs from major government and private projects ranging from courthouses to suburban housing tracts apartment complexes hospitals museums and skyscrapers they even profited from their arch law enforcement enemies by squeezing kickbacks from the builders of new FBI offices police headquarters and prisons the human cost of the Mafia's depredations and plunder is incalculable their chieftains were directly responsible for the widespread introduction of heroin into cities of the east and Midwest in the late 1950s and early 60s other less organized criminal groups witnessing the enormous profits spawned by drug trafficking followed in their footsteps but it was the Cosa Nostra's greed for narcotics dollars that accelerated crime rates law enforcement corruption and the erosion of inner-city neighborhoods in New York and throughout the United States my first journalistic collision with the Mafia arose from an unexpected quarter new york city's public school system that introduction however reflected the mobs insidious influence in so many shadowy areas of big-city existence in the early 1960s my assignment as a new reporter on a major newspaper the old New York world telegram and the son was the education beat I normally wrote about issues like declining reading and mathematics test scores attempts to unionize teachers and racial integration disputes until it was pulled away by a mini scandal concerning shoddy construction and renovations that were endangering the safety of thousands of students and teachers in their classrooms there was stark evidence of crumbling roofs walls floors electrical fire hazards and one instance of sewage mixing with drinking water in a high school all of these violations stemmed from inferior substandard materials and installations provided for years by a small clique of companies digging into the backgrounds of the building trades companies unearthed an unwholesome pattern many firms had unlisted or phantom investors who were connected to mob families much of the low bidding competition for lucrative school jobs apparently had been rigged by the Mafia to balloon profits through a gimmick called changed orders school officials responsible for construction and contract oversight were fired or abruptly quit and negligent contractors who are banned from future school work but not a single mafioso involved in the mess was indicted the reason officials retreated saying there was no clear paper trails incriminating mobsters and money skimming and no contractor had the courage to testify about the mobs role in the scandal in short the mafia endangered thousands of children and escaped unscarred with its loot untouched later as an investigative newspaper and television reporter I kept running across the Mafia's fingerprints on numerous aspects of government law enforcement unions and everyday life there were stories of mobsters introducing and overseeing heroin trafficking in Harlem without strong police interference blue-collar neighborhoods were destabilized and turned into drug Suk's there was the ordeal of George Whitmore a black teenager framed for a triple murder and wrongly imprisoned for years with the help of rulings by a judge appointed through the support of Mafia bosses there was the exposure of perfectly fit mafiosi obtaining disabled driver permits that allowed them to park almost anywhere in the congested City they're redundant friends at police headquarters authorized the valuable permits there was the chronic intimidation of Fulton fish market merchants who were compelled to fork over protection payments to mobsters to avoid daily harassment of their business operations and there were the uphill struggles of honest painters carpenters and Teamsters who were brutally assaulted when they spoke up at union meetings about mobsters taking over their locals and ripping off their welfare and pension funds it required little sagacity for a reporter to determine that by the 1970s the Mafia operated as a surrogate state in the New York metropolitan area recently dominating vital businesses and imposing its farrago of invisible surcharges on everyone in fact the mobs economic surge in the second half of the century was astonishing a government analysis estimated that in the 1960s the illicit profit of the nation's 20-yard Mafia families topped 7 billion dollars annually approximately the combined earnings of the ten largest industrial corporations in the country the lion's share of the illicit wealth was reaped by the most powerful segment of the Cosa Nostra conglomerate the five New York gangs for much of the twentieth century New York's municipal and law enforcement authorities seemed indifferent to these criminal inroads questioned in the 1970s about the Mafia's sway officials privately conceded that previous attempts to dislodge them had been largely futile and there was no public outcry for similar meaningless crackdowns then to the authorities felt that the public largely tolerated mafiosi as unthreatening to the general population viewing them as a loosely organized group engaged largely in nonviolent crimes like bookmaking an operating popular neighborhood gambling dens the apologists contended that strict regulatory enforcement of the wholesale food construction and garbage carting industries might produce severe economic headaches City Hall and many law enforcement agencies tacitly subscribed to a lazy fair accommodation with the mob almost everyone in power was content so long as food supplies reached restaurants and supermarkets construction projects were completed and refuse was picked up on schedule a consensus decreed that so long as there were no incessant complaints there was no reason to stir up trouble about mobster involvement in producing basic necessities far too long the majority of media editors were of a similar mind with officialdom they preferred reporting on the occasional sensational homicides or internecine mob wars in place of costly long-range inquiries to document Cosa Nostra's economic clout and its manipulation of municipal agencies a sizable part of the media preferred glamourizing mobsters as an integral and colorful segment of New York's chaotic texture despite their criminal records and suspected participation and multiple murders John Gotti Joey Gallo and Joe Colombo were accorded celebrity status and often portrayed not as merciless killers but as Maverick anti-establishment folk heroes indeed a commonly recycled story by newspapers and television subtly praised the Mafia citing its formidable presence for low street crime rates in predominantly italian-american sections with predatory crime soaring 2 mafia strongholds Manhattan's Little Italy and Brooklyn's Bensonhurst we're presented as safe havens to live in unreported and underemphasized with the factors behind these statistics significantly the gangsters relied on sympathetic neighborhood residents to alert them to the presence of probing law enforcement agents and suspicious Outsiders trying to encroach on their bastions these watchdogs helped turn their neighborhoods into xenophobic enclaves sometimes resulting in violence against strangers especially african-americans and Hispanics the legend about security and mafia tainted neighborhoods still prevails in the new century a friend in the suburbs expressed his relief about his daughter's moved to New York because she had found an apartment in a safe part of the city Little Italy protected by local mob guys the world of organized crime is totally unlike any other journalistic beat accurate documented data about the Mafia's clandestine activities usually is difficult to verify the five families never issue annual financial reports nor do their bosses happily consent to incisive personality profiles over more than four decades I compiled information piecemeal combing through a variety of public and confidential records court transcripts real estate transactions and files from federal and state law enforcement agencies obtained through freedom of information laws there were also interviews with scores of active and former investigators highlighted by the late ralph salerno whose encyclopedic knowledge and documentation of the american mafia remains unchallenged then too there were the grim details of beleaguered workers resisting mafia muscle men in control of their unions facts about labor rackets were gleaned with the aid of Hermann Benson and James F McHugh Mara to lifelong advocates of union reform who could locate witnesses to mobster takeovers of their locals Benson is a founder of the Association for union democracy the principal national civic organization that aids activists battling corruption and organized crime infiltration and the labor movement McNamara a former union organizer became an expert consultant on labor racketeering for several law enforcement agencies persuading admitted mafiosi and their helpmates to talk candidly is never easy I was fortunate in getting several to unravel the Mafia's mysterious codes and culture had to elucidate the art of surviving in a volatile criminal environment one breakthrough and learning about contemporary Cosa Nostra lore and traditions came about obliquely in the early 1980s from a New York Times Style rule a mobster named Pellegrino Miceli was a central figure in a high-profile case about alleged mafia profiteer from a New York City subway project and a mysterious murder most of the press delighted in referring to him by his underworld sbrick a butcher boy because the Times prohibits the use of pejorative nicknames my story's always referred to the gangster with an honorific mr. Miceli obviously unaware of newspaper etiquette Boselli out of the blue telephoned a compliment for exhibiting proper respect to him in print he also volunteered to be interviewed in his prison cell about the subway deal and the gangland slaying of his son then encounter initiated a relationship that lasted until miss Ellie's death from natural causes over five years with the proviso that he would never be identified in news stories Mazzilli offered tips on mafia related developments and enlightenment on ingrained Cosa Nostra customs he was particularly revealing about the pathological mindset of his fellow mobsters and how they judged one another's conduct committing murder might be a horrific act for a normal person but Mazzilli explained that a committed mafioso is unperturbed by violence moreover he's applauded by his bosses and colleagues as long as the piece of work is done professionally and competently even if a hit requires killing a good friend or lengthy on the record interview with another admitted mafioso Anthony asset Oro provided unique insight into a veteran Cosa Nostra's experiences and thinking a longtime capo the head of a crew war unit in new jersey asset Oro after being imprisoned for racketeering agreed to be questioned and to reminisce freely about his mob career and his dealings with important mafiosi compelling information about the Mafia's white-collar activities on Wall Street and other financial crimes came from a cosa nostra associate or helper proclaiming himself rehabilitated he described various schemes inaugurated to fleece investors when the mafia capital on the 1990s stock market mania his explanation for coming clean was a desire to appease his conscience and to prevent future suckers from being snared in organized crime financial traps whatever his reasons the information proved to be accurate to protect him from retaliation his identity must remain undisclosed in the last years of his life Frank Reagan Oh a self-described mob lawyer offered an in-depth narrative of sordid legal and social relationships with prominent mobsters before he died Regan ov odd to atone for ethical shortcomings that led him to defend the Cosa Nostra in court and behind the scenes belatedly he acknowledged that ambition drove him to represent the Mafia as a fast track to wealth and recognition as an important attorney he supplied unprecedented material on the personalities and machinations of his top clients to powerful southern bosses Santo Trafficante and Carlos Marcello and their contentious ally Teamsters union chief Jimmy Hoffa he also knew intimate details of the mobs hatred and death wishes for president John F Kennedy and his brother Robert these recent accounts by mafia insiders and a legion of defectors combined with a trove of intelligence reports from the FBI and other law enforcement agencies have contributed immensely to the history and comprehension of an underworld phenomenon the collective goal of the five families of New York was the pillaging of the nation's richest city and region this is the saga of how they did it one a fiery Saint if i betray my friends and our family i and my soul will burn in hell like this saint as Tony a satura recited this grave oath the holy picture in his hand perished in flames a cluster of nodding stone-faced men lined up to embrace him kiss him on the cheek and vigorously shake his hand a collective gesture of solemn congratulations for asset or oh it was the most memorable moment of his life the ceremony burnt into his soul his prime ambition was fulfilled he was now the newest member of an exclusive secret coterie he was a made man in the American Mafia 20 years of faithful service first as a stern loanshark enforcer and later as a major earner moneymaker for important mobsters in New Jersey had paid off bountifully for asset or Oh earlier that afternoon he intuitively grasped that this day would be significant his orders were to rendezvous with Joey baate a reclusive figure were rarely met face to face with underlings even though their lucrative extortion gambling and loan sharking rackets enriched him Abbott a a sagacious capo and a Borgata or brew guard mafia slang for a criminal gang that is derived from the Sicilian word for a close-knit community or Hamlet supervise all operations in New Jersey for the Lucchese crime family Obata was waiting for rasa toro at a pre-arranged spot in the bustling port authority bus terminal in midtown Manhattan as a capo or captain Abbott a was the impresario for more than 100 gangsters who illegally harvested millions of dollars every year for themselves and as a tithe cent a portion of their earnings to the administration the Lucchese family leaders across the Hudson River in New York already in his mid-70s about they bore no resemblance to a pensioner tall lean almost ramrod erect he greeted a Sottero with a pro functor e handshake and walked briskly from the bus terminal on that June afternoon in 1976 there was little conversation as a satoru almost 40 years younger than his capo quickened his pace to keep in step with the energetic older man asset Oro a strapping muscular 200 pounds on a 5 feet 8 inch frame new from a bitter encounter with a bot a never to initiate small talk with him among new jersey mafiosi Joe Abbott a was a feared presence a veteran combatant with an exalted aura he had been a gunslinger for Al Capone in Chicago when Capone was America's most notorious gangster in the 1920s and in abates presence it was prudent to answer his questions directly had to carry out his commands without hesitation several blocks from the bus terminal at a clothing factory in Manhattan's garment Center Almonte introduced a Sottero to a grim faced man who had drive them to another location he was under Motum Papa do an important soldier responsible for handling the Lucases extensive labor extortions bookmaking and loan sharking rackets in the garment center like the brief walk to the garment district the 30-minute drive was a silent trip until they pulled up in front of a simple frame house unfamiliar with much of New York asset or thought they were in the Bronx the borough just north of Manhattan inside a drab living room several men unknown to asset Oro were waiting and one of them introduced himself as Tony Corallo asset Oro knew that in the insular planet of the Mafia this unsmiling short stocky man in his 60s was widely recognized by another name Tony ducks and he keenly understood what that name represented Antonio Corallo whose nickname originated from a lifetime of evading arrests and subpoenas was the boss of the entire Lucchese family the small group of men were gathered in the living room for one reason a secret ceremony that would transform a satoru into a man of honor a full-fledged made man Tony a satoru was aware that the books membership rosters in New York's five Mafia families had been closed for twenty years recently whispers abounded that the roles finally were being reopened for deserving people asset Oro had agonized over his future eager to end his long apprenticeship with coveted membership as a soldier making your bones the mafia euphemism for passing its entrance examination requires participating in a violent crime often murder or becoming a big earner for the family asset Oro was confident he had made his bones with high marks in both categories asset Oro had heard older men drop hints about the ritual of getting made he had a vague idea that it involved incantation of ancient oaths of loyalty sworn over a gun a knife a Saints picture and validated by bloodletting through a cut trigger finger yet when his ceremony was over asset Oro was surprised and slightly disappointed by its brevity without preamble Tony ducks rose from his chair in the living room said let's get started and then bluntly told asset Oro that he was the boss of the family asset Oro was handed a picture of a saint on a square piece of paper told to burn it with a match and to repeat the oath caralho sombrely intoned if i betray my friends and our family i and my soul will burn in hell like this Saint despite the abruptness and informality of the right asset Oro glowed inwardly with enthusiasm and its meaningfulness I was bursting with excitement it was the greatest honor of my life they set me apart from ordinary people I was in a secret society that I was aching to be part of since I was a kid from the time I was a teenager soon afterward returning to his haunts in New Jersey a satura learned from older made men who could now talk openly with him because he had attained prized membership the reason for the brusque initiation amate and other oversee is in the lo que sea fan Li thought so highly of his accomplishments and behavior that the trappings used to inculcate ordinary recruits were deemed unnecessary he already knew the ground rules and was considered far superior and more knowledgeable of the Mafia's code of conduct than most new soldiers there was no question that he was suited for the life over the next two decades a satura would himself witness and learn from his underworld cronies how a more typical induction was performed by the American Mafia in the late 20th and early 21st centuries the ritual modeled on secret practices with religious undertones begun by the Mafia in Sicily as far back as the 19th century was intended to mark the vital passage from wanna be an associate in the crime family a mere Stryver without prestige to a restricted rank with extraordinary dividends and extraordinary obligations while the liturgy was roughly similar throughout the country in the New York area the American mafias acknowledged capital a rigid formula prevailed among its five long-established gangs the candidate had to be sponsored by the capo he would work for and personally cleared by the ultimate leader the family representante or boss the final exam was the submission of the proposed soldiers identity to the leaders of the other four board gothis for vetting to determine if there were any black marks or negative information against him to maintain the fixed sizes and strength of the families and to prevent unauthorized expansions a prospective member could only be added to replace a dead mafioso in his Borgata although probably surmising that his induction loomed the recruit was never specifically told what was in store or the date he would be straightened out promoted on short notice he was instructed to get dressed meaning we're a suit and tie for an unspecified assignment made members picked up and escorted the initiate to the ordination driving to the site a process known as cleaning or dry cleaning was often employed to evade possible law enforcement surveillance the passengers might switch cars and public garages they also drove aimlessly for as long as half an hour and then squared blocks driving slowly with abrupt sharp turns or reversed directions to shake investigators who might be tailing them on routine surveillance the special precautions were intended to conceal the meeting place from prying eyes mainly because the family's boss and other high-ranking leaders would be in attendance and protecting them from law enforcement snoops was a paramount consideration unlike the ceremony he conducted for rasa Toro at most inductions Tony ducks Corallo officiated with greater pomp and formality do you know why you are here he would ask at the outset and the candidate was expected to reply on truthfully no this charade was enacted because the induction was presumed to be a closely guarded secret to prevent leaks to law enforcement investigators and outsiders about the identities of the families leaders and its members continuing Tony ducks explained you are going to be part of this family do you have any objections to that another member of the group circling the ceremonial table would then use a needle life or safety pin to prick the candidates trigger finger dropping blood over a picture of a saint as the candidate held the bloody image aloft someone put a match to it and Tony ducks directed the new member to repeat may I burn may my soul burn like this paper if i betray anyone in this family or anyone in this room you're scattering the ashes of the Saints holy picture Corallo or one of his lieutenants warned the newly made man that henceforth the bow gotta sneeze including committing murders came before any other obligation in his life the initiate no longer owed allegiance to God country wife children or close relatives only to the crime family decrees from the boss who ruled as the family's father must instantly be obeyed even if it meant neglecting a dying child at the ceremony for Tommy Richard II a longtime sidekick of asset Oro's Tony ducks and his henchmen carefully enumerated the family and the Mafia's inviolable rules and protocol the foremost principle was omerta the code of silence that forbade the slightest cooperation with law enforcement or more ominously informing ranting on anyone in the underworld a new button man or soldier remained under the direct control of the capo who recommended his membership all illegal activities the soldier engaged in and even his legal businesses were put on record or registered with the family through his capo so that the organization could profit from these projects and utilize them for planning crimes and deals booty from legal and illegal activities were shared with the soldiers capo a percentage depending on the mood of the boss was funneled to him as a sign of respect and was used also for the Borgata sneeze and overhead costs in business or social matters only a made man from the Lucchese family and other brokers could be introduced to other mafiosi as an amico nostro a friend of ours others associated or working with the mob were referred to simply as a friend or my friend as a cautionary signal that the third man was not made and no mafia secrets should be discussed in his presence and the awesome word mafia was banished from the group's vocabulary its use even in private conversations was forbidden because it could be considered incriminating evidence at trials if overheard by prosecution witnesses or detected by investigators through electronic eavesdropping instead if an organizational name had to be mentioned the more innocent sounding cosa nostra our thing or the initials CN were used despite any knowledge the recruit might possess at the time of his initiation he was nevertheless formally instructed about the composition and powers of the family hierarchy at the summit the boss set policies as to what crimes and rackets the family would engage in and appointed and removed Capo's and other high-ranking leaders like an imperial caesar the bosses most terrifying arbitrary Authority was deciding who lived and died murders inside the family for internal reasons for the elimination of anyone outside the Borgata could be sanctioned only by him usually present at induction ceremonies were the underboss the second-in-command who assisted in running the family's day-to-day business and the consul Yeti the counselor and advisor on family matters and on relations and disputes with other mafia groups at Lucchese inductions the identities of the bosses of new york's for other large Mafia families Genovese a Gambino Bonnano and Colombo and a smaller one D Cavalcante based in New Jersey were disclosed to the new soldier this confidential information came with the admonition that if another family boss was encountered he should be accorded the utmost respect finally several New York families concluded their ceremony with a Takada Italian for tie n or attack up to demonstrate the internal solidarity of their secret organization all witnesses and the new member clasped hands to unite in what the boss declared the unbreakable knot of brotherhood Alfonso Diageo's big day and the Lucchese family was August 23rd 1982 he was instructed to get dressed you're going somewhere by his capo picked up at a street corner in Manhattan's Little Italy section ad like Tony a satyr Oh driven to a modest home in the Bronx for other candidates sat in the parlor waiting to be summoned into another room a kitchen when Diageo Stern came he was introduced to Tony ducks Corallo and other members of the administration seated around a table do you know why you're here one of the men asked and d'arco dutifully replied no you're going to be a part of this family the man continued if you're asked to kill somebody would you do it d'arco nodded his assent and then his trigger finger was pricked and the Saints picture burned one of the men surrounding the table removed a towel that covered a gun and a knife lying on the table you lived by the gun and the knife and you die by the gun and knife if you betray anyone in this room the speaker said sombrely finally d'arco repeated the version of the Mafia's holy oath if i betray my friends and my family may my soul burn in hell like this saint later when the ceremony for all of the recruits was completed ducks Corallo rose and asked everyone to a toccata to tack or tie up by holding hands la fête de de questa familia sono apathy Corallo announced meaning the affairs of this family are open he then lectured his new soldiers on basic principles precepts itched and the Archos memory we were told not to deal in narcotics counterfeit money or stolen stocks and bonds to respect the families or other members and not to fool around with other members wives or daughters if any disputes arise that you and members cannot resolve you must go to your captain you do not put your hands on other family members you are to maintain yourself with respect at all times when your captain calls no matter what time or day or night he must respond immediately this family comes before your own family above all you do not discuss anything about this family with members of other families if you do not abide by these rules you'll be killed another unbreakable rule was imposed by Kerala police and other law enforcement agents could never be whacked killed whatever happened here tonight is never to be talked about Kerala warrant instructing the group to once more tack up he finished in italian 'la fought the de questa familia sono Kyuzo the affairs of this family are now closed the afternoon event ended on a non-alcoholic sober note with coffee simple snacks and pastry offered the men before the old hands and freshly minted mobsters dispersed in small groups d'arco would learn that Kerala banned involvement in narcotics and counterfeiting and stealing stocks and bonds because these were federal offenses and met heavy prison time Kerala like other mob leaders had good reasons to prevent hits on law enforcement personnel murdering a cop an investigator or a prosecutor would unleash the fury of the law against the mob and make normal business hazardous furthermore the rule was aimed at maintaining strict discipline and preventing rash unauthorised acts hot-headed troupes the day after the induction ceremony the Orca was the guest of honor at a select dinner with other crew members given by his capo it was an occasion for him and the 20-yard members of his crew to be introduced to one another as equals the Arcos new companions laughingly explained to him what would have occurred if he had refused at the Broncs ceremony to accept membership in the Borgata he would have been killed on the spot his refusal would have been proved that he was an agent or an informer trying to infiltrate the family in the early days of his membership more cosa nostra customs and rules were passed on to him by older soldiers some shibboleths were strange particularly those concerning grooming and wardrobe new york's mob leaders found on soldiers growing mustaches are wearing fabrics containing the color red mustaches were considered ostentatious and red was looked upon as too flashy by the conservatively dressed hierarchs inexplicably some mob big shots also believed that red garments were favored by rats squealers although they were always under the thumb of a capo and the administration's kingpins there were enormous potential benefits for loyal and vicious soldiers like al d'arco Antonius Itoro a made man automatically had greater respect prestige and money-making opportunities for starters he was entitled to a larger share of the loot from his criminal activities than had been doled out to him as a wannabe or an associate someone who works or cooperates with the family and the newcomer became eligible for a cut of the profits from other family controlled rackets another gift to his soldier was the authority to organize and exploit his own wannabes in illegal activities most associates aspired to become made men but only those of Sicilian or Italian ancestry were eligible at one time nearly all the families would induct only men whose mother and father were Italian eventually the requirement was eased as long as the father's roots were Italian an applicant was eligible regardless of his value to the Borgata an associate without Italian heritage even if he served as a hitman committing murders on demand or was a major earner could never gain admission a non Italian might be highly respected but would never be acknowledged as equal to the lowest ranking mafioso equally important as long as a soldier complied with the Mafia's code of conduct the family's financial and legal connections were available if he gone into a jam and was arrested the family paid for expensive legal talent if a made man wound up prison the more got this family administration or his Koppel were expected to support his wife and children for loyalty and service to the family in a violent dangerous environment there was yet another vital bequest a life insurance policy a made man could be killed only on the orders of his boss and only for a serious infraction of a mafia rule others who worked for a Borgata or who were involved in deals with mafiosi lacked comparable protection they could be whacked or maimed at the whim of a made man if a conflict arose between them a soldier had the added security of knowing that other criminals who suspected or were aware of his connections feared injuring or insulting him the lethal retaliatory power of the organization was well known in the underworld joining the Mafia in the mid in late 20th century was arduous and hazardous but there was no shortage of applicants and for recruits like Tony asset or Oh full membership glittered as a prize without standing financial rewards - to max tail Anthony assert arose attachment to the Mafia's code of honor was a passport to underworld glory and respect it eventually brought him a high rank on the mobs upper echelons and turned him into a multimillionaire his early life however did not augur success in any field one of six children born to immigrant Sicilian parents asset oro grew up in the 1940s and early 50s in orange a scruffy blue-collar suburb of Newark New Jersey his father Angelo a butcher and the owner of asset arose meat market tried unsuccessfully to interest Tony in his legitimate trade the youngster preferred perfecting his talents in pool halls he had no interest in education becoming a chronic truant after the sixth grade and his parents who placed little value on traditional education consented to an early departure from school when he was 16 barely out of his teens the boy was sent to live with relatives in Newark where he established himself as a fearsome scrapper in an italian-american street gang of 50 to 60 young Roughnecks at 16 his reputation was enshrined when he brandished a crutch to batter an opponent unconscious earning him the nickname to Mac the name based on the rugged caveman hero played by Victor Mature and a 1940 movie 1 million BC delighted the young asset Oro and he adopted it as a lifelong sobriquet when not brawling a satura largely supported himself by popping breaking open and stealing coins from jukeboxes and cigarette vending machines unleashing a small-time crime wave that disturbed neighborhood merchants and more important a local big shot Anthony Hamm delasco a former professional boxer delasco summoned the teenager for a disciplinary lecture from street talk and from his own observations of the deep respect accorded delasco in the neighborhood a satoru knew he was encountering a substantial made man those machines belong to me Velasco said menacingly I want this [ __ ] to stop delasco also saw potential in the aggressive 17-year old and gave him a $75 a week job the teenagers duties were to assist in running delasco numbers an illegal lottery gambling game and using his brawn to collect debts and payments in his shylocking loan-sharking operations asset or readily signed on and the wily mobster soon curbed his acolytes independent streak while teaching him an elementary mafia lesson go get me an ice-cream delasco one day ordered a Sottero as the young man stood with a group of admiring friends on a street corner the embarrassed asset Toro knew he would be demeaned in front of his pals if he acted as an errand boy but understanding that delasco was testing his obedience he bought his boss the ice cream I knew that if I wanted to stay with him and learn from him he had to have absolute control over me a Sottero explained he had to break me and I took the bid in my mouth i satura became a prized pupil for delasco and later for other mafiosi who replaced delasco after his death to max only slip up as a wannabe occurred when he delivered a package stuffed with cash - Joey bought a the austere capo it was about Days monthly share of the proceeds from the Lucchese family's newark branch and he was sitting alone in a parked car awaiting his payoff eager to ingratiate himself with a bot a whom he had not previously met young essa torille remarked how honored he was to be in his presence a bot a isiliye ordered him out of the car and sped off three hours later asset Oro was blisteringly reprimanded by an older mobster Leni Pitt salata Huma bata had called who the [ __ ] are you to start a conversation with Joe bought a it's a lotta barked if you want to stay alive I've never mention his name and speak only when you are spoken to except for that single mistake during the 1950s and 60s asset or advanced smoothly in the Borgata he dramatically proved his mettle in the late 60s when Newark's african-american population increased sharply and black criminals began forcefully taking over numbers territories from white bookies bolstered by asset Oro and his hand-picked gang of armed goons the Lucchese faction held on to its stake in the numbers games police intelligence officials determined that asset Oro had smashed attempted incursions into Lucchese domains by a gang of militant black panthers although no homicide charges were brought the police suspected that asset arose unit was responsible for several murders committed to maintain mafia dominance in 1979 the 77 year-old Abbate was slowing down and went into semi-retirement ducks Corallo did not hesitate to anoint asset Oro as his new jersey capo promoting - mac / older soldiers who earlier had been his tutors asset Oro quickly demonstrated his administrative skills he enlarged the family's traditional gambling loan-sharking and narcotics trafficking schemes and began dabbling in labor racketeering through strong-arm tactics the new jersey crew gained control of corrupt union officials clearing the way for the milking of employee welfare funds and threatening companies with mob enforced work stoppages unless payoffs were supplied for labor peace the new capo expanded the family's operations to Florida where he nurtured similar criminal ventures in the Miami area ad as a sideline fixed horse races asset arose underworld successes allowed him to invest and become a partner in seemingly legitimate real estate insurance equipment rental and other enterprises in New Jersey Florida and North Carolina he maintained homes in each of the three states and planned it to retire in North Carolina where he posed as a respectable businessman his fortune grew so immense that he boasted of having stashed about seven million dollars in $1,000 bills gems gold and rare coins as an emergency nest egg in a safe concealed in a vault behind a bathroom vanity cabinet while the riches flowed in asset Oro thrived in the shadows a relatively obscure mafioso his name an importance largely unknown except to a handful of New Jersey law enforcement experts on organized crime when sporadic problems with the law arose to Mack could afford costly legal talent to get him suspended sentences or jail terms of only a few months for serious felonies he had the money in the contacts for a $100,000 bribe to a juror to win acquittals for himself and 20 members of his new jersey crew tried on racketeering charges on another occasion his stable of lawyers obtained a dismissal on charges against him of intimidating a vital witness in an assault case in Florida a thorny conspiracy indictment was overcome by finding psychiatrists who classified him as mentally unfit to stand trial the diagnosis of pre senile dementia early Alzheimer's disease was a total fraud I slipped and banged my head in the shower and the Alzheimer's would away he told friends grinning unabashedly for almost four decades the Mafia the Cosa Nostra with its sordid deals violence and murders was the existence a Sottero accepted and cherished he considered a mafia life so admirable and worthwhile that he welcomed one of his two sons into the fold as a made man and his crew engraved in his mind was the day he held the flaming picture of a saint in his hand swearing eternal allegiance to the Borgata then embraced him even before his induction he understood that the most unforgivable transgression a made man could it was violating omerta the code of silence the penalty for informing was usually a bullet in the back of the apostates head an asset or oh never doubted that such executions were deserved but after a lifetime of loyalty to Mack the renowned dreaded capo the quintessential mafia success renounced omerta and other principles he once lived by he became a traitor to prosecutors to investigators he disclosed criminal secrets from decades of intrigue his words exposed dozens of mobsters who had followed and obeyed him as their trusted commander moreover his defection symbolized an unprecedented malaise afflicting the Cosa Nostra omerta in the other Maxim's that for seventy years had shielded asset Oro and other self-appointed men of honor we're being undermined by relentless internal and external forces as the 21st century dawned the Cosa Nostra was imperiled as never before during the previous century the Mafia had forged a unique and almost unassailable criminal organization in America and much of its frightening power arose from an arcane legacy transported to urban America from provincial Sicily three roots to the casual traveler Sicily for centuries was an enchanted land one of the most pleasant places on earth to live it was comforting to be seduced by the islands inordinately gracious people sunny weather alluring palm trees and the delicate fragrance of its orange and lemon blossoms but those intoxicating superficial impressions were largely a mirage for over 2,000 years most of Sicily's population endured tyranny and suppression under foreign conquerors and feudal overlords from ancient times until the mid 19th century the 9000 square mile island was raided invaded and even traded actually exchanged for other territories by foreign rulers Sicilies strategic and vulnerable location almost in the center of the Mediterranean Sea close to southern Italy in North Africa subjected it to an endless succession of occupation and oppression by Phoenicians Greeks Etruscans Carthaginians Romans Byzantines Normans Arabs French Spanish Austrian and finally hostile Italian armies Sicilians survived these occupations by developing a culture rooted in two basic concepts contempt for and suspicion of governmental authorities and tight-knit alliances with blood relatives and with fellow countrymen facing the same perils analyzing the fundamental siege mentality of large numbers of Sicilians from the vantage point of the 20th century Luigi Barzini and his book the Italians observed they are taught in the cradle or are born already knowing that they must eat each other side with their friends and fight the common enemy even when the friends are wrong and the enemies are right each must defend his dignity at all costs and never allow the smallest slights and insults to go unavenged they must keep secrets and always beware of a fish authorities and laws overtime these historical and cultural underpinnings spawned furtive clans in Sicilian dialect Koska for self-preservation against perceived corrupt oppressors without the security of reliable public institutions to protect them or their property the clans which were mainly in the countryside relied on stealth compromise and vendetta to extract private justice eventually the secret Koskov became commonly labeled in Sicily by a single name mafia over a hundreds of years they evolved from gorillas like disorganized bands for self-defence into greedy terrifying gangs whose basic concepts and guiding principles would extend with profound influence far across the seas to America like much of the Sicilian Mafia is roots the origin of its name is cloaked in folklore and mystique a romantic legend maintains that the name was born in the late 13th century during an uprising against French intervene forces in Palermo Sicily 'he's main city according to this tale a Sicilian woman died resisting rape by a French soldier and in revenge her fiance slaughtered the attacker the fanciful episode supposedly sparked the creation of a rebellious economic slogan from the first letter of each word morte alla franca italia Anela death to france is Italy's cry a revolt against the French occupation army in 1282 was called the Sicilian Vespers because the signal for resistance was the ringing of church bells for evening prayers a less romantic and more likely derivation of the name mafia is a combined Sicilian Arabic slang expression that means acting is a protector against the arrogance of the powerful until the 19th century the appellation mafioso a mafia member had wide currency in Sicily as a non criminal resolute man with congenital distrust of centralized a mafioso did not invoke state or law in his private quarrels but made himself respected and safe by winning a reputation for toughness and courage and settled his differences by fighting the English historian Eric J Hobbs Baum noted he recognized no obligation except those of the code of honor or omerta manliness whose chief article forbade giving information to public authorities to a 19th century Sicilian with a cultural heritage of centuries of danger and depression true manhood was said to consist of an independent arrogance in which a man kept silent in the event of a crime the Sicilian reserved the right of personal vendetta vengeance for offenses committed against himself and his relatives mafia clans never functioned under a United centralized command for the entire island they sprung up as regional bands organized primarily to protect specific local interests from foreign aggressors and intruders from other regions of Sicily as late as the mid 19th century mafiosi were portrayed by some writers as patriotic partisans who had defended and upheld the island's hallowed traditions the clans were also called families with the leader of each referred to as Padrino father or as the capo di famiglia the autocratic chief of the family who arbitrated disputes and controversies in his extended group in 1860 giuseppe garibaldi a military hero of the Risorgimento the movement to unify Italy landed in Sicily with a thousand volunteer fighters immortalized as red shirts for their distinctive military attire aided by popular support on the island Garibaldi easily defeated the troops of the king of the Two Sicilies and the last Spanish bourbon monarch was deposed among the rebels who rallied to Garibaldi's army and his call for social justice were about 2,000 rough-hewn farmers from the countryside who as economic conditions warranted alternated between working the fields and holding up in caves as bandits symbolizing the respect afforded to these part-time peasants and part-time brigands they were glorified by Garibaldi as his squad REE de la mafia mafia squadron a year after Garibaldi's landing and lightning military victory sicily an area about the size of Vermont was incorporated as a province into the newly formed state of Italy in 1863 a play appeared in Sicily titled a mafioso della Vittoria translated in english as heroes of the penitentiary the mafiosi and the drama were oppressed but valiant Patriots and prisoners who showed their physical audacity and knife duels the plate toward Sicily in Italy and the performances were instrumental in introducing the words mafia at mafiosi into the common language of Italy an Italian dictionary from 1868 defined mafia in non criminal terms as denoting bravado within a decade however liberation and the removal of the old pillars of authority brought widespread disorder and rampant crime to the island these conditions created fertile prospects for the best organized mafia Koska which could mobilize small private watchdog armies they took advantage of the turmoil and the judicial and governmental vacuums by turning to subtle forms of criminal activities during a period of little law or order the Koska demanded systematic payments from wealthy landowners and businessmen to safeguard their properties from vandals and to protect them and their relatives from abductions and ransom demands oddly to restore a semblance of law and order the new national government in the 1870s enlisted the clans to help capture the most violent non mafia bandits these roving Marauders were terrorizing the island and were viewed as a criminal epidemic threatening public safety and Sicilies economic stability as a reward for the Mafia's aid the nascent government in Rome secretly pledged that the Coase key could continue without interference their own refined style of plunder and economic domination over sections of Sicily the Rome officials mainly from North and Central Italy were unfamiliar with the nuances of Sicilian culture and viewed the private deal as an expedient compromise overconfident they believed the Mafia leaders would serve as temporary middlemen between themselves in the islands population and would help to maintain order until the young constitutional monarchy gained the strength to impose its own will the arrangement however gave a virtual license and a new impetus to mafia families the strongest clans were in northwestern Sicily near Palermo they began functioning openly and more brazenly without any thought of relinquish their privileged positions Italy's unification and new government led to the breakup of many of Sicily's feudal estates and a measure of economic freedom these additional opportunities were seized upon by the Mafia groups with the weak central government looking the other way the clans in effect became a substitute extra legal government especially in remote rural areas through hints of violence the families began extorting payoffs from new and absentee landowners to ensure that crops were harvested they initiated similar shakedowns from merchants and cities and towns promising to use their influence to ward off harassment from the government particularly tax collectors the Catholic Church became a willing collaborator with various Koska relying on them to safeguard its vast land holdings on the island and to stifle peasant demands for land or for larger payments as tenant farmers grateful for the protection church leaders refrained from denouncing the mafiosos strong-arm tactics when it suited a clan father he could simply authorize his mafiosi to cheaply acquire or monopolize businesses the family wanted to possess the families might pretend that they served as benefactors protectors and dispensers of Justice to powerless peasants and small merchants but their basic goal was self enrichment any assistance a Mafia family provided to individuals in business or in land disputes came with a price tag sooner or later the recipient of the favor might be asked in a none too subtle manner to perform some deed a legal or illegal quid pro quo as compensation for the families aid unification gave Sicilian men the right to elect representatives to a national parliament and local offices this democratic reform also was a boon to the clans through intimidation and control of blocks of voters the mafiosi helped elect numerous politicians who as a result were indebted to them and under their sway after Italy's unification in Sicily the most prevalent image of the typical mafiosi was that of the unsparing enforcer with a la paura a sawed-off shotgun slung over his shoulder eager to exact mafia-style justice in the late 19th century the strongest Koska sought to solidify their power and resist encroachments from rival families by adopting a new practice the ritual of the loyalty blood oath of omertà once inducted a new member considered himself in the select ranks of the honoureth associate de or honored society and as a man of honor and man of respect he could mockingly boast the king of Italy might rule the island but men of my tradition govern it the ambivalent reverence and fear inspired by each clan was epitomized by the Sicilian folklore Authority and super nationalists Giuseppe Pietra mafia is the force of the individual intolerance toward the arrogance of others Pittsville wrote misguided lay at the turn of the century mafia unites the idea of beauty with superiority and valor in the best sense of the word and sometimes more awareness of being a man sureness of soul and audacity but never arrogance never haughtiness Risorgimento brought a new form of government but not prosperity to millions of landless peasants and impoverished laborers in southern Italy and Sicily the 19th century and early 20th century open-door immigration policies of the United States became a magnet for Italians especially rural Sicilians seeking to escape the economic and social hardships of their native land between 1890 and 1920 an estimated four million Italian and Sicilian immigrants settled in America the vast majority were law-abiding artisans farmers and unskilled toilers but as in every large ethnic immigrant category sprinkled in were criminals men on the run from the law who were aware of the Mafia's traditions and men who were minor mafiosi seeking new opportunities for fleeing vendetta's at the time of this immigration wave none of the Sicilian Kooskia tried to establish beach heads or branches in the United States after all there was no need in Sicily the Mafia families were among the favored haves not the downtrodden have-nots they had no reason to relinquish their enviable comfortable station in life for risky ventures in a foreign land New Orleans was one of the earliest American ports of call for Italian immigrants they arrived on ships called lemon boats because the vessels carried citrus fruits as well as passengers from Sicily in southern Italy in the history of the American Mafia New Orleans accidentally became the Cosa Nostra's Plymouth Rock the setting for the first Sicilian and southern Italian gangsters in America they were petty criminals who imitated the tactics of the original mafia even employing the name of the secret society eventually their descendants in six assessors became an authentic American Mafia family by 1890 more than 1,000 Italian immigrants lived in New Orleans and two violent gangs fought for control of the port's stevedoring business at the height of the feud chief of police David Hennessy who was suspected of taking bribes from one of the factions was shot and killed the murder infuriated a large group of vigilantes who lynched sixteen Italian men several of whom had been charged with complicity in the police chief's slaying the grand jury that investigated the affair produced the first documented recognition that some form of the mafia had arrived in the United States and spotlighted the difficulties in unearthing information about this obscure entity in a report the jury in 1891 declared the range of our researches has developed the existence of the secret organization styled mafia the evidence comes from several sources fully competent in themselves to attest its truth while the fact is supported by the long record of blood-curdling crimes it being almost impossible to discover the perpetrators or to secure witnesses although New Orleans witnessed the country's first incident of mafia infiltration it was - northeastern cities like New York that the masses of Sicilian and Italian immigrants gravitated in addition in the early 1900's mafiosi imitators and other predators also flocked there these thugs preyed on their own apprehensive countrymen who were adapting to a different language and different customs and who were distrustful of American law enforcement authorities in the early stages of Italian immigration the police in New York and in other large eastern cities often confused the Mafia with individuals and gangs operating under the name of la mano Niro or the black hand the black hand which had no direct relationship with the Mafia referred to a crude technique of random extortion you used by individuals and small gangs it was not an organization the extortionists would deliver letters mainly to businessmen and shopkeepers in Italian neighborhoods warning them of dire injuries or death if they failed to pay bribes for their continued safety to magnify the intimidation a frightening symbol the picture of a black hand fringed by a knife and skull wasn't printed on each letter faced with soaring crime and murder rates in Italian sections the New York Police Department in 1883 recruited its first Italian speaking officer Giuseppe Joe Petrosino a native of southern Italy Petrosino immigrated to New York with his parents at age 13 and worked as a shoeshine boy and street sweeper before becoming a police officer an assertive solidly built individual Petrosino was only 5 feet 3 inches tall and officials had to waive the department's minimum height requirement to bring him onto the force unlike ineffective English speaking officers and detectives who were unable to glean clues let alone solve crimes in the Italian and Sicilian precincts the hard-working street smart Petrosino proved his worth and rounding up dangerous suspects in 1895 Theodore Roosevelt then the city's highest civilian police official promoted Petrosino to Detective a master of disguises been able to speak several Italian and Sicilian dialects Pett Recinos work led to prison sentences for more than 500 criminals his exploits earned him the rank of lieutenant and whenever a serious crime occurred involving Sicilians or Italians commanders would cry out send for the [ __ ] like many ambitious police officers and dangerous roles Petrosino counted on good press accounts to further his career and he tipped off newspaper reporters to pending arrests in big cases one instance was the help he provided to fabled tenor Enrico Caruso when he received a black hand demand for $5,000 a princely sum at the turn of the 20th century Caruso intended to pay until Petrosino persuaded him that he would be opening himself to more and larger extortions the detective set a trap and personally collared the man who came to collect Caruso's payoff Petrosino tried to educate the police brass about the reasons Italian criminals found in New York and other big cities such tempting targets here there is practically no police surveillance he reported in a memorandum here it is easy to buy arms and dynamite here there is no penalty for using a fake name here it is easy to hide thanks to our enormous territory and overcrowded cities by 1909 Petro xenos advice was being heated and he was heading a 25 man unit the Italian squad went police commissioner Theodore Bingham sent him on a secret assignment to Italy and Sicily a new American law allowed the deportation of any alien who had been convicted of a crime in another country and who had lived in the United States for less than three years with a long list of known villains in hand Petrosino was to seek out proof of their criminal misbehavior in Italy and returned with the evidence to boot them out of America unfortunately while Petrosino was abroad the publicity-seeking Bingham disclosed the nature of his assignment to a New York newspaper and the Mafia in Sicily got wind of the detectives arrival their Sicilian mafiosi apparently alarmed over petrol xenos digging in their backyard and determined to send a deterrent message to other potential American investigators caught up with the detective in Palermo on his first day in the city he was gunned down in daylight in the crowded Piazza marina standing near a statue of Garibaldi at close range professional assassins shot him twice in the back of the head and once in the face Vito Cascio Ferro a mafia Padrino claimed afterward that he was responsible for the murder Don Vito had lived briefly in New York and apparently was incensed by Petra xenos diligent investigation of Sicilian criminals at Petra xenos funeral in New York 250,000 people lined the streets and mournful tribute as the cortege passed to honor the fallen hero the city dedicated a miniscule parklet in lower Manhattan as lieutenant Joseph Petrosino Square today that Barre bench less concrete slab serves as a road divider and pedestrian safety island near Little Italy one block from the old police headquarters where Petrosino got his fatal final orders from Commissioner Bingham Petrosino achieved the distinction of being the only New York police officer murdered on an overseas assignment his killers were never caught decades later near the close of the 20th century New York's Mafia families were still firmly in place and as defiant as their predecessors had been earlier in Sicily ironically across the street from Petrosino square the restaurant LaDonna Rosa opened in the 1980s its owner was Alphonse d'arco then a high-ranking mobster within easy sight of a plaque memorializing lieutenant petro xenos crusade against the Mafia the restaurant was used by d'arco as a secure meeting site for the Lucchese crime family to map out plans for murders and other crimes for the Castellammare is a war during the first two decades of the 20th century Italian immigrant criminals in New York were either undisciplined of street gangs or individual predators by 1920 nearly 1 million Italian immigrants predominantly from Sicily and southern Italy lived in New York about 15% of the city's population they were squeezed into three neighborhoods Little Italy and East Harlem in Manhattan and Williamsburg in Brooklyn like other ethnic criminal groups the newly-arrived mafiosi and other Italian gangsters largely confined themselves to victimizing their own countrymen Irish hoodlums carried out similar activities on Manhattan's West Side the turf for Jewish thugs was the Lower East Side a political and social earthquake prohibition would revolutionize crime in America for these small-time Italian Jewish and Irish underworld characters combined with another upheaval the triumph of fascism in Italy the two events would significantly alter the Mafia's role in America and transform it into the nation's preeminent criminal organization prohibition the 18th amendment to the Constitution went into effect in January 1920 making the manufacture and sale of all alcoholic beverages a federal crime the historian Stephen Fox described the law as an ethnic experiment in social control an attempt to preserve the nation's anglo-saxon character from the influx of foreign cultures prohibition supporters characterized the ban as a crusade to protect the presumed wholesome pastoral values of rural America from decadent big cities and their huge alien populations indeed in the immoral urban centers many Italian Jewish and Irish gangsters quickly recognized the significance of the law and the rich opportunities had offered for a new type of crime bootlegging or supplying beer and booze to a clientele that was law-abiding but extremely thirsty overnight in apartments in sheds in the back rooms of stores primitive stills or distilleries dubbed alkie cookers sprouted in New York's ethnic ghettos at the same time in Sicily the Mafia's half-century of serene growth was suddenly being challenged the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini took control of the Italian government in the early 1920s and moved rapidly to wipe out all opposition to the absolute supremacy of the fascist dictatorship a northerner mussolini was well aware of the Mafia's extraordinary influence in Sicily and its historical contempt for all national governments in Rome Mussolini's antagonism toward the Mafia was inflamed by the cool insulting reception he received on a visit to Sicily in 1924 the head of a Koska don't cheat show Kuchar who was the mayor of the small town Piana de gretchy aptly demonstrated the Mafia's disrespect for Aldo che the leader when the haughty Mussolini arose to deliver a speech the main Piazza was empty except for a collection of seedy beggars and village idiots collected by the mayor at a reception in another town despite the vigilance of his bodyguards the mafia managed to steal Mussolini's hat Mussolini's revenge was Swift and exacting he gave a ruthless official from the north Cesare amore totalitarian police powers and an army of special agents to eradicate the mafia dubbed the iron prefect and aided by landowners and businessmen who resented the Mafia's power and extortion demands Morey brutally rounded up an imprisoned scores of Klan fathers and their soldiers one of the first victims in Mussolini's war was the imprudent Don ciccio's Kucha a month after the insult of the Piazza Mussolini retaliated with a long jail sentence for Don Chico without the formality of a trial the Appalachian dawn is a form of honor and great respect for an individual not an inherited or aristocratic title as a method of publicly degrading those mafiosi who did come to trial bori constructed iron cages to exhibit them in courtrooms distressed at the slow pace of one of the early judicial proceedings mussolini issued this blunt directive fascist justice must be rapid and decisive if the trial does not go faster the liquidation of the Mafia will not be done until the year 2000 before Maurice masse roundups and trials ended more than 1,200 suspected mafiosi were convicted and sentenced to terms ranging from a few months to life imprisonment Palermo was the center of the crackdown and the accusations were usually banding together for criminal purposes and the specific crimes of murder extortion blackmail robbery and theft mussolini reaped a bonus from the reign of terror against the mafia it was a convenient pretence to arrest and eliminate sicilian liberals leftists and other political opponents all of whom were falsely smeared as mafiosi the Sicilian Mafia never conceived a plan to infiltrate America or to establish branches in the United States but the mussolini mori suppression proved so severe that it led to a widespread exodus from sicily of experienced an apprentice mafiosi fleeing certain torture and imprisonment unlimited entry to the United States ended in 1924 with the enactment of the National Origins Act a law that virtually halted emigration from Italy undeterred by immigration restrictions and portraying themselves as political victims of fascism many of the routed Sicilian mobsters headed for New York they had little difficulty sneaking into the country and linking up with entrenched Sicilian gangs one of the earliest illegal aliens was Joseph Bonanno who would create a mob empire in America Bonanno whose father and close relatives were sworn mafiosi came from Castellammare del Golfo castle by the sea a hallowed mafia bastion on Sicilies west coast his trip to America was arranged with financial and moral support from Klan members in Castellammare a who had gone underground to survive Mussolini's purged from Castellammare a second in America in 1924 at age 19 Bonanno slipped into the United States from Cuba and made his way to Brooklyn's Williamsburg section where an immigrant Castellammare is a Borgata was already in business like other mafiosi newcomers banana was astonished by the rosy prospects prohibition offered it was the Golden Goose he rhapsodize his first illicit venture was opening a still in Brooklyn with other young Castellammare a say immigrants when I first got into bootlegging I thought it was too good to be true Bonanno wrote in his autobiography a man of honor published 60 years later I didn't consider it wrong it seemed fairly safe and that the police didn't bother you there was plenty of business for everyone the profits were tremendous violating or ignoring the prohibition amendment was considered a good-natured sport not a stigma by most Americans after the amendment was ratified Congress approved the National Prohibition Act commonly called the Volstead Act to define and strengthen the law all beverages containing more than 0.5% alcohol were banned as intoxicating the bootleggers rum runners and speakeasy owners who slaked the nation's gigantic thirst were generally looked upon by most public officials judges and ordinary citizens as providing an essential product and service except for a tiny core of diligent incorruptible federal agents local and federal law enforcement age had blind eyes and opened palms when it came to enforcing a singularly unpopular law national enforcement was delegated largely to the newly created prohibition Bureau in the Treasury Department the agency soon became a laughingstock ridiculed for its huge conglomeration of politically appointed corrupt and incompetent annex masquerading as investigators little enthusiasm was expended by most local law enforcement units to disturb bootlegging operations indeed many states and communities where political sentiment was Pro wet anti prohibition passed laws that seemingly benefited bootleggers New York State may have gone the farthest to protect the illegal industry in 1923 the New York legislature repealed a weak state prohibition law thereby eliminating any requirement by local police to initiate or assist federal agents and arresting violators encouraged by the lacs enforcement in New York the Sicilian gangs and a Jewish and Irish bootleggers abandoned the primitive rotgut alkie cookers they developed more sophisticated and profitable techniques smuggling quality liquor from Britain and Canada and opening their own covert breweries in addition to the Castellammare AC overseas clan several other loosely organized Sicilian gangs some with southern Italian member

Channel: The Real Gambino Family

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Keywords: Coronavirus, Corona Virus, Mafia, mafia, New York, Carlo Gambino, Neil Dellacroce, Paul Castellano, john gotti, John Gotti, New York Mafia, Lucky Luciano, Albert Anastasia, Gambino Crime Family, Alpo, Phil Leonetti, the mob, the mafia, Sammy Gravano, sammy the bull, joe gallo, Carmine Galante, Vito Genovese, Frank Costello, Michael Jordan, Italia, Italy, 5 families, five families, Salvatore Maranzano, The Real Mafia | Not The Fake Shit | The Re-Written Mafia Bible | Part #3

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Length: 86min 1sec (5161 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 06 2020