Mike Cascio
Honors Project
GOOD
GOVERNMENT
BULL S#!%
THE HISTORY OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN
ITALIAN ORGANIZED CRIME AND THE GOVERNMENTS
OF ITALY AND AMERICA
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INTRODUCTION
As Americans, we all know Don Corleone and his crew from The Godfather.
After watching Goodfellas, not only do we feel like we are part of the gang, we feel like
we have known these characters for all of our lives. Here in America, we idolize these
films and characters; we are fooled by their well demeanor and charm as they break the
law. Most people in this country view gangsters as characters from fiction, ones that
aren‟t real. Their ignorance helps the criminal organizations thrive in this country,
especially in the Northeast. The sympathy and glorification of organized criminals is
absent in its country of origin. In Italy, films show the horrors of these criminals in
everyday life.
Organized criminal enterprises in Italy have a lot of say in the economic, political,
and ethically social aspects of life in the country and around the world. The
organizations are so influential, but illegal, keeping Italy‟s economy significantly lower
than it could be. Is there an efficient way to tap into the hundreds of billions of dollars
these criminals make each year?
According to the statistics of the 2010 World Population Data Sheet, Italy has a
population of 60.5 million people. The north and south vary significantly in economics
and culture. The north looks down upon the southern people. The north is made up of
regions that are very industrial and well employed. The south has a high unemployment
rate and the region relies heavily on its agriculture. The majority of the money made in
the south that goes to the GDP of the country is from agriculture. However, from the
CIA world fact book, agriculture only accounts for 1.8% of the nation‟s GDP.I Many
northerners and political institutions, such as Lega Nord, resent southerners and push for
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a divided Italy. They don‟t like seeing their tax dollars continuously going to the south
where nothing happens. I‟m sure the north wouldn‟t complain so much if the
government could accurately and efficiently collect a share of the money from illegal
activities; the same activities which northern Italy and Europe don‟t seem to mind when
benefiting.
When people think about Italian organized crime, they think Mafia. This is a
common misconception. Sicily is home to the Mafia. Italy has three other major
organized criminal organizations. The Camorra from Campania, primarily Napoli, the
„Ndrangheta from Calabria, and the Sacra Corona Unita from Puglia. All of these groups
benefit from one another and even go into joint ventures together on certain occasions or
opportunities. Each group racks in billions of dollars each year through illegal activities
and legitimate businesses. Organized crime controls 20% of businesses in Italy alone.
Together, the groups make over 130 billion dollars annually. This is equivalent to 15%
of Italy‟s GNPII and approximately 7-9% of the GDP of the country.III
The types of business that are Mafia controlled are very different from one
another. To name a few, their business includes drugs, counterfeiting, gambling, loansharking, human trafficking, money laundering, weapon deals, real estate, construction,
retirement homes, hotels, restaurants, and of course, the monopoly of the garbage
industry. An Italian business group, Confesercenti, had a 2008 study that was reported
by ABC news showing the impact of the criminal organizations on Italian business. The
study found that businessmen and retailers in Italy lose 250 million euros a day.IV Loansharking, the third largest form of income for the Mafia, has made 180,000 businessmen
victims of organized crime. As well as falling victim to the Mafia personally, like in the
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loan-sharking cases, many other Italians and people of many other nations around the
world are indirectly affected by Italian organized crime. Possibly the most evident
example of this would be found in the garbage business.
The Camorra in particular has a monopoly on garbage. The business itself is
legal. This makes a lot of money alone, not to mention the illegal activities that are
conducted through the legal trash business. Napoli has had a problem with trash
collection since the Camorra has taken over some 25 years ago. The Camorra takes over
the industry and extorts any company that tries to start their own waste removal business.
Because they have a monopoly, they can do whatever they want, charge how much they
want, and don‟t have to have good service, if any. This has resulted in the Italian military
going into Napoli to take charge of collecting the mountains of trash piled throughout the
city when the Camorra stops conducting business for whatever reason they feel is viable
at the time. Recently, in May 2011, Berlusconi sent 170 troops in 70 trucks to clean up
2,000 tons of trash in the dirty streets of Napoli. This marks the second time in three
years the military has gone into the city for these services. Some believe that Berlusconi
only sent the troops for a dramatic and heroic effect to gain popularity before a local
election. This latest problem with the garbage in Napoli is believed to involve the Mafia
as well as the Camorra.V
The worst aspect of the waste business is the dumping sites. The organization
finds land to put magnificent landfills. There are little to no regulations on the sites or on
what goes into the sites. The men in charge will make almost any deal to make profit, no
matter what the contract involves; even toxic waste.
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The toxic waste that is taken from the garbage contracts may be used in
construction contracts that the Camorra takes on later. The waste can make its way into
the cement on construction sites that harm future inhabitants of new buildings. In 2004,
the British medical journal, The Lancet Oncology, declared a “triangle of death” east of
Napoli. This is an area where cancer rates are higher due to the amount of toxic waste
being dumped in the area. In 2003, 6,000 buffalo cows were culled in the area because
dioxin levels in their milk were ten times the legal European Union limit.VI By 2005,
Italy‟s Higher Health Institute saw the mortality rate from cancer skyrocket in the
Campania area. There is a 20% increase in cancer in poisoned areas. Waste is supposed
to be separated into liquid and solid waste, and then compacted into eco-balls to be
incinerated. The waste in reality isn‟t actually separated, therefore, not burnt. Letting
them decompose produces toxic liquid that enters the ground and water. There are
400,000 tons of eco-balls in the Napoli area. Special government commissioner Giudo
Bertolaso has said an extra 500,000 tons of garbage is “swept under the carpet or heaped
into illegal sites.”VII
Trash that had piled up from southern Italy was sent to Hamburg, Germany in
2008 for 11 weeks. Hamburg‟s own trash has one of two destinations; recycling or a trip
to a high-tech, low-polluting incinerator. A 56-car train arrived everyday to transport 700
tons of waste from Napoli. The Italian trains had trouble with delays getting to Germany.
Austrians stalled the process for months before allowing trash trains to cross through
their country. Once in Germany, the German officials found radioactive medical waste in
a car. The Italian officials promised to monitor the waste and trains better after that. The
Germans feel the same way about the south as the northern Italians. The technical
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director of two of Hamburg‟s incinerators, Martin Mineur said, “We are doing this
because we were asked to provide emergency aid, but we will do it only for a few
months, not years.” He also added, “This is not a long-term solution. Italy will have to
solve Italy‟s problem.”VIII
Napoli‟s garbage problems are reaching out past Germany and hitting all of
Europe, filling up more landfills at a rapid pace. “By 2020, the European Union will
require member nations to reduce the amount of trash sent to landfills to 35 percent of
what it was in 1995.”IX Many nations are currently working on reducing their waste
because of health and environmental problems. Experts don‟t believe countries like Italy,
Spain, Greece, Britain, Ireland, and France can meet the 2020 goals. Many Europeans
believe that the Germans should be helping more and leading the way in the garbage
reduction. Spokeswoman for the European Commission Environment Directorate,
Barbara Helferrich, stated that Italy has money from the EU and, “They have technical
support. But they still don't have a plan. Naples has not applied EU legislation, and they
have been dragging their feet to come up with a proper solution.” In May 2008, the
“European Commission filed suit against Italy because they said that Italy failed to meet
its obligation to collect and dispose of its garbage.”X This will result in heavy fines. The
people of the Campania region need to do take progressive action. It seems to be the
same old story in this section of the country. When a new dump site is proposed,
residents voice concern about the toxins and the possibilities of being contaminated.
Protesters and rioters come out and cause violence against police and/or military forces.
The local mayors refuse to sign anything that sets up new dump sites.
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The Germans in Hamburg had troubles of their own a decade before with their
own trash before they had incinerators. This is the only reason they agreed to help Italy.
For one ton of trash, it costs about €150 to incinerate. The Germans would not say if or
how much Napoli was paying to have the trash incinerated. The bar is raised for Napoli
to step up and solve its own problems. Local opposition is the scapegoat local politicians
say they can‟t build many of the planned incinerators in Napoli. After years of local,
northern Italian, and European trash build up in Campania, the time to change its business
approach is now. Former mayor of Napoli, Rosa Russo Iervolina, said, “The city's not
dirty, it's filthy. I'm really worried. I wish I could invent new powers for myself so I
could actually do something.”XI
The Italian government is slower than the criminal enterprises in tapping into the
newest forms of efficiency to help the public. The best option at the moment for the
Italian government would be to gain full control and initiate incinerators in Campania
before the Camorra can take control. Berlusconi opened an incinerator, the first of five
planned, near the city of Napoli in March of 2009. The incinerator will burn 600,000
tons of waste a year.XII The eight year delay on construction is believed to be caused by
the influence of the Camorra. This could be a move that turns out to hurt the Camorra.
The Mafia and „Ndrangheta have been taking advantage of the newest industry trends in
renewable energy in Sicily and Calabria. Wind and solar energy is a huge market that is
run by the Mafia and „Ndrangheta that the government isn‟t controlling. I have seen first
hand the incredible presence of the windmills that have reshaped the Sicilian landscape
which supply enormous amounts of energy to the region. It is a shame that the
government doesn‟t have much say or a share of the profits from them. It is a bittersweet
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operation because the final product goes to a good cause but the Mafia makes millions of
euros from the money that the EU and Italian government spend on grants to have
alternate energy.
The European Union and Italian government have spent millions of euros in
grants on alternative energy that are being fraudulently collected by the newly named
“eco-Mafia.” Environmental campaigner, Edoardo Zanchini said, “Nothing earns more
than a wind farm,” and, “Anything that creates wealth interests the Mafia.” The
international corporate security firm, Kroll, has found in a recent study that all over
Europe, clean energy schemes are being used to “line criminals‟ pockets rather than save
the planet.” There are 30 wind farms in Sicily and another 60 planned. Italy is home to
the highest selling rate of wind power at €180 per kilowatt hour (kwh). The money is
feared to go straight to the Mafia and corrupt politicians.
There have been many investigations and arrests branching from the wind farms.
In one case, eight people were arrested in Operation “Eolo” with the charges of bribing
officials in Mazara del Vallo with luxury cars and bribes ranging from 30-70,000
euros.XIII Another incident resulted in 1.5 billion euros worth of assets confiscated on
September 15, 2010 from a wind and solar industry player in the Sicilian Mafia. 43 wind
and solar power companies in Sicily and Calabria were included in the seized assets.XIV
In another operation called, “Gone With the Wind,” 15 people were arrested because they
tried embezzling 30 million euros in EU funds. One of these 15 people was Oreste
Vigorito, the president of Italy‟s National Wind Energy Association.
The relationship of politicians and criminals is very confusing and shifts power
between the different crime groups. The paper by Maffei and Merzagora Betsos, Crime
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and Criminal Policy in Italy, does an excellent job in explaining current organized crime
policies and their effects:
After the killings of two senior prosecutors (Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino) in
1992, a number of tough laws were passed in order to (a) increase the secrecy of judicial
investigations into mafia crimes, (b) establish solitary confinement for inmates involved
in mafia crimes and (c) allow more flexibility in the collection of evidence (i.e. wiretaps).
In the past decade, there is some evidence that, especially in Sicily, law enforcement is
eventually gaining the upper hand over the mafia. The capture of godfather
Bernardo Provenzano in 2006 is the most recent
success. By contrast, the Camorra in Campania has
become increasingly violent and recent clashes between city gangs have turned Naples into the Italy‟s
most dangerous city.
As the paper pointed out, the Camorra has become more violent since the
crackdown on the Mafia in recent years. They have killed more than any terrorist or
criminal organization in Europe; 4000 deaths in the last thirty years. That accounts for
one murder every three days. Daily drug sales per clan can get up to 500,000 euros. If
the waste of the Camorra was piled up, it would reach 14,600 meters. To put in
comparison, Mount Everest is only 8,850 meters. They, along with the other groups,
have investments in the United States, including in the reconstruction of the World Trade
Center.
$800 billion is the combined capital of the four Italian criminal organizations. 7%
has been frozen and 3% has been confiscated. A document holding these figures added
that “the fortunes made in these businesses would be enough to pay off public debt, the
ball and chain around Europe‟s ankle.”XV A senior police official believes that countries
that permitted offshore banking are responsible for the growth of criminal activities.
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Milan Chief Prosecutor Gerardo d‟Ambrosio believes, “In order to beat the Mafia, we
need the co-operation of businessmen, and they don't always give us concrete facts upon
which we can act.” The problem with this theory is that people are afraid to talk. There
is enough corruption in the system for the criminals to get access to anyone testifying
against them. The public is aware of the problems, but hesitant to speak out against
them.
3% of $800 billion is only a drop in the bucket that Italy and the world can benefit
from. With a judicial system that has an average time of 8-10 years from indictment to
ruling, going after the 800 billion dollars doesn‟t seem like a time efficient solution to
help boost the struggling Italian economy. For Italy to become an economic powerhouse
of the future, they need to start taking the grants from the EU and invest their own money
in alternate energies that are government run and regulated, slowly taking the power
away from the criminal organizations as a primary objective. Secondary objectives could
be infiltrating the groups to try and take the 800 billion dollars to give back to the people
and invest wisely in the country. The Mafia, Camorra, „Ndrangheta, and Sacra Corona
Unita will always have a presence in Italy and the world, but little by little, Italy can gain
back control of its infrastructure. How can this be possible? By looking back at history
to the creation and people of the criminal organizations and the fight between
governments and organized crime, we might be able to understand what can help the
country in the future.
10
PART I
THE SICILIAN MAFIA
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I
Because of the global impact that the Sicilian Mafia has had in the course of
history, I will begin examining them first. Sicilians have said that after God created
Earth, he cried tears of joy, and Sicily is one of the tears. There is no doubt that Sicily is
one of the most beautiful and interesting places on the planet. One could pick any
synonym of beautiful to describe the island. However, the way I‟m about to describe the
island in no way reflects the natural beauty, but the history and some physical artifacts
left on the island. The best way to illustrate Sicily in the sense of history is by labeling it
as abused. All throughout history, the island was traveled and conquered by tribes,
armies, and nations of the known world at the time. It is believed that Sicily was first
inhabited around 8,000 B.C. by the Sicani, originally from Catalonia on the Iberian
Peninsula. This area is in northeast Spain. Eventually, in the next couple of thousand
years, Sicily would be inhabited by two more groups of people; the Elymians, from
Anatolia in Turkey, and the Sicels, a group believed to be from Italy, north of Rome into
northern Italy. The Sicels are the ones who gave Sicily its name. There are a few other
tribes from Italy and the surrounding islands, but they did not have the same impact on
the island as the main three.
The Greeks came to Sicily around 750 B.C. They started to establish cities and
build temples that are still visible today thanks to the Sicilians preserving and rebuilding.
The Greeks of Syracuse eventually would be involved in the first of many invasions of
Sicily. This outbreak was part of the Peloponnesian War that started in Greece. The
Athenians went to war with Sparta after there was unrest in parts of the empire. The
Spartans believed they had defeated the Athenians after one of the phases of the war.
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Another revolt against the Athenians occurred because it was believed that Athens was
about to collapse. Instead, the Athenians suppressed the revolt. They took many Spartan
prisoners and went into Sicily with interest of taking Syracuse. The Greeks of Syracuse
took Spartan and Corinth allies to defeat the Athenians in approximately in 425 B.C.XVI
The Greek-Punic wars against Carthage became another struggle for power over the
island. The Greeks and Carthage fought for almost 400 years, ending in 225 B.C.,
resulting in a stalemate. Carthage held onto a third of the island and the Sicels and
Greeks had the rest. The Romans came down in the mid 200s B.C. to help the Greeks in
the fight against Carthage. Sicily would eventually become the first province of Rome
outside of the Italian Peninsula.
Throughout history, even more nations would come into Sicily. The original
tribes, Phoenicians/Carthaginian, Greek, Roman, Arab, Holy Roman Empire (German),
Byzantine, Norman (French), Papal States, Italian, and even America had influence or
control over the island. Almost all resulted in or from war. Evidence of all of these
nations is still seen today. Many times, these civilizations were kicked out by the
Sicilians themselves due to revolts. You may be asking yourself what this has to do with
the Mafia. If one were to look up the history of the Mafia, you wouldn‟t find a concrete
answer. Considering the Mafia is a secret society, there won‟t be exact artifacts such as
the Declaration of Independence stating this is the start of something big. Most people
believe the Mafia started in the early 1800s in a rural setting as a group of thieves due to
economic reasons.
This theory may be correct and probably did play a large role in making some
groundbreaking advances for the Mafia at the time, but I think the Mafia started long
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before the 1800s. The wars and invasions that took place on Sicily happened between
non-Sicilians for the most part. With no governance of a true leader or nation, an island
invaded as much as Sicily had no protection of the actual Sicilians, which have been
forgotten in history. Because of the vulnerability of the citizens and the island itself, the
people in the community were all they had against the world. The Sicilians were forced
to form compounds and “families” for protection against any possible invader or ruler at
any given time. From these families, you get protection, security, possibly a role in
society, and most importantly, a leader and governance of your own. Power changes
people. It would not be surprising to me if the criminal actions occurred hundreds or
thousands of years ago due to the power given to the Sicilians in charge of the
compounds.
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II
The first interactions between the Mafia and government occurred in the late
1800s. Surprisingly, it was in America, not Sicily; even more surprising was that it
occurred in New Orleans, not New York. The incident happened because of a fight for
power between the growing force of the Matranga gang and the mighty Provenzano
family. In 1888, the Matrangas started to compete for the rackets on the docks in the city.
Giuseppe Provenzano tried to resolve the situation peacefully, but when one of their
members, Vincenzo Ultonino, was murdered, a war broke out. Police Chief of New
Orleans, David Hennessey, was a close friend of Provenzano. He tried to calm tensions
between the two groups. He failed. In 1890, the Provenzanos showed their might as they
attacked leaders of the Matranga gang at Claiborne and Esplanade Streets. This resulted
in murder and two of the leaders seriously hurt. Antonio Matranga lost part of his leg in
the attack. The Matrangas did what goes against the code. They had leaders of the
Provenzanos arrested. In the first of three trials, those arrested of the Provenzano gang
were found guilty of murder; however, the judge threw out the verdict. In the second
trial, Hennessey was supposed to testify as a favor for his friends. Before the trial started,
Hennessey was shot allegedly by the hand of Matranga members.XVII The Police Chief
would live just into the next day. As he lay dying, he told Captain William O‟Connor,
“Dagos did it.” In 1891, the result of the trials would find the Provenzanos not guilty of
the Matranga murders.
This was the first publicized Mafia incident in the country. Due to Hennessey‟s
murder and last words, 250 Italians were immediately arrested for his murder. Many
people were initially rounded up probably just for the reward offered by the Mayor. In
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efforts to minimize the number arrested, a detective disguised himself as a prisoner to get
information. Emmanuelle Polizzi, one of the many prisoners arrested began talking with
the man he believed to be one of them. He told him the Matrangna boss, Charles
Matragna, and Joseph Macheca were behind the murders. Macheca supposedly feared he
would be exposed by Hennessey about his rackets and counterfeiting. Of the 250
arrested, a grand jury indicted 19 Italians. Among Matrangna and Macheca, four others
from their gang were part of the 19. The other 13 had no criminal records. Nine of the
suspects went on trial in early 1891. Three defendants had mistrials, Antonio Scaffidi,
Emmanuelle Polizzi, and Pietro Monasterio. Joseph Macheca, Antonio Bagnetto,
Antonio Marchesi, and Gasperi Marchesi heard not guilty. The top two in command of
the gang, Charles Matragna and Bastian Incardona were found not guilty by directed
verdict. Jury tampering and bribery were suspected after these men were found not
guilty. Politician, William Parkerson, assembled a meeting for the people to find justice.
The Times-Democrat paper that was given out specifically for this meeting read, “Who
bribed the jury?” The crowd broke out into a shout, “Kill the Dagos!” This resulted in
the crowd marching into Parish Prison where the 19 men were being held. Parkerson
planned on murdering the Italians, but wanted to make it look like it was the end result of
a riot. Polizzi, Scaffidi, Monasterio, Macheca, Antonio Marchesi, Bagnetto, Rocco
Geraci, Frank Romero, Charles Traina, Loretto Comitz, and James Caruso were taken by
the crowd and lynched. All of these men were either acquitted, had mistrials, or were not
tried. For the murder of one man, 11 Italians were hanged, making this the largest mass
lynching in United States history.
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Fearing Italy may take action against the United States, thousands of citizens
joined the armed forces in preparation of such an attack. For the first time since the Civil
War, the entire country was united with similar sentiment. Although discriminated in the
past, this really pushed the Italian-Americans lower on the social totem pole of America.
As the Sicilians evolved into Americans, the Mafia had to change how it handled
government officials. In Sicily, anyone was killable, in America, no law enforcement
could be touched, at least like in this situation.
Giuseppe Garibaldi started his unification of Italy in Sicily. This was in 1860.
This was the first time Sicily was really recognized by Italy since the Romans. Sicily
was still Sicily though. Even today, Sicilians are Sicilians first, Italians second. The
Mafia took its true form because of one man, Don Vito Cascio Ferro. Cascio Ferro was
born in Palermo in 1862. He entered the Mafia when he was young, possibly around age
20. He worked as a bag boy. This meant he collected revenue through protection. He
eventually rose through the ranks of the Mafia. The title of Don was given to men of
honor and respect. Cascio Ferro received this title because of his efforts with the socialist
movement called Fasci Siciliani.
This group was made up of mostly lower class, poor, farmers, and workers. They
all wanted a better life. After all, Sicily was really abused and forgotten by Italy. The
Fasci opposed the government, land owners, and to some extent, the Mafia. They
demanded lower taxes, lower rent, higher wages, justice, progress, and democracy to the
people. The Fasci were essentially unions. Between 1889 and 1893, there were only 170
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Fasci in Sicily. By the end of 1893, the number grew to 300,000.XVIII Although not a
Socialist, Cascio Ferro saw an opportunity in this movement. He saw how popular the
Fasci Siciliani was with the rural people of Sicily and he went on to infiltrate the
movement. People looked up to Don Vito as he helped lead a branch of this movement.
The government in Rome eventually sent in the military in 1894. They suppressed the
movement and violence ensued. 100 people were killed and another 100 were wounded
and arrested. As many leaders were arrested and disciplined, Cascio Ferro left Sicily for
a year in Tunis.
When he returned to Sicily, Vito took of his Socialist mask and used all of his
power to become Don. His vision was to be invisible to the law, but to the people, friend
of all friends. Don Vito understood he could bypass the government by doing favors and
using violence. People who received orders from Don Vito knew they must be carried
out, or a death sentence would be issued. With his power, he convinced the government
in Palermo to let him control giving emigration permits in Corleone.
In 1898, Cascio Ferro was sentenced for kidnapping 19 year old Baroness
Clorinda Peritelli di Valpetrosa. After being released in 1900, Don Vito left Sicily
because of special police surveillance. He arrived in New York the following year. He
worked in the city for two or three years as a fruit and food importer, as well as living in
New Orleans for half a year. In truth, he wanted to get into gambling, prostitution,
immigrant trafficking, and to control racketeering. At this time in America, La Mano
Nera, or Black Hand was the only organization for Italian criminal operations. The Black
Hand is just like a gang, but missing structure as the Mafia had. The most famous act of
the Black Hand was when they got hold of fellow Italian, “golden-voiced tenor,” Enrico
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Caruso at the beginning of the 20th century.XIX The singer was blackmailed by Black
Hand members. They constantly threatened his life by sending letters, warning of
harming him in many ways if he did not pay. The letters said he could work with the
Black Hand or go to the police. He went to the police. Under close watch of law
enforcers, he delivered a $15,000 package to his extorters.XX Two Italian-Americans
were arrested. Don Vito taught many Black Hand members techniques to run their
operations and how to extort businesses, but keep them afloat; a technique called
“wetting the beak.” Cascio Ferro helped to evolve the Black Hand into the Mafia.
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III
As the Mafia started to take shape in America, authority started to take notice.
There was a huge amount of Italian prejudice in the 19th and 20th centuries. Even for
honorable men, it was hard for them to get jobs. Italians and Blacks were placed at the
same level in many cases. Even into the middle of the 20th century, signs were posted in
the cities asking for Italian and Negro workers. One man found himself working past
these prejudices in the New York Police Department. This man was Giuseppe Petrosino.
He was born in 1860 in Padula, a town in the province of Salerno in Southern Italy.
When just a boy, he and his father came to New York where he Americanized his name
and became simply known as Joe. When he turned 18, Joe got a job with the NYPD and
worked as a street cleaner.XXI
This was not an ideal job for Petrosino, but he did meet Alexander “the Clubber”
Williams. Williams was promoted to a roundsman, or supervisor of patrolmen on July
10, 1871, a sergeant on September 23 two months later, and then he made captain the
next June. He was stationed at the West 30th Street Station which he named the district,
“the tenderloin.” After a few years, he was appointed to lead the city‟s street cleaning
department. It was here that Williams noticed Petrosino. People are unsure of what
aspect of Joe caught the eye of Williams. It probably was the boy‟s natural ability to be a
leader, not his appearance. A member of the Italian Parliament, author, and friend of Joe,
Luigi Barzini, described Petrosino like this: He was a stout, strong man. His cleanshaven face was coarse featured, and marred by light pocking; at first sight he did not
attract. But in a butcher‟s face there was the impress of a stubborn will and of courage,
something that made one think of a mastiff.XXII
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Clubber returned to the tenderloin in 1881 and started using Joe as an informant
and interpreter when there were incidents and cases with Italians. Because the force at
the time was mostly Irish, Williams was pleased to have a young Italian by his side. He
was so pleased to have him that he convinced his superiors to hire Petrosino as a
patrolman. Although to be an officer in the NYPD, one must be 5 feet 7 inches. The 5
foot 3 inch Petrosino found it valuable to have friends in high places as the yard stick
broke the day of hiring.XXIII
Petrosino suited up for the first time on October 19, 1883. Williams became an
inspector in 1887. This helped Joe got a promotion in 1890 to become a detective.
Clubber Williams would soon be out of the picture due to scandal. The state legislature‟s
Lexow Committee found evidence of wrong doing, forcing Williams to retire in
1895.XXIV The man to take control would become Theodore Roosevelt. He was
president of the New York City Board of Police Commissioners from 1895-1897.
Apparently, Teddy admired the work of Petrosino. He appointed Petrosino to detective
sergeant on July 20, 1895. No Italian-American had held a position that high in the New
York City Police Department before.
Petrosino started doing a lot of work undercover. Getting information on Italian
crimes was very difficult. Between the Black Hand and the Italian community, not may
people were open to talking with police. Not only would he go undercover, but if he
couldn‟t get information using peaceful police tactics, he would use brutality to get it.
Barzini said, “There was more of the wrestler than of the policeman in Petrosino. One
sensed that he was better at thrashing the evildoer than at finding him.”XXV Petrosino‟s
big break came with the Natale Brogno murder on September 12, 1897.
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Angelo Carbone was arrested and charged with first degree murder. He was
found with a bloody knife in his hand over the body of Brogno. When December rolled
around, in criminal court, Carbone confessed that he had been fighting with Natale, but
did not murder him. The coroner said the murder weapon was too small to have been the
one used at the scene. Carbone‟s nephew testified seeing another man run away from the
murder scene as Brogno collapsed. The eight hour case was found Carbone guilty of
murder, whether acting alone or with the other fleeing man. On December 17, Justice
Frederick Smyth of the Criminal Branch of the Supreme Court sentenced Carbone to the
electric chair in Sing Sing Prison at sometime in the week of February 7 of 1898. Smyth
wanted this to be a warning to all Italians in New York. With the aid of a translator,
Carbone expressed his feelings of the sentence by saying, “Your honor, why should I,
who am an innocent man, be put to death to deter others from committing crime? I am
not a murderer. I did not kill Brogno, and I have been unjustly convicted.”XXVI
Family and friends of Carbone appealed the verdict and hired an attorney. Head
of New York City‟s detective bureau, Captain “Chesty George” McCloskey, became
interested in the case and assigned Joe Petrosino to investigate it. Joe looked to find out
who the man was who fled the scene and the murder weapon according to the 12 year old
nephew‟s testimony. He soon received information that the man fleeing was Allessandro
Ciaramello, a cousin of Carbone, believed to be in Dover, Delaware. Petrosino followed
him for about a month. This led Petrosino through Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
and Maryland. On this journey, Joe would learn that Ciaramello bragged about the
murder often to his close friends or family. On January 26 of 1898, Petrosino caught
Ciaramello in Baltimore, Maryland. Ciaramello confessed the crime and provided
22
Petrosino with the murder weapon. A week before Carbone was set to die, Ciaramello
confessed. He murdered Brogno because he had seen him with Ciaramello‟s wife in
Newark, New Jersey. When the two met a week later, Ciaramello killed Brogno.
Ciaramello was sentenced to life in prison and his cousin, Angelo Carbone, was no longer
a dead man walking. Petrosino was praised by the press for his work. This led to bigger
and better things in the United States government.
In 1900, King Umberto of Italy was assassinated by Gaetano Bresci, an anarchist.
The United States Secret Service feared that President William McKinley would be a
victim of Italian anarchists. Petrosino was hired to infiltrate one of these groups.
Petrosino found information that would be vital to the President. Theodore Roosevelt,
who at this time had become Vice President, spoke well of Petrosino and advised
McKinley to listen to the warning. McKinley ignored Petrosino and at the 1901 PanAmerican Exposition in Buffalo, New York, he was assassinated by anarchist Leon
Czolgosz, an American born to Russian and Polish immigrants. Roosevelt would be
sworn in as President of the United States following the shooting. After the amount of
publicity Petrosino received for his information on the assassination, he began working in
New York with a “roving commission.” He would help out any criminal matters
involving Italians.XXVII
The United States Secret Service and Joe Petrosino would team up again in 1903
in a case called The Barrel Murder. This case would lead Petrosino to his most
influential and remembered investigation which was a true cat and mouse story. On
April 14, 1903, Special Police Officer Joseph McCall heard the screams of a cleaning
woman, Frances Conners, as she went to work at 5:30 in the morning. Conners saw a
23
barrel with some clothing coming out of it. As she approached it, she realized it belonged
to a human, lifeless body. McCall called in detectives to investigate the scene.XXVIII
When the detectives arrived, they found the body with the knees all the way up at
the shoulders, two slashes from ear to ear across the neck, almost removing the head, and
18 more knife wounds in the body. The identity of the victim could not be recognized,
but on a small piece of paper, the words “come quickly” had been written in Italian.
Once again, George McCloskey assigned the case to Petrosino, only because of the small
piece of paper.XXIX
Head of the United States Secret Service in New York, William J. Flynn,
informed Petrosino of the Morello gang. Because of being suspected of counterfeiting
and Black Hand crimes, the gang had been under surveillance by Flynn‟s men day and
night for over a year. The agents watching the Morellos said an unknown man was with
three members of the gang entering a butcher shop on the night before the body was
found. When the agents arrived at the morgue, the body was identified as the unknown
man that entered the butcher shop with the Morello gang.
Originally, eight Sicilian men were arrested. The eight suspects were all found
walking up the Bowery in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Giuseppe Morello, leader
of the gang, described in a New York Times article in 1903 as a man of unusual
intelligence and 34 years old, was the first of the men arrested. Tomasso Petto, Morello‟s
companion, was walking just ahead of Morello when both were arrested. Petto was
carrying cigars that were the same brand that the man in the barrel had in his
possession.XXX It took fifteen minutes to arrest the all of the men. The rest were arrested
a few minutes later in the area. The men started to walk very fast, almost a run, when the
24
agents took them down. There was a fight, but the agents overpowered the suspects by
throwing them to the ground and beating their heads into the rocks on the sidewalk. All
were armed with revolvers and knives. Authorities found that the murder actually took
place in a pastry shop at 226 Elizabeth Street, which happens to be the same address
where Morello lived.XXXI There, they found a barrel, the same type that the body was
found in, and sawdust all over the floor. It appeared to be the same sawdust found in the
barrel of the murdered man.XXXII Four more men were arrested the following day, and
another at a later date.
The list of men arrested were Giuseppe Morello, Tomasso Petto, Giuseppe
Lalamia, Vito Laduca, Nicola Testa, Antonia “Messina” Genova, Pietro Inzerillo,
Giuseppe Fanara, Domenico Pecoraro, Lorenzo Lobaido, Vito Lobaido, Giuseppe Monti,
and Giovanni Zarcone.XXXIII Of all of these men, Giuseppe Petrosino wasn‟t satisfied.
He wanted one man who wasn‟t there. He took an interest in a man who recently stepped
off the boat from Sicily, Don Vito Cascio Ferro. Cascio Ferro was living with a relative
in the neighborhood of the murder and arrests. Some think that he was a 14th man
arrested, but his name does not appear on any records. If he was a 14th man, he stayed
true to his mission, be invisible to the law, but a friend to all of the people.
The murder investigation trinity consists of means, motive, and opportunity.
Based on the statements made by the Secret Service, means and opportunity were
suggested, but none of the suspects could be linked to the victim at the time of death.
Because the identity of the victim was unknown, Petrosino could only make hypotheses
on the motive. Joe had the men booked on suspicion of homicide. This locked the men
up for two days and gave himself a little extra time to get information out of at least one
25
of the men. When his method, which is not too legal today, of interrogation did not work
after the two days, he understood they wouldn‟t talk. They held to the Omerta, the
Sicilian code of silence.
Chief Flynn told Petrosino to take a photograph of the unidentified man‟s face
and bring it to Sing Sing Prison. Petrosino brought the picture to Sicilian inmates
connected with the Morello gang to see if any would or could identify the man in the
photograph. The third man to see the picture was Giuseppe DePrimo. He took no time to
answer. He answered, “Yes I know that man, of course I do. He‟s my brother-in-law.
What‟s the matter with him? Sick?”XXXIV The man was Benedetto Madonia, a stone
mason. DePrimo said that Madonia left his home in Buffalo to raise money legally in the
city to move DePrimo to a closer prison in Erie County to be closer to the family. The
motive then became Madonia would give the police information if Morello didn‟t give
him DePrimo‟s cut of the counterfeiting.
Prosecutors brought in Salvatore, Madonia‟s stepson, to identify any of the
suspects on April 22. He could not identify any of the men, allowing them to be released.
A jury was very difficult to assemble. Coroner Gustave Scholer said, “I think the men
are afraid to serve on the jury owing to the Italian case. I think they fear the Mafia (not a
word used very often at the time) Society, and if they find that they have enough
evidence to hold them for the grand jury they might sustain some injury from the
gang.”XXXV On May 8, a coroner‟s jury found Morello, Laduca, Petto, Fanara, Inzerillo,
Genova, and Zarcone accessories to the murder of Madonia. They were put into Tombs
Prison with no bail. The other, previously arrested men were released after this decision.
A grand jury review took a new direction by looking only at Tomasso Petto. Salvatore,
26
the stepson of Madonia, recognized a watch that was owned by his stepfather. The watch
was pawned on April 14 by Petto. Petto was indicted on first-degree murder, but was
released on bail before the indictment. After the indictment, police arrested Petto, only
later learning that they arrested the wrong man, Carlo Costantino, not Petto.
Petto actually left the city alongside Cascio Ferro. Petto went to Pittson,
Pennsylvania where he started a Black Hand organization in the Italian community.
Cascio Ferro went to New Orleans where he boarded a ship back to Sicily. Cascio Ferro
took a photograph of Petrosino with him back to the old country swearing to kill him one
day according to rumor.XXXVI This may have been feelings brought on by his arrest by
Petrosino in The Barrel Murder. That arrest started the great rivalry between Cascio
Ferro and Petrosino. The Barrel Murder went unsolved, but Petrosino gained invaluable
information. Before the case, Petrosino was unconvinced that a relationship between the
Black Hand and Sicilian Mafia was even there. After the case, he was aware of the Black
Hand‟s cooperation with the larger and powerful Sicilian Mafia. He also gained a much
larger serving of good publicity.
The years moved on. Cascio Ferro was in Sicily, but Italian neighborhoods in
New York were not any safer. To begin the year of 1905, these neighborhoods saw a
number of bombings. Police Commissioner William McAdoo assigned Petrosino as the
leader of the Italian Squad. This started as a five man, Italian speaking group of
detectives under Petrosino‟s leadership. The five men were Peter Dondero, George Silva,
John Lagomarsini, Hugo Cassidy (originally Ugo Cassidi), and Maurice Bonoil (a man of
French descent that spoke fluent Sicilian). Petrosino used his good relationships with the
media for getting the word out about the Italian criminal communities. Petrosino was a
27
proud Italian-American. He viewed the criminals a shame to the Italian and ItalianAmerican community and did what ever he could to defeat this section of an otherwise
honest and hardworking society. In an October 1905 printing of the New York Times,
Petrosino proclaimed, “There are thousands of Black Hand robbers and assassins in New
York and Brooklyn, and they are a rapidly growing menace to the public safety. They are
the descendants of generations of brigands from Reggio-Calabria and the Palermo
province of Sicily. From one to two dozen Italians come into this office every day to
show me letters from Black Hand thugs and ask for protection.”XXXVII
Petrosino came to the conclusion that Italian officials granted passports to rid their
country of the criminals. He went to the federal government to help with shipping out
these people back to Italy. The squad just did not have enough power to compete with
the crimes being committed by the Italians in the city. General Theodore Bingham
became the police commissioner in 1906. He was a big fan of Petrosino. By November
of that year, Bingham upgraded the Italian Squad into the Italian Legion. Petrosino now
led a group of 25 in Manhattan and Detective Sergeant Antonio Vachris led 10 men in
Brooklyn. Petrosino was promoted to lieutenant.
The creation of the Italian Legion led Petrosino to the arrest of one and shipped
back two leaders of the Italian gangland in the United States. The first was head of the
Camorra, Enrico Alfano. Under investigation of a double murder in Naples in June of
1906, he went to Rome, where he got a fake passport, and then pretended to be part of the
crew of a ship that took him to America. On April 17, 1907, Petrosino arrested Alfano.
Joe brought another policeman and a reporter from the New York Times. Alfano was
deported to Italy where he and 40 other Camorra members stood trial on May 9 in the
28
Court of Assizes at Viterbo. The trial lasted 17 months, but Alfano was convicted on
July 8, 1912. He was sentenced to 30 years for the two murders.XXXVIII
This next man is a perfect example of the problems of the Italian government that
still exist today. Raffaele Palizzolo was a high ranking member of the Sicilian Mafia, not
to mention an influential member of the Palermo Chamber of Deputies. He was
convicted in 1902 of ordering the murder of Banco di Sicilia director, Emanuele
Notarbartolo. Notarbartolo fought hard against Palizzolo and his mission to get control
of his bank after finding out they were laundering dirty money for the Mafia.
Notarbartolo was stabbed 23 times and died on a train in 1893. In the first major trial
against the Mafia, held in Bologna, Italy, in 1902, Palizzolo was sentenced to 30 years,
but won a new trial and was acquitted in 1904 after influential Mafiosi had accused the
government of discriminating against Sicily. He arrived in New York on June 8, 1908
with Gaetano Ferlazzo. When he arrived, he was welcomed with open arms by the
Italian community and the press like he was the spokesman for the Italians. He refused to
talk about the Mafia, but would say “he had a considerable political machine in
Palermo.”XXXIX Petrosino trusted Palizzolo when he said that he was not a leader of the
Mafia. Petrosino still had him watched though. When Palizzolo made contact with local
Mafiosi, Petrosino met with Palizzolo alone and urged him to go back to Sicily.
Palizzolo left on August 2. If Palizzolo was not the leader of the Sicilian Mafia, who
was?
29
IV
Palizzolo seems to be one of the men sent to America by Don Vito Cascio Ferro.
Cascio Ferro had helped people in elections in Italy and sent them to America to speak to
the Italians in the major cities to unify and create their own governments and rules within
the American government. These speeches were in Sicilian dialect and had words with
double meanings that only Mafia would understand, and apparently Petrosino picked up
on them too.
Cascio Ferro earned the title of Don back in Sicily. He was a capo elettore, a man
who got into politics for private gain, not public service. He also had power and say in
the Mafia gangs of Bisacquino, the town he grew up in, Villafranca Sicula, Chiusa
Sclafani, Contessa Entellina, Burgia, Corleone, and parts of Palermo. Luigi Barzini
described Cascio Ferro as well as Petrosino.
“Don Vito brought the organization to its highest perfection without undue recourse to
violence. The Mafia leader who scatters corpses all over the island in order to achieve his
goal is considered as inept as the statesman who has to wage aggressive wars. Don Vito
ruled and inspired fear mainly by the use of his great qualities and natural ascendancy. His
awe-inspiring appearance helped him. … His manners were princely, his demeanour
humble but majestic. He was loved by all. Being very generous by nature, he never refused
a request for aid and dispensed millions in loans, gifts and general philanthropy. He would
personally go out of his way to redress a wrong. When he started a journey, every major,
dressed in his best clothes, awaited him at the entrance of his village, kissed his hands, and
paid homage, as if he were a king. And he was a king of sorts: under his reign peace and
order were observed, the Mafia peace, of course, which was not what the official law of the
30
Kingdom of Italy would have imposed, but people did not stop to draw too fine a
distinction.”
XL
The great Don Vito became known as the first capo di tutti capi, or, boss of
all bosses. In the speeches that the Italian politicians made in America with the
double meanings, Petrosino realized that Cascio Ferro was the real leader, not
someone like Palizzolo. In 1909, Petrosino, in a secret mission to get Cascio
Ferro, departed New York for Italy. People of New York wondered what
happened to Petrosino as he went missing suddenly. Commissioner Bingham was
interviewed by the papers on the whereabouts of Petrosino. In one interview, he
was quoted, “Why, he may be on the ocean, bound for Europe, for all I know.”XLI
The story described the New York Police Department‟s efforts along with the
cooperation with the Italian government to prevent Italian criminals from entering
America, and if caught in the country, would be sent back to face the Italian
justice system. Many stories like this hit the rest of the papers which even
reached around the world.
Petrosino arrived at the docks of Genoa on February 21, 1909. He
traveled under the name of Simone Velletri. By this time however, anyone in the
world would have known he was on a secret mission because of the press. After
meeting with Italian authorities, he left the boot and moved onto Sicily a week
later. He got to Palermo and “Simone Velletri” became Guglielmo DeSimone as
he checked into the Hotel de France. When speaking with police, he was back to
Giuseppe Petrosino. The presence of Petrosino in Palermo was picked up
promptly in the Mafia community.XLII
31
Petrosino wrote that Vito Cascio Ferro was a dreaded criminal in his
notebook on the night of March 11, 1909. The next day, on March 12, Petrosino
went to meet an informant at the Piazza Marina in Palermo. The informant turned
into at least two assassins. Giuseppe Petrosino was murdered in Piazza Marina.
He was shot three times. One shot went through his back and pierced both longs,
another into his throat, and the third, a coup de grace shot into the side of his
head. He was unarmed at the time of his murder. Petrosino‟s gun was found in
his hotel room. After the Hennessey murder in New Orleans, it was known to the
Mafia and Black Hand in America that police were to go untouched. He believed
the Sicilians honored the same code. He was mistaken. Although there were
plenty of witnesses, none of them seemed to remember what they saw. According
to legend, Cascio Ferro boasted about the killing. He said it was the only time he
had killed anyone by his own hand. He was eating with a member of the
Chamber of Deputies, excused himself, borrowed the carriage of the politician he
was with, arrived at the piazza, shot Petrosino in the side of the head, and returned
to finish his meal.XLIII
Cascio Ferro, at this time, was the most respected and feared Mafioso in
all of Sicily. He, along with two low ranking members of the Mafia that just
returned from America, were suspected of Petrosino‟s murder. The two others
were Antonio Passananti and Carlo Costantino, the same Costantino arrested by
mistake in The Barrel Murder case. Police found that the three suspects had been
together days before the murder. During this time, Costantino was in contact with
32
Morello back in New York. The day after the murder, Costantino was arrested at
his home. The other two were still roaming freely.
Cascio Ferro was picked up on April 3. Passananti was believed to have
traveled back to the states known as Lo Baido. Baldassare Ceola, the Palermo
Police Commissioner accepted that Cascio Ferro worked with members of the
Black Hand in New York to organize the assassination with the help of
Costantino and Passananti. Ceola took his theories to Palermo‟s Criminal Court.
Instead of a trial leading to the prosecution of Cascio Ferro and Costantino, his
reports led the Italian government, for whatever reason, to force him to retire on
July 17, 1909, the same day Bingham stepped down as the Police Commissioner
of New York.XLIV Because Ceola was no longer with the force, Cascio Ferro and
Costantino were freed and the charges were dropped in 1911. The crime has been
officially unsolved.XLV
With Petrosino gone and the declining Italian Legion, Italian criminals
including Cascio Ferro saw better opportunities to make international business
more profitable. This would allow for the expansion of the Sicilian Mafia into
America. The expansion meant profit, power, and interestingly enough, the
United States looking for protection. Before the big expansion occurred, the
Great War, although detrimental for citizens and governments, helped the Dons of
Sicily become even more powerful and richer. The only good thing about crime
in America at the time was that it drastically decreased as most of the young men
were shipped off to fight.
33
V
It didn‟t seem like anyone was really prepared for the events of World
War I, except Calogero Vizzini, an aspiring Mafia Don. Calogero only focused
on business. All he wanted was power. Vizzini wanted the name Don through
the criminal intent of the word. His vision was to recreate the Roman Legions.
Unions in Italy began to form. The Italian government was calling back many
immigrants who had made it to America to help fight for the Italian military.
Many settled immigrants did not want to go back. They were afraid they would
lose their jobs, so they went to the Mafia for help. Heads of gangs became very
powerful in America due to all of the favors they would be receiving in return.
World War I was an opportunity to strike it rich for Vizzini and the Mafia.
By this time, he was the boss of the La Cosa Nostra in Villalba. He bought many
horses and donkeys to use in his businesses and to sell or rent out to the Italian
military. The Italian Army paid Vizzini for the use of his animals to be provided
to the cavalry and artillery. This happened because Don Calo, as he was often
called, made an agreement with the Army Commission. Vizzini collected a poll
tax on animals whose owners wanted to avoid requisition.XLVI He also would buy
many animals from hustlers or thieves at low prices and then sell at a much higher
rate to the Italian military. Both Vizzini and the military were happy for a short
time with this deal. Happiness ended when most of the animals died of old age or
disease before they were able to see action in battle. Vizzini was sentenced in
1917 to 20 years in prison for fraud, corruption, and even murder. Because of his
connections, he was set free. That same year, many Italian-Americans enlisted,
34
now that their new country entered the war. Vizzini continued making money
through the black market. He even entered the business of sulphur mines. He
owned a monopoly of mines in Sicily which made him very rich through the
European governments buying his sulphur for the war. A year later, the war was
over and European economies were in ruins.
Like Cascio Ferro before him, Vizzini posed as union man to gain trust of
the people and gave many people jobs. In 1922, he took peasants to take land
from aristocratic landlords that were never around. All of the peasants got a plot
of land in Villalba. Vizzini kept 12,000 acres for himself after the
distribution.XLVII Cascio Ferro and Vizzini concentrated on Sicily for the most
part after the war. Being connected to the Sicilians in America helped the Mafia
grow to a more powerful position thanks to the help of the two Dons in Sicily.
Young immigrant gangsters would change the face of the Mafia in America, all
thanks to Italy‟s new Fascist leader, Benito Mussolini.
Without immigration, there is no American Mafia. Before the Great War,
the Mafia in America was just a bunch of gangs. The Germans and Irish seemed
to have advanced in society by the end of the war. Italians and Jews were the
newest immigrants. Most of these immigrants were poor. It was only natural that
they joined gangs for protection and money. People would be recruited into
gangs as soon as they took their eyes off of the Statue of Liberty and made it to
Ellis Island right off of the boat. With industrialization, unions were forming in
New York, just in time for the newly forming Mafia to expand its interests. Trade
unions found any industry they could to organize and therefore strike. In theory,
35
unions are a beautiful idea to help out the working man. In practice, which still
stands true today, unions are just a playground for organized crime.XLVIII
Unions were a win/win for the Italian and Jewish Mafias. On one hand,
the employers reacted to the striking workers by hiring scabs and gangsters to
intimidate the strikers and keep out union organizers. On the other hand, the
unions hired the Mafia for protection and muscle against the hired scabs. Jewish
gangster, Jacob “Little Augie” Orgen devised the plan to “play both sides against
the middle.” This would allow the Mafia to make themselves necessary to both
unions and employers. The end result would be, over time, to take over both sides
little by little until a large percentage was controlled by the Mafia.
After World War I, the Mafia was involved in and controlled a huge
amount of legitimate business because of the unions. The extra money could then
be used to pay dues to the top men. This system became known as labor
racketeering. It opened many opportunities and was so groundbreaking, that it
allowed for the Jewish and Italian Mafia‟s to work together. Maier
Suchowljansky, an immigrant from Grodno, Belorussia, and Salvatore Lucania,
an immigrant from Lecara Friddi, Sicily, made the Jewish-Italian alliance one of,
if not the most powerful and influential alliance in the history of the world.XLIX
Maier Suchowljansky‟s father immigrated to America in before the Great
War. Two years later, he sent the family to be with him. Maier would undergo a
name change in America. He became known as Meyer Lansky. After leaving
school in 1917 at the age of fourteen, Meyer, interested in street life, would meet
two other boys who would become lifelong friends. The boys he met were
36
originally named Benjamin Siegelbaum and Salvatore Lucania. These
relationships helped the boys develop into powerful men.
Lucania came to America in the early 20th century with his family when he
was just about 10 years old. He came from a hard working Sicilian family. They
settled in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the same neighborhood as Lansky.
Because he was absent more than he was present in school, he was sent to
Brooklyn to attend a school for truants. He stayed there for two months in 1914
before dropping out of school. With just five years of education, Lucania became
a delivery boy for a hat manufacturer.L That would be his only legitimate job in
his life. Because he didn‟t want to bring shame to his family, he changed his
name to Charles Luciano.
In 1916, he was arrested and pleaded guilty to opium trafficking. He may
have been the first person in the United States to be arrested on such charges.
After serving his year sentence, he formed a gang with Frank Costello, Vito
Genovese, Meyer Lansky, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel (Benjamin Siegelbaum), and
Joe Adonis. This was not bad company. In the future, Costello and Genovese
would end up being leaders of the Genovese Family of the Five Families of New
York, and Siegel would end up being the man who created Las Vegas. Before
those events would happen, the gang got involved with bootlegging with the help
of Arnold Rothstein, the man who is believed to be the mastermind of the 1919
World Series fix. They also got into labor racketeering and gambling.LI The acts
of these men would soon draw the attention of “The Boss.”
37
VI
The Boss was born Giuseppe Masseria on January 7, 1886 in Menfi,
Sicily. He came to America in 1903 hiding from murder charges from Sicily
where he worked as a Mafia enforcer. He continued a life of crime in Italian
Harlem in upper Manhattan. He was arrested for burglary and extortion, but the
sentence was suspended. In 1910, as the American capo di tutti capi, Giuseppe
Morello sat in jail, the position of power was out there for the taking. Masseria,
interested in this position, moved downtown. Masseria‟s idea did not work as
planned. He went on a four and a half year vacation for a failed burglary attempt
of a pawn shop. When he came out, a recent war with the Camorra of Brooklyn
weakened the Mafia gangs of New York with the loss of top men.
Masseria aligned himself with Salvatore D‟Aquila. D‟Aquila was an
associate of the Morello gang, but with the former leaders in prison and dead, he
decided to break off from the Morellos and start his own family in Brooklyn. He
declared himself boss of bosses. Masseria took over the Manhattan operations.
D‟Aquila made it his mission to kill the old Morello members when Giuseppe
Morello was released from prison. D‟Aquila feared Morello would want his title
of boss of bosses back. One of the members to be killed was Umberto Valente,
aka, Rocco Valenti. He was known as the ghost or the spirit because he
supposedly killed more men than any other man and disappeared after the
executions. Valente persuaded D‟Aquila that he was loyal and could be very
handy.LII
38
It was only a matter of time before the need for power cut alliances.
Morello, Valente, and Masseria all wanted control Manhattan. Morello wanted
his old position back when coming out of prison as D‟Aquila projected.
Apparently Morello had hired Valente, the “loyal” man in the new D‟Aquila
alliance to kill Masseria. In August of 1922, the first attempt on Masseria‟s life
occurred. From a New York Times article published on August 9, 1922, the
details of the attempt were described. At about 1 o‟clock in the afternoon, a
Hudson touring car drove up Second Avenue. Four men were in the vehicle and
two men exited the car when it stopped. The men sat down at a restaurant across
from Masseria‟s apartment and watched his building. At 2 o‟clock, Masseria
appeared walking down the street. Witnesses saw the tow men run out of the
restaurant and approach Masseria. Masseria saw them as they drew Colt
automatic handguns and ran towards his home located at 80 Second Avenue. He
could only reach the Heiney Brothers women‟s wear store at 82 Second Avenue
before the gunmen struck. One of the Heiney brothers described the shooting:
The man with the revolver came close to the other fellow and aimed.
Just as he fired the man jumped to one side. The bullet smashed into the window
of my store. Then the man fired again and this time the man being shot at ducked
his head forward. Again the man fired and again his target ducked his head down.
The third shot made a second hole in my window.
When the shooting was over, Masseria ran to his apartment. Later on,
Detective Frank Cassetti arrived at Masseria‟s home and found him sitting on his
39
bed. Masseria was still wearing the hat that now had bullet holes in it.LIII
Masseria now had the reputation as a man who could dodge bullets.
After the attempted murder, Masseria wanted to meet with Morello and
Valente to discuss a truce and to announce his retirement in the following month.
Valente made it to the Italian restaurant where the meeting was to be held.
Morello and Masseria never arrived. Valente realized he would be killed as he
saw men following him. He ran from the assassins and jumped onto a moving
taxi. As he was jumping to the taxi, he was shot and killed, likely by up and
comer Charles Luciano.LIV It was clear that not only did Masseria made a deal
with Morello, but he became boss of bosses. To make his name more American,
he changed it to Joe “The Boss” Masseria. D‟Aquila‟s men left to join Masseria
as they realized he was the true boss. Morello, possibly fearing he was next,
made peace with Masseria. Morello became consigliere to Masseria. Luciano
became a lieutenant and was given the honor of operating his own crew in the
Masseria family. What happened next in Sicily was the big bang of the American
Mafia.
40
IIV
A new political party called Fascism led by Benito Mussolini took over
Italy in 1922. Mussolini used Fascism to mold himself into a God-like being by
the mid-1920s. He wanted to bring back the glory of Ancient Rome and the
emperors. The south and Sicily were not great supporters of Fascism, but
Mussolini was popular around the island. Although not popular, Fascism seemed
like it would take over Sicily and carry out its duties while ignoring the Mafia.
There were no worries for Il Duce until receiving a letter from a Fascist militant
in April of 1923. The letter read:
Fascism aims to sweep away all the corruption poisoning the country‟s politics and
administration. It aims to break the shady factions a maggoty cabals infesting the sacred
body of the nation. It cannot neglect this terrible center of infection. If we want to save
Sicily we must destroy the Mafia…Then we will be able to set up our tents on the island;
and they will be sounder than the ones that we pitched in the north b doing away with
socialism.
LV
The letter aimed to say that the Mafia could be to Sicily what socialism
was in the north. This meant it was an enemy of Fascism. Another worry popped
up on Mussolini‟s trip to Sicily in 1924.
It was here that Mussolini met with Mafioso and Mayor of Piana dei
Greci, Francesco Cuccia, aka, Don Ciccio. When the leader arrived to the town,
Don Ciccio, surprised by the amount of security brought by Mussolini, asked why
he had all of that. Ciccio assured Benito that he was safe under his protection.
He said, “You are with me, you are under my protection. What do you need all
41
these cops for?”LVI This outraged Mussolini. He was the only emperor of this
new empire. Because of this, a leisurely two week trip to Sicily was cut down to
five days.
The works of professor Mike La Sorte explain the sentiment of Fascists
and Sicilians towards the Mafia. Mussolini viewed the Mafia as “an illegal state
with the legal state, a violation of the constituted order, the criminal association
also represented an expression of separatism that collided headlong against the
basic ideology of Fascism, namely the precepts of Unitarianism and
Totalitarianism.”LVII
By 1925, Il Duce appointed Cesare Mori, prefect of Palermo, with rights
to the entire island to destroy the Mafia. In July of 1925, Vittorio Emanuele
Orlando, a Sicilian politician, gave a speech at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo
shifting the idea of the Mafia away from criminals, instead, making it a term for
the honorable. He said, “Now I say that if by mafia we mean the sense of
exaggerated honor, the insufference against every paroxysm, the generosity that
affronts the strong and indulges the weak, the fidelity of friendship, stronger than
anything, even death, if by mafia we mean all these sentiments and these attitudes,
even with their excesses, in that they indicate the spirit of sicilianismo, then
Mafioso I declare myself, and I am proud to be one.”LVIII
As he gave this speech, knowing what would happen when Mussolini and
Mori go to work, tried his best to leave a good impression of the Mafia on Il Duce
and Prefetto di Ferro, Mori‟s nickname meaning the Iron Prefect. During his
speech, he was winking blatantly at the Mafia bosses in the audience. This was
42
considered as “one of the lowest moments in the longs shameless cohabitation
between killers and the people‟s elected representatives” in history.LIX It would
come out that Orlando was Don of the Mafia himself.
Mori differed in opinion of the Mafia. He said, “The Mafia has created in
the state a state, in the regime a regime: The regime of Mafia with its own laws
and its own tax of money and of blood, its own penal sanctions. It fully invests in
and exploits the activities of the island to the detriment above all of the State,
damaging above all the population, which, without freedom of selection, between
the true State, far away and inert, and the other, close and operating, must
surrender itself to this and suffer from it.” Going on to address his position of
taking out the Mafia, Mori added, “the population asks above all for security,
tranquility, freedom to work. Mussolini promises these immediately and
completely. The hour of liberation has come; in the name of the will of Il Duce
we are finally going into action.”LX
At the end of 1925, the assault on the Sicilian Mafia started. According to the
Florence Newspaper, Mori arrested more than 500 men in the first two months. Mori had
as much interest in due process than a grumpy old man had when a telemarketer called,
none. He would besiege whole towns if there was any suspected presence of the Mafia.
Mori would do anything, including torture to make deter the Mafia, and persuade the
Sicilians to come to him with information. He understood that Sicilians were different
from Italians. They did not trust authority, as they shouldn‟t. They were victims of
injustice and lived in a place that was neglected by the Italian government. Mori just had
to convince the islanders that Fascism was unlike the previous governments. This new
43
government would provide justice and equality for all citizens, including Sicilians. It was
a tough task to convince the island that the police involved in the crackdown on Sicily
were their friends. Breaking the Omerta was just fine. Following the code of silence was
“dysfunctional” in Mori‟s mind. Mussolini would often say “Prefect Mori, I reaffirm, is
the highest authority. All citizens must collaborate with him.”LXI
The first giant assault occurred in the town of Gangi. Mori sent the mayor a
telegram saying all of the Mafiosi must surrender at a certain time or “stern measures”
would be taken against their families and property. When this battle was over, about 100
Mafiosi were convicted and the Mafia gang of the town seemed to evaporate.LXII By
March of 1926, 295 were arrested in Termini Imerese. Towns all over the island would
fall to Mori. In April, 300 more Mafiosi were arrested. The catalyst for the whole
assault, Don Ciccio, was arrested.LXIII As this all was happening, Don Vito Cascio Ferro,
wanting to rival Masseria in New York, sent Salvatore Maranzano for control of the city.
It was one thing to arrest criminals of the Mafia for the Fascist state, but torturing
the men was very excessive and left a bad taste in the mouth of the Mafiosi. The torture
was carried out in a number of ways. He strung men from lamp-posts, ripped of finger
and toe nails, electrocution, etc. One victim described his experience:
“There were two boxes, placed on top of the other, about a meter long. My legs were
extended on the top of the upper box and secured with two iron rings. Then my arms were
tied behind me and a leather belt, which was attached to the box, was tightened over my
thighs. With my legs on the box and my back on the floor, I was fixed in place by a cord. A
gas mask was applied to my face with the tube leading to the interior of the mask, left open.
The torture began when one of the sbirri (cops) took a large can of salt water and poured
the liquid into the tube of the mask. At the same time, another sbirro hit the bottom of my
44
feet with a whip while another grabbed my testicles and twisted them. I was so fearful of
suffocating in that mask filled with water that I barely felt the pain from my testicles and
feet. I swallowed the water and when they calculated that my stomach was full, they untied
me, took off the mask and one of the sbirri pressed on my abdomen so that I threw up the
liquid. Was I ready to confess? they asked. When I said I wasn‟t, they repeated the
LXIV
procedure.”
In one case of drawing Mafiosi to himself, Mori challenged the Mafia boss of
Madonie, Gaetano Ferrarello to a duel. Ferrarello must have been very elusive to have
this tactic called upon. Mori announced to society that Ferrarello was a no-good coward.
Ferrarello finally came out, ready to kill Mori in a duel. He actually stepped into a trap
which was a straight path to prison. As he was escorted to his cell, he ran off, jumped
down a staircase resulting in suicide.LXV
As Cascio Ferro set up Maranzano in New York for extra money and influence,
Don Vito found himself standing face to face with The Iron Prefect. Mori was confident
that this arrest would weaken all of the Mafia, for Don Vito was capo di tutti capi. For
the three days before the two men stood face to face, Cascio Ferro was being interrogated
by the Palermo Chief of Police. Cascio Ferro said nothing. After reviewing papers, files,
and reports of Don Vito, Mori finally looked up from his desk and began a chilling
conversation. Mori said, “You know you are the capo of the Mafia on this island.”
Cascio Ferro answered, “I do not know what the Mafia is.”
After slapping the Don in the face, Mori told him of the many arrests Don Vito
went through, but all of the cases were thrown out due to lack of evidence. He said,
“Now the Mafia is finished, you are finished.”
45
After asking Mori, “With what charge will I be condemned, what proof?,” the
prefect responded by saying, “Under this new government there is a moral certainty of
you guilt.”LXVI
Cascio Ferro was escorted to his cell when he ran into the head of the gang of
Monreale. The Monreale Don‟s face was swollen and bruised. He placed his hand on
Cascio Ferro‟s arm and smiled for encouragement. That night, Don Vito was sent to be
tortured. The authorities exercised a torture device called the cassetta on the Don. The
cassetta worked by cramping the legs of the victim into a wooden box until they couldn‟t
handle the pain anymore. It took two hours until Cascio Ferro cried out, “Enough, take
me out of this. I admit to being the capo of the Sicilian Mafia.”LXVII
Don Vito Cascio finally went to trial. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
When asked if he had anything to say, Don Vito said, “Signori, not being able to prove
any of my numerous crimes, you have been reduced to condemning me for the one crime
I never committed.”LXVIII He was arrested 69 times, all cases were thrown out. The 70th
time was the charm. Mussolini celebrated the defeat of the Mafia with the world. He
said, “The Mafia was dead, that no force ever again would be able to revive it.” Many
countries sent Il Duce congratulatory telegrams. He was more popular than ever.
The assault against the Mafia ended in 1929. This resulted in the largest defeat in
Mafia history. Murders in Sicily dropped 75%.LXIX Mori and his men arrested
approximately 11,000 people. Some of the arrested were fortunate enough to be set free
due to lack of evidence. Don Cuccia, the man who asked Mussolini about his police
force, was released due to a lack of evidence in 1928. New York was about to see a
power shift and the big bang would now hit.
46
IIIV
The man sent to New York from Sicily by Don Vito Cascio Ferro was Salvatore
Maranzano. Maranzano was born in Castellammare Del Golfo in 1886. Maranzano
originally was going to be a priest. When he returned to his hometown from school, he
became a commander in the Mafia feud between the Bonnano and Buccelato families in
Sicily. He married Elizabetta Minore, the daughter of the Don of Trapani. Through his
work and marriage, he was able to rise through the ranks in the Sicilian Mafia.
Maranzano was sent to America in the mid-1920s. He set up an alcohol distillery in
Dutchess County, profiting from prohibition.
Prohibition was a complicated time in Untied States history regarding the
relationships between the Mafia and government. The 18th amendment went into effect
on January 16, 1920. President Warren Harding happened to be in office at this time. He
also happened to have what is considered the most corrupt administration in United
States history. When Harding took office, he took his family, campaign managers, and
“poker-playing cronies” with him. Harding‟s Attorney General, Harry Daugherty, was
available at all times to block investigations or organize pardons. When any scams were
going on, the members involved would meet with the President in the White House while
they drank. The floor of the House and the library of the Senate were considered the best
bars in Washington because members of congress were often drunk.
Prohibition agents were supposed to enforce the 18th amendment. Because the
agents weren‟t part of the United States civil service, they were controlled by local
politicians and only made minimum wage. This was a large factor in why agents became
47
corrupt. Corruption went from the local level all the way up to the federal government.
Chicago became a model city for studying corruption.
Chicago was under the rule of Mayor “Big Bill” Thompson when prohibition hit
the city. Thompson was a high school drop out and ran for city alderman as a Republican
in 1900 on a bet. Fifteen years later, he became mayor. As mayor, he inherited the
connections the previous Democratic administrations had with crime. Thompson became
friendly with “Big Jim” Colosimo, owner of most of the slots and brothels in the city, as
well as a popular saloon, Diamond Jim‟s. The saloon became a favorite hangout for
Thompson. Chicago soon started becoming a shadow of Harding‟s D.C. government.
Corruption in New York was no better. There were 17,000 policemen, 3,000 state
police, 113 Supreme Court judges, 62 county prosecutors, federal agencies, and hundreds
of Prohibition agents; most looking the other way. The prosecution of any major
bootlegging or speakeasy figures was uncommon due to the success of their illegal
business and ability to corrupt officers. Mayor Jimmy Walker had no support for
Prohibition and Governor Al Smith would openly say that Prohibition is nonsense. Since
no pressure was on New York, the city was open to organized crime and allowed any
citizen to get into some type of bootlegging action with little or no consequences.
With the passing of the legislation, saloons became speak-easies. Making booze
illegal gave drinking an edge, making it more desirable. In New York, an estimated
30,000-100,000 speak-easies lined the streets in 1925. People would pay more for lower
quality drinks. Prohibition allowed women to come in to speak-easies, as they were
banned from saloons when liquor was legal. The invention of the cocktail was also a
product of the amendment. The cocktail disguised the taste of the sub-par alcohol.
48
Although the drinks weren‟t always the best, the music seemed to be. Jazz was the new,
fitting sounds of speak-easies. Mafia owned nightclubs were places where many
musicians got their starts and many others got publicity. The Cotton Club, a famous New
York nightclub owned by Irish mobster Owney Madden, often featured Duke Ellington,
Cab Calloway, and Louis Armstrong. Luciano controlled every police precinct in the city
and sent Police Commissioner Grover A. Whelan $20,000 a month. An associate of
Luciano and Lansky said, “If they had been President and Vice-President of the United
States, they would have run the place far better than the idiot politicians.” The
entertainers were getting recognition; the Mafia was making money; law enforcement
was seeing benefits; and the majority of citizens were wet.
Chicago‟s criminals had a knee-jerk reaction to Prohibition. Within an hour of
Prohibition, six armed men had stolen $100,000 worth of whisky meant for medicinal
use. Within the weeks that followed, 15,000 doctors and 57,000 retail druggists applied
for the license to sell the same type of alcohol for “medicinal” uses. Mayor Thompson‟s
friend, Jim Colosimo, was killed because he didn‟t understand the new business.
Colosimo‟s bodyguard, Johnny Torrio understood that focusing on alcohol over the other
vices meant more money. Torrio‟s relative who could help out with the operations just
happened to be in town. Chicago‟s corruption was an invitation to the most notorious
gangster of all time.
Alphonse Capone‟s arrival to the Windy City was his RSVP to the action. Once
Capone relocated from New York to Chicago, he and Torrio took over Colosimo‟s
brothels and went into large scale bootlegging. Capone had complete protection under
Mayor Thompson. After Thompson decided to not run again in 1923, Capone and Torrio
49
moved to Cicero, outside of Chicago. After controlling elections in Cicero, the gang
decided to go back to Chicago and fund Thompson in the 1927 election. Capone saw a
lot of new competition from Irish gangs in Chicago. Torrio‟s men killed Irish gang
leader, Deanie O‟Bannion, starting a war between Chicago‟s gangs for control of the
liquor trade. After Capone rid the city most of his enemies, only one remained, Bugs
Moran. Capone set up Bugs and his crew to pick up hijacked booze. This became
known as the St. Valentine‟s Day Massacre. Six of Moran‟s men were killed. Moran
happened to miss the hit because he had an appointment. Capone controlled the
bootlegging in Chicago, but was imprisoned for tax invasion. By the time he came out,
Prohibition was over and the Mafia had evolved.
Back in New York, Maranzano was becoming very successful. Masseria wanted
to take some of Maranzano‟s power away and demanded funds.LXX Masseria and
Maranzano soon became the top two men of New York. These were the last two old
style Sicilian Mafia Dons in the city. Prohibition caused a lot of trouble in America and
New York. Because so much money was to be made in it, many people were doing it.
There were many hijackers and low life hoods that disrupted the Mafia‟s business and
profits. Luciano, Lansky, and Genovese looked to put an end to the problem of random
gangs interrupting the top families‟ businesses. Lansky was able to control the Jewish
community regarding the problem, but the Sicilian community had to be fixed. Luciano
developed a plan to bring all of the New York warring gangs together. Only Maranzano
and Masseria stood in the way.
50
IX
New York ain‟t big enough for the two of them. Maranzano began challenging
Masseria‟s power of the New York underworld by the late 1920s after Cascio Ferro was
arrested. As Masseria suspected the Sicilians sending more Castellammarese men to
America, he got more paranoid. Alliances were made throughout the country for both
Masseria and Maranzano, and throughout the country, tensions rose and the war broke
out. In 1929, Charles Luciano became a victim of these tensions. He was desired by
both leaders to be in their clans. He had been with Masseria for years and stayed with
him. Maranzano had Luciano abducted as men took him into a car. In the long car ride,
Luciano was severely beaten and slashed with a knife. He was dropped out of the car and
left for dead. He wasn‟t dead though. Because he was the only person known to survive
being “taken for a ride,” he was given the nickname Lucky.
The Castellammarese War started in 1930 between Masseria and Maranzano.
Masseria‟s men already knew Maranzano‟s clan was a stern opponent. Bodies were
piling up all over on both sides before the war was declared. Gaetano Reina was a
lieutenant of the Masseria Family. Reina was ran the crew that would go on to become
the Lucchese Family of the Five Families. He was suspected by Masseria of making
deals with Maranzano. Joe the Boss gave Lucky Luciano the order to have Reina killed.
Luciano assigned the task of murdering Reina to longtime friend, Vito Genovese. On
February 26, 1930, Genovese killed Gaetano Reina in the Bronx after shooting him with
a sawed-off shotgun, sparking the Castellammarese War.LXXI On Masseria‟s order,
Giuseppe “Fat Joe” Pinzolo was promoted to lead the crew that Reina once did.LXXII
51
As the months went by and the violence worsened, two more important
Castellammarese leaders were taken out of the equation. Gaspar Milazzo was killed in
Detroit, and Vito Bonventre was killed in his garage in New York that July. Maranzano
needed to take big action. Masseria tried pulling his retirement gag again by giving
Giuseppe Morello his old title of boss of all bosses. No one truly believed the switch.
Maranzano had Morello killed on August 15, 1930 as he collected cash receipts from his
office in East Harlem.LXXIII
The newly appointed leader of Reina‟s old clan, Fat Joe Pinzolo, was not a liked
person. Luciano described Pinzolo by saying, “As big a shit as Masseria was, he didn‟t
hold a candle to Pinzolo. That guy was fatter, uglier, and dirtier than Masseria was on the
worst day when the old bastard didn‟t take a bath, which was most of the time.”LXXIV
Gaetano Gagliano and Tommy Lucchese, both members under Pinzolo, formed a splinter
group from the clan. Without Maranzano doing anything, Masseria‟s own men killed one
of their own. Pinzolo was murdered by his subordinates on September 9, 1930 in an
office leased by Tommy Lucchese in the Brokaw Building on Broadway.LXXV
In the next month, one of the leaders of the Castellammarese of Chicago was
killed. Maranzano loyalist, Joe Aiello was murdered on Al Capone‟s order. Capone was
one of the nation wide alliances Masseria had. Maranzano responded by killing a high
ranking member under Masseria‟s leadership, Al Mineo. Captain of the Masseria crew,
Joseph Catania, was murdered on February 5, 1931. Just like Masseria had done to the
Morello Family a decade before, Maranzano had weakened Masseria by taking out the
top men. Masseria‟s men saw that Maranzano was going to be the capo di tutti capi.
52
Lucky Luciano was different from the other Mafiosi. Although a Sicilian by
birth, he had Americanized some of his ideas. In the crew that he led under Masseria, he
employed his boyhood friends from his local street gang. With America being a melting
pot, Luciano was able to interact with people from other ethnicities and other parts of
Italy. Lucky had close connections with Sicilians, Jews, and Italians. His original street
gang was composed of people of all of those nations. Since Sicilians and Italians
immigrated to America, no outsiders could come into the Mafia. There could be
associates, but never made men. Luciano‟s crew was probably pushing the outsider
mentality to the very edge. Some of Luciano‟s men included Vito Genovese, Frank
Costello, Albert Anastasia, Joe Adonis, Meyer Lansky, and Bugsy Siegel. It would be up
to Luciano and his gang to bring peace to the American underworld.
Understanding that Masseria was now powerful in name only, Luciano‟s plan to
create peace and change the Mafia went into effect. To end a war without a truce, one
faction must surrender or be defeated. At this point in the Castellammarese War,
Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria was the only one left. Luciano met secretly with
Salvatore Maranzano, the man who had tried to kill him years before, and set up an
alliance. On April 15, 1931, Luciano and Masseria went to lunch at the Nuova Villa
Tammaro restaurant in Coney Island. The men ate lunch and then played a game of
cards. Luciano excused himself to go to the bathroom. Luciano was doing business in
two places at once. As Lucky was taking care of his personal business, Bugsy Siegel,
Albert Anastasia, Joe Adonis, and Vito Genovese showed up to take care of business
business. Masseria was shot to death. Maranzano was now boss of all bosses. The
Castellammarese War was over, but the bloodshed was still not over.
53
Maranzano put his title to action as he acted on being the boss of New York. He
took the top men of the remaining factions and clans to create the Five Families. Charles
“Lucky” Luciano would become head of the Luciano Family. He took over what used to
be the core Masseria/Morello gang. The old Reina clan became the Gagliano Family, led
by Gaetano Gagliano. Giuseppe “Joe” Profaci would lead the Profaci Family. They were
neutral during the war. The Scalise Family was operated by Frank Scalise. This family
grew from Al Mineo‟s old gang. Finally, from the Castellammarese side of the war, the
Bonanno Family, Maranzano‟s family.LXXVI
By forming the Five Families, the New York underworld could then have a more
peaceful and profitable industry. From this theory of Five Families, there are five bosses.
Because Maranzano was really a Sicilian boss, he brought with him the mentality of
capo di tutti capi. Maranzano held meetings celebrating the victory where bosses from
the entire country would come. During one of his celebratory meetings, he announced he
was the capo di tutti capi. This meant he expected all of the families to pay tribute to
him, for the betterment of all of the underworld community, of course. It wasn‟t long
before the Americans felt the Sicilian was taking advantage of them. Luciano went along
with these plans, as did many of the bosses, but they all knew Maranzano must go.
With suspicions up, Maranzano would secretly plan a giant clean up of some of
the more powerful mobsters in the country, including his number two, Lucky Luciano.
Among Luciano on the list were Al Capone, Joe Adonis, Frank Costello, and Dutch
Shultz. This information reached Luciano, causing him to try to compile men and a plan
before Maranzano could.
54
Maranzano hired an Irish hitman named Vincent Coll to kill Luciano. Coll was
hired because he supposedly had no previous relationships or connections with Luciano.
Luciano and Lansky worked together on a plan of their own. On September 10,1931,
almost 5 months to the day after the was war ended, five of Luciano and Lansky‟s men
arrived at the Helmsley Building in near Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan.
The men were dressed like officers when they entered the building. Inside, they
disarmed the guards of Maranzano when they went to the 9th floor where his main office
was located. One of the five men may have been Tommy Lucchese, future boss of the
Lucchese family. He went along to identify Maranzano because they other men had
never seen him before. The men entered Maranzano‟s office and began shooting and
stabbing him. The boss of all bosses put up a fight despite all of that. After the murder
was over, the murderers passed Maranzano‟s hitman, Vincent Coll. The Irishman was
going to meet Maranzano about organizing Luciano‟s murder. Coll heard people
screaming that the police were coming, so he ran off. He had already been partly paid for
the murder that had yet to take place, and that was good enough for him. Luciano‟s hit
was cancelled and made his nickname even more true.
On that very same day, most of Maranzano‟s higher ranking members were killed.
Two of them were Samuel Monaco and Louis Russo. Their bodies were found in
Newark Bay with signs of torture on them. The next few days saw many of the old
Sicilian bosses of the country killed by the hands of Luciano and Lansky. The murders
became known as “The Night of the Sicilian Vespers.”LXXVII
After the Maranzano murder, the Five Families saw personnel changes. Frank
Scalise, a supporter of Maranzano, was forced to step down from his post and the Scalise
55
Family was changed to the Mangano Family when Vincent Mangano took over. Joseph
Bonanno took over the Bonanno Family after Maranzano was killed, hence the name.
Bonanno would later write in his book that he had no idea of the plans to kill Maranzano.
He made a pact with Luciano saying there would be no revenge for the murder.LXXVIII
Luciano met with the major players of the American Mafia in Atlantic City.
Luciano told the men, “The government takes care of public virtues, we take care of
private vices.” The commission was formed. The commission eliminated the boss of all
bosses. Each man would control a territory. Everyone would be equal. Crime boss Joe
Bonanno compared the commission to the UN. Peace was needed to make money.
Luciano believed in eliminating any name associated with the Mafia. If it had no name, it
didn‟t exist. The Commission was formed as a result of the feuding gangs over the last
decade. This gave each city one boss, with the exception of New York (5), all with one
vote to settle disputes within the Mafia world. “Luciano has been called the man who
organized organized crime, and not without justification. The structure in which twenty
or so crime families divvied up the country and cooperated with one another transformed
American criminal enterprise along lines that exist to this day.”LXXIX
56
X
1932 Presidential Candidate, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, promised the repeal of
the 18th amendment. The 21st amendment of the United States Constitution was proposed
by the Seventy-Second Congress on February 20, 1933. Within his first year of his
presidency, Roosevelt had made his promise. On December 5, 1933, the 18th amendment
was repealed with the ratification of the 21st amendment.
The participants of bootlegging operations stayed with the now legitimate
business. The powerful figures went on to control successful liquor businesses. Joseph
Kennedy, father of President John Kennedy, became the American distributor of Haig &
Haig Whiskey and Gordon‟s Gin. Italian mobster Frank Costello established Alliance
Distributors, selling the brands he made popular during Prohibition. The largest
Canadian bootlegger was Samuel Bronfman. He went on the create Seagrams. Luciano,
Lansky, and Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel founded Capitol Wine and Spirits, selling top of
the line wine and liqueurs. The Mafia established themselves as the politicians looked
the other way. The 21st amendment just legitimized illegal business and led organized
crime into other vices. Almost 14 years of Prohibition resulted in almost 14 years of
partying.
Drugs would become the newest form of making money until 1933, when
Franklin Delano Roosevelt became President and created the New Deal. Luciano took
advantage of the New Deal and business opportunities. He ran the unions by controlling
the workers and igniting strikes, racketeering, trucking, construction, and running the
docks all along the East Coast. The only way this was possible to pull off was by
57
corruption in politics. A few bucks here and there to have cops look the other way and
help with Roosevelt‟s next campaign allowed for the business to take place.
Thomas Edmund Dewey of Owosso, Michigan grew up to graduate from
Columbia Law School in 1925. Dewey started off an illustrious career as a New York
City prosecutor in the 1930s. His first big achievement came in the 1930s when he
worked as Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He
prosecuted bootlegger Waxey Gordon. Dutch Shultz was to Dewey like Cascio Ferro
was to Petrosino. He was a number one target for Dewey, but would always seem to get
off of the charges brought against him.
Shultz made his bones in the bootlegging game during prohibition. He was the
top bootlegger of the Bronx and upper Manhattan. After prohibition, he and his gang
entered food servicing unions. He embezzled union funds and collected protection
money from the restaurants. Shultz soon got into numbers, a gambling operation in the
black section of Harlem. Numbers appealed to many people, mostly poor. There were
about 15,000 people employed as collectors called street runners. These operations grew
during the depression and got out of hand until Shultz took over. Above strengthening
his power over unions and rackets, he increased his influence at Tammany Hall. This
was the seat of power of the Democratic Machine. They controlled the courts and police
of New York.LXXX After taking over Harlem‟s numbers rackets, Shultz would not only
see a $20 million annual return from just those operations, but Dewey and his
investigators.LXXXI
In 1933, Dewey initiated an income tax investigation of Shultz in a long term
campaign aimed at industrial racketeering. Shultz went into hiding for more than a year
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when the investigation started. Dutch came out of hiding in 1935 and was tried in the
cities of Syracuse and Malone, New York. He went free in both trials. In Syracuse, he
won a hung jury; in Malone, he was acquitted because of a public relations effort that
influenced the jury. Although he was acquitted, Dewey and his men continued
investigations on Shultz‟s restaurants, numbers rackets, and tax evasion. Believing
Shultz would not roam the streets again; rivals started taking over his New York
businesses. Shultz needed to retaliate, but he was more focused on his plan to assassinate
Dewey.LXXXII He asked the top Mafiosi for an ok for the assassination. They refused,
leaving him the target instead.
On October 23, 1935, Dutch Shultz and three of his men were at the Palace Chop
House and Tavern in Newark, New Jersey. Two men with a pistol and a shotgun came in
around closing time. Three of Shultz‟s men were shot immediately. Shultz was in the
bathroom when he was hit. He died the following day in a Newark hospital.LXXXIII It is
believed that Luciano ordered the murder. Now that Shultz was gone, Dewey looked at
Luciano.
Thomas Dewey realized Lucky Luciano was a very powerful man. He had just
one weakness; Women. Luciano ran all of the docks of New York and even the East
Coast for that matter. The Mafia ran the trucking and construction industries and through
all of the New Deal programs, they ran politics because of the contracts, unions, and
racketeering. It was in this time that Luciano restructured his prostitution rings. Dewey
saw that of all of his activities and businesses, women would be the source of the
takedown of Charles “Lucky” Luciano. Dewey was able to get two women to testify
against Luciano. He had enough evidence to arrest and try Luciano of abetting
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prostitution. Due to the “charged atmosphere of the era,” Dewey won the case, “although
the evidence was weak and his techniques were questionable.” LXXXIV On July 2, 1936,
the jury pronounced the word guilty 549 times to put away the not so lucky Luciano
behind bars for 30-50 years.LXXXV This was the longest sentence for that type of crime in
New York State history. When in jail, Luciano was asked if he wanted Dewey killed. He
said declined the offer, not wanting government officials harmed. The man Luciano
saved from assassination had now put him away for a long, long time; or so it seemed.
Another Godfather of the New York Mafia, Vito Genovese, drew attention to
Thomas E. Dewey. One Luciano was out of the way, Genovese became the next target.
He was a ruthless killer and owned many night clubs and prostitution rings. He feared
that he would be behind bars soon after the NYPD issued a warrant for his arrest in 1937.
This was for the murder of Ferdinand Boccia. A year after being naturalized, Vito fled to
his native country of Italy.
Genovese saw opportunity and a new business in Italy. He ordered cocaine from
the United States and sold it to the intellectual elite of Italy. As he worked his way into
these social circles, he met Count Galeazzo Ciano, the son-in-law of Mussolini and held
various respected titles under the Fascist Regime. Trying to get in with Il Duce,
Genovese paid for a Fascist party office to be built. When all of this didn‟t get him in, he
turned to crime. Genovese gave the order to kill Carlo Tresca, an anti-Fascist journalist,
an enemy of Mussolini. On January 11, 1943, Tresca was killed on 5th Avenue in New
York City.LXXXVI Needless to say, Genovese became very close friends with Mussolini.
Genovese contributed great sums of money to the Fascist party. He even financed a
power plant and donated $250,000 to build a municipal structure. For all of his work and
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contributions, Mussolini awarded Genovese with the Order of the Crown of Italy and the
title of Commendatore, some of Italy‟s highest honors.LXXXVII
The Mafia commission back in the states was displeased with Genovese‟s new
friendship. The Mafia is against Fascism and Nazism. To properly manage its business,
it needs democracy. For democracy comes with freedoms and rights, making it easier to
be a criminal.
In 1939, Jewish gangster, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, went to Italy with his
mistress, Dorothy DiFrasso, to assassinate Mussolini. Bugsy hated Mussolini and had the
opportunity to get close to him because DiFrasso‟s husband was working on explosive
weapons to sell to Il Duce. Siegel and DiFrasso had a plan set up for the assassination,
but never made an attempt to put it to work. They didn‟t carry out the plan because
Siegel found himself in the Fortress of Europe, a term the Nazis used to describe a
continent under Nazi control. Being a Jew, Bugsy was horrified and went back to
America where his life wasn‟t considered worthless.LXXXVIII
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XI
America and Italy met on opposite sides during World War II. Luciano
maintained his power from prison in New York. The docks along the East Coast were
not secure, strikes were still happening, German subs were constantly going up and down
the coast, and Italian, German, and Japanese spies had been working in America.
The Navy shipyards of New York were working on the Normandie. The
Normandie was the fastest trans-Atlantic ship in the world, and could elude German Uboats. On February 11, 1942, the citizens of New York woke under a cloud of smoke as
the Normandie was victim of arson, and eventually capsized. New York mob boss,
Albert Anastasia is believed to be behind the sabotage, forcing the United States Navy
Office of Naval Intelligence to work with the Mafia in order to secure the docks.
US Naval officials approached Luciano, knowing he was the one who ran the
docks and the unions. With Dewey being one of the men to ok this, the cooperation
between the United States government and New York Mafia became known as Operation
Underworld.LXXXIX The Mafia secretly joined the allies in the fight against the Axis
powers. The sabotage in the docks stopped and the workers stopped striking. With the
planned sabotage and strikes under control, the Mafia was now in the driver‟s seat.
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Remember in the beginning, the paragraph about how America glorifies the Mafia
and we forget they‟re criminals? This is where everything becomes tricky. We‟ve
always been taught that the government is good and criminals are bad. We think the
Mafia is the bad guy and the government protects us. Most of that is false. Because of
Democracy, we have millions of criminals on the streets that have gone free due to the
loopholes of the “Justice” System. Of these criminals, we have organized criminals.
Because of organized criminals, we have severely corrupt politicians on all levels of
government. Because of corrupt politicians and democracy, we get FDR‟s new deal
infiltrated by the Mafia. Because Democracy has allowed the Mafia to become a puppet
master of the United States, we do not speak German and the East Coast did not take on
any battles or see damage during World War II. Don‟t understand? The good United
States government didn‟t teach you any of what you have just previously read? The
following should clear things up while educating you.
63
Charles “Lucky” Luciano ran the country from a jail cell upstate. Luciano
consulted with his allies. One important ally was Joseph “Socks” Lanza, a labor
racketeer who controlled the Fulton Fish Market. Luciano had helped gather information
from his longshoremen and dockworkers for Naval Intelligence authorities. The
authorities were concerned about German espionage along the docks of New York.
The most successful action taken in Operation Underworld happened in June of
1942. Through the efforts of Luciano, eight German agents in U-boats were arrested.
The Nazi agents had $170,000 in cash, explosives, and plans and maps to go with the
explosives. The plans were for a two year attack on America. The attacks would occur
up and down the East Coast. The maps were marked with places they were planning on
hitting. These places included defense plants, railroads, and bridges.
This may have saved America during the war. The arrests were just something
the Mafia helped with on the domestic front. The United States government would go on
to deny all of this for political reasons. The Mafia had its puppets ready for the European
Theater the following year.
Sicilians in America were urged to help United States authorities with details
about Sicily. Finishing up in North Africa, the troops would soon be going into Sicily
and then cross over and up the Italian Peninsula. They were looking for the best places to
land, what the terrain was like, where enemy armies might appear, and the safest paths
throughout the island. Luciano had messages sent to the Dons of the Sicilian Mafia. He
told them to cooperate with the Americans when they arrive in Sicily. It was then,
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Luciano appealed his 30-50 year prison sentence on the grounds of services rendered to
the nation.XC
The Allied Invasion of Sicily began in the late night and early morning on July 9th
and 10th, 1943. This was the largest amphibious assault in history at the time. Of all of
the American soldiers fighting during the invasion, fifteen percent were of Sicilian birth
or descent. The soldiers that landed carried an American flag along with flags with L on
them. L for Luciano. XCI A 1945 newspaper covering all the evens of World War II wrote
the following about the feelings of the Sicilians on the invasion: “Many Sicilians
welcomed the invaders as liberators. Many thought the appearance of the Americans
automatically made them citizens of the United States.”XCII
Once again, Don Vizzini appeared in another World War, except this time helping
the Allies, rather than himself. Once the troops got past the initial invasion, a single
American tank rolled into Vizzini‟s town of Villalba. An American soldier called out for
Don Vizzini on a bullhorn as he waved a handkerchief with an L on it. The collaboration
between the Allies and the Sicilian Mafia was underway.
Ten days after the invasion, American tanks picked up Vizzini and made him an
honorary colonel in the United States Army. The soldiers referred to him as General
Mafia. Don Vizzini aided the Americans in conquering the island and also encouraged
the Italian Army to leave. Don Vizzini wasn‟t the only Mafia Don with this type of
treatment. Video footage shows another Don in a fishing boat escorted onto a military
vessel. XCIII
The Americans conquered central and western Sicily in seven days. General
Patton called it “the fastest blitzkrieg in history.”XCIV The British under, General
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Montgomery, took 5 weeks and thousands of losses to go up the east coast of Sicily. The
overall invasion was over on August 17, 1943. This led to the Invasion of Italy on
September 3 where Mussolini was eventually removed and the Italians surrendered on
September 8, 1943.
An allied military government was formed in Rome during 1943 headed by
Charles Poletti, lawyer, Governor of New York for a few weeks in 1942, and US Army
Colonel. Poletti was in office in New York just long enough to pardon many Mafiosi.
Vito Genovese came out of hiding during this time and presented himself to Poletti.
Genovese was hired as a translator. This position did not last long. He could make
things happen for senior American officers and bribed his way into the black market.
60% of the food that was unloaded by the allies at the port in Napoli went to Genovese‟s
corrupt soldiers and members of the local Camorra.XCV In 1944, Genovese was
investigated by the U.S. Army and was jailed for black marketing in postwar Italy.
Genovese was returned to the United States in 1945 and indicted for the Boccia murder
case. The murder of a key witness forced prosecutors to drop the charges.XCVI
Because so many of the Godfathers in Sicily were anti-fascist and persecuted by
Mori, many were appointed mayors of their towns through the new military alliance,
including Don Calogero Vizzini. However, in 1943, Don Vito Cascio Ferro who was still
imprisoned, died of thirst in his cell during the invasion when all of the Italian guards
fled. Luciano was granted executive clemency by then Governor of New York, Thomas
Dewey. Luciano was then deported back to Italy on February 10, 1946. After one year,
he moved to Cuba to do business with longtime friend, Meyer Lansky, who owned many
casinos. Harry Anslinger, director of the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics, believed Luciano was
66
a major drug trafficker. He claimed that Luciano planned on using Cuba as a base to
export heroin into the United States. Anslinger said that Luciano headed an international
drug syndicate that shipped Heroin into the states. Luciano was never tried on these
charges, but Cuba sent him back to Italy in 1947.XCVII He took over Genovese‟s network
in Naples where he finally settled.XCVIII
World War II was over in Sicily fairly quickly. The Mafia in America and Sicily
had tremendous power. Italy went through major political changes during and following
the war. Sicily was still Sicily. With no direct governance, where was Sicily headed?
Becoming a state, yes, a U.S. state, was a popular option for many Sicilians. (I bet you
didn‟t learn that either.) After elections were held in Italy following the war, Sicily was
finally part of Italy.
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XII
The Mafia in America was a known organization. It was clear that they ran
businesses, politics, sports, etc. Whether it be J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI or the Kennedy
brothers saying it, the denial of the Mafia or the acknowledgement of the Mafia was still
giving plenty of attention to the secret organization. Up until 1963, no one outside of the
Mafia actually understood what went on. Tommy guns, car chases, black and white
movies, and fedora wearing gangsters in pinstriped suits with 1920s accents were the
stereotypical Mafiosi in many minds. That was all the general public knew about the
Mafia. The first insight and major breakthrough into the mysterious world of Italian
organized crime came at the hand of Joe Valachi, the first Mafioso to admit the
organization existed.
Joe Valachi was sentenced to 15-20 years in prison after narcotics violations in
the 1959. After three years in a federal prison with fellow inmate and crime boss, Vito
Genovese, Valachi was given the kiss of death. Genovese feared that Valachi was an
informer, although he was not at the time, and ordered that Joe be killed. Valachi ended
up killing a man he though to be the assassin. For revenge, Joe went in front of Senator
John L. McClellan and his Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the U.S. Senate
Committee on Government Operations, the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous
Drugs, the FBI, and the Justice Department. He testified to all of these government
organizations that the Mafia did exist. Robert Kennedy the testimony the “biggest single
intelligence breakthrough yet in combating organized crime and racketeering in the
United States.”XCIX The testimony gave the government and the public details about the
history, structure, crimes, and members of the Mafia.
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Although this was the biggest breakthrough as Kennedy pointed out, not many
people were arrested from the testimony. A better understanding of life in the Mafia
resulted, but the members were still free on the streets. Up to this point in trying to
understand the relationships of the Mafia and the government, the Mafia has always had
control over the government with the exception of Mussolini and Mori‟s attacks which
ended up hurting the Fascists in the end. It was always the government cooperating with
Mafia when they worked together. This was the first time the Mafia cooperated with the
government. This really opened up the exit strategy for Mafiosi. There is no retirement,
only death; natural or murder. Now, members facing heavy prison terms could sell out
their own for a light sentence and a one way ticket to a warm sunny state. By doing this,
members would have bounties put on them for a large sum of cash. Many of the bounties
go uncollected. The next relationship between Mafia and government may have been the
most effective. This was Mafia cooperating with the government 100%, but they had no
idea they were doing so.
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XIII
Donnie the jeweler, a new face in the area became known as a good jewel thief in
New York‟s Little Italy during 1976. Little by little, Don started making friends in the
criminal underworld. He made friends in a couple of the families and finally made his
way into the Bonanno family. He had formed a close relationship with Anthony Mirra,
Dominick “Sonny Black” Napolitano, and Benjamin “Lefty” Ruggiero. Ruggiero could
have been described as a frustrated aging gangster who didn‟t get the credit he deserved
within the underworld community. He took Donnie under his wing and taught him
everything about being a mobster. Don “the Jeweler” Brasco learned a lot about how the
Mafia worked and gained respect among those in the crew. He participated in many jobs
and became a good earner. He even took the financial interests of the group to his home
state of Florida where they opened a night club.
The 1970s did have some rough times for the Mafia. A “New Mafia” rose up
after the American Mafia and the Sicilian Mafia struck a deal to control international
heroin trade. Many Sicilians came to the U.S. and started clashing with the Americans.
Brasco would say in an interview years later, “There was a lot of tension. Who‟s the true
breed?”C
At one point, Mirra accused Brasco of stealing a quarter million dollars from the
family. The two had to have three sit-downs with their representatives. If found guilty,
Brasco would have been killed. He was innocent. After things were cleared up, the once
stranger to the community was given the highest honor a soldier could receive, he was
going to become a made man. All he had to do was kill someone. He was asked multiple
times to do hits, but the victims always disappeared before he got to them. In 1981,
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power struggles within the Bonanno family resulted in three murders. At this time,
Brasco vanished from the New York Mafia.
Not only did Brasco vanish, he never existed. Don the Jeweler, an orphan from
Florida, was really Joe Pistone, undercover agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The original investigation was supposed to be 6 months to get information on people
fencing stolen property from all of the truck hijackings at the time in New York and New
Jersey. The investigation went on for about 6 years. Pistone was pulled out of the
investigation before becoming a made man, much to his dismay. He would have loved to
have been made, making the Mafia look like fools, accepting an agent into their society.
Pistone grew up in New Jersey knowing he wanted to go into law enforcement. He grew
up with gangsters around. “These are the guys I knew from the neighborhood. Everyone
knew they were involved. They had money and expensive cars. What you didn‟t see was
all the devious stuff that went on; the struggle for power, whacking guys.”
The investigation resulted in over 200 indictments and 120 Mafiosi sent to prison
for life.CI The FBI got an even better understanding of how the Mafia operates from the
inside, specifically the Bonanno family, and members of the Mafia, what they did, the
rules they lived by, and where it all happened.
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XIV
The next look at relationships between the Mafia and the government brings us
back to Italy. The country had been coming out of terrorist scares from the Red Brigades,
Mafia civil wars, and transitions throughout their government since the war ended. By
the 1980s, the Socialists had become a larger player in Italian politics. The Mafia in
Sicily had also grown more powerful than ever. Italy became the 5th largest industrial
economy on the planet, but Sicily was still like the Wild West. A second Mafia war
broke out, resulting in hundreds of murders, including several political figures. The time
to try and crack down on the Mafia was now. Giovanni Falcone, a prosecuting
magistrate from Sicily, helped fight against the Mafia in the period called the
maxiprocesso, or the Maxi Trial, started in February 1986.
Giovanni Falcone was born in Sicily in 1939. Falcone practiced law for three
years before being appointed judge in 1964. By the 1970s, he had begun working on
cases involving organized crime. Much like in America at the time, the people were
finally able to see little by little into the mystery that is the Mafia. Falcone dedicated his
life to taking down the organization that made Sicily infamous. He worked closely with
American authorities as well because the Sicilian Mafia is international. His work was
the first to really make a dent in the organizations structure.CII
The 1980s became known as the Years of Lead. Many politicians, police officers,
and judges were murdered by the Mafia. Some of these include Judge Cesare Terranova,
Magistrate Rocco Chinnici, Carlo Alberto Della Chiesa, Carabinieri Emanuele Basile,
Politician Giuseppe Montana, and Ex-Mayor Salvatore Lima. In 1980, a politician
named Pio La Torre suggested that as little as being a member of the Mafia should be a
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crime. La Torre was murdered fairly quickly after his suggestion. The law went into
effect 2 years later. Several law enforcement individuals were murdered in this time.
Many asked for transfers from Palermo and many didn‟t see the point in fighting the
Mafia; they were too strong. “It was not Italy fighting the Mafia; it was an embattled
minority bound together by fierce team spirit and a sense of duty.”CIII
In Juy of 1985, Leoluca Orlando was elected Mayor of Palermo. He was of the
Democrazia Cristiana Party, or DC. He wanted a change in Palermo. He strongly
opposed the Mafia. He presided over the “Palermo Spring.” They city and island had
been in the tentacles of the Mafia since the war. Although people seemed to want
change, Falcone noted, “It seems to me as if the city is watching from the window,
waiting to see how the bullfight ends.”CIV
Falcone headed the prosecution for the Maxi Trial. It appeared that the strategy
was to wipe out the entire Mafia in one hit. Instead of trying one or a few Mafiosi per
trial, why not get as many as we can in one attempt. On February 10, 1986, the trial
began. For the first time, the tentacles released from the neck of Palermo. Air was going
back into the city, yet the giant beast was still watching and waiting to grab the neck of
the city once more. Members of the Mafia were ordered not to do anything at this time.
The attention went to the case in the courtroom specially built for the trial. A journalist
said, “It looked as if a giant judicial spaceship had landed in Palermo.” “The main hall
was green and octagonal, with thirty cages placed around the outside for the 208 most
dangerous defendants.”CV There were 474 men on trial; 119 were in absentia. During the
trial, journalists asked locals how they felt. Many refused to answer, and others did not
like the trial. Some said that the unemployment rate went up a lot after the trial started.
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Most of the people were unconvinced that it was a legitimate trial. They believed it was
all corrupt and the Mafia controlled the politicians anyway. The Sicilians, as much as
they might have hated the Mafia, couldn‟t say anything against it. People couldn‟t accept
what Falcone and his men were doing. The Sicilian writer Leonardo Sciascia explained
the sentiment by saying;
“When I speak out against the Mafia it also makes me suffer because within me,
as within every Sicilian, the residue of Mafioso feeling is still alive. So when I
struggle against the Mafia I‟m also struggling against myself; it is like a split, a
laceration.”CVI
The Maxi Trial verdict was announced on December 16, 1987. The Mafia had
474 defendants to start the trial. Of these men, only 114 were acquitted. 2,665 years of
imprisonment was given to the remaining guilty men. Falcone believed that respecting
democracy would provide generous results in combating the Mafia. Before the trial
ended, new investigations were taking place for more cases. In March of 1988, 160 more
people were arrested. Cities across Sicily came together to fight the Mafia. The trial was
a great knockdown punch in the first round. Unfortunately for the government, it was
only a knockdown, not a knockout. By 1989, only 60 of the men were still behind bars.
In 1990, the Palermo Court of Appeal reversed some of the convictions.
Many in the judicial system did not agree with what Falcone was doing. He faced
tremendous pressure from within his own colleagues. Antonio Caponnetto was the
founder of the anti-Mafia pool. After the trial, he resigned from running the pool and
went back to his home in Florence. Falcone was the obvious choice to fill the role that
Caponnetto had left behind. At Capponetto‟s going away party, Falcone had been passed
over; the job went to Antonino Meli. Meli was just two years away from retirement and
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was had little experience in Mafia investigations. Falcone was humiliated and
acknowledged that he was a dead man. If the government wouldn‟t back him up, he
would be incredibly vulnerable to the Mafia.
Meli practiced his position the way Falcone would never dream of. Meli would
share information of Mafia investigations with random magistrates, include non-Mafia
crimes and criminals in his investigations, and divided Mafia cases among cities, rather
than look at them as a whole single organization as Falcone saw it. Meli‟s investigations
became more public and alarming to many in the judicial system. Falcone wrote to the
CSM, the national governing body of the magistracy, telling them that under Meli, antiMafia hearings had ground to a halt. The hearings by the CSM were supposed to be
confidential, but what Falcone was sharing became leaked by both his supporters and his
opposition. Falcone considered resigning, but then withdrew his offer. With pro and
anti-Falcone groups in the judicial system, the CSM told them both to work things out.
This left Falcone weaker. The Palace of Justice in Palermo was called the Poison Palace.
Personally, I believe Falcone truly believed in what he was doing. He was
fighting for justice, the people, and Sicily. The anti-Falcone magistrates in Palermo and
Sicily viewed Falcone and his anti-Mafia groups as politicians trying to use influence and
use its power over other magistrates, rather than upholding the law and protecting the
innocent people of Sicily. In June 1989, Falcone was renting a beach house with his wife
near Palermo. An Adidas sports bag filled with explosives was found next to the house.
Falcone believed that it was not the Mafia directly, but politicians who were close to the
Mafia that planted the bag there. Mayor Orlando in Palermo was taken down by the DC
leadership in Rome. This was due to him being labeled as a political maverick. He tried
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changing the city of Palermo with strong anti-Mafia stances while siding with the
communists. Falcone‟s mission seemed like it was over.CVII
From 1989 to 1991, Italy saw a few changes, and Falcone began to climb up the
judicial ladder once more. After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, political climates in Italy
and Sicily changed. The anti-Mafia movement stalled when Falcone was strongly
pushing for it. In 1991, the movement finally swung around for Falcone. Italy saw many
over the socialist and left sided political parties liquefy. There was no more reason for
the people to vote for the DC or far left. The Northern League political party was calling
out Rome and the South with the corruption going on there. Change was wanted and
needed after the Maxi-Trial, disintegration of the far left, and crime waves and
corruption. A new Socialist Minister of Justice who opposed Falcone and the anti-Mafia
pool saw this time as an opportunity to gain prestige and power by appointing Falcone to
the position of Director of Penal affairs in the Ministry. Falcone would be in charge of
fighting organized crime at a national level. Although those close to Falcone told him not
to take the position, he did. He set up two national bodies, the Direzione Investigativa
Antimafia, DIA, and the Direzione Nazionale Antimafia, DNA. The DIA is similar to the
FBI in America. It takes the collaboration of many law enforcement agencies to fight all
organized crime, not just the Mafia. The DNA coordinates 26 district anti-Mafia
prosecutors‟ offices throughout Italy. Now in Rome, Falcone could enforce what he
wanted to do in Palermo but couldn‟t. He created a unified vision of the entire Italian
organized crime system.CVIII
The violence did not stop from this though. More judges and businessmen were
killed. Other organized crime groups worked with the Mafia in some of the murders,
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such as that of Court of Cassation prosecutor, Antonio Scopelliti in August of 1991. He
was murdered by the „Ndrangheta, ordered by the Mafia. These murders made it look
like Falcone had failed. However, on January 31, 1992, the Court of Cassation
overturned the Appeal Court verdict from the Maxi-Trial. This confirmed Falcone‟s
original prosecution case. This meant that the Mafia “existed and was a single, unified
organization; that the members of the Commission were all jointly responsible for
murders carried out in the organization‟s name; and that the evidence of the Mafia
defectors was valid. After 130 years, the Italian state had finally declared the Sicilian
Mafia to be an organized and deadly challenge to its own right rule; it was the worst
defeat in the entire history of the world‟s most famous criminal association.”CIX It was
now believed that Falcone would become the head of the national prosecutors‟ office, he
would reduce the Mafia in Sicily, Italy, and the world, and he would hold all of the power
in the Italian justice system.
On May 23, 1992, Giovanni Falcone was in his car with his wife and also
magistrate, Francesca Morvilio, and his police escorts, Rocco Di Cillo, Vito Schifani, and
Antonio Montinaro.CX They were driving on the autostrada between the airport and
Palermo near the town of Capaci when the explosives placed on an underpass blew up the
car and much of the road. All of the passengers were killed by the Mafia in the
explosion. Over the next few years, some people were arrested for the Falcone case.
Although Falcone did a good job slowing organized crime, it is still a prosperous and
powerful presence in Sicily and Italy.
The past two decades since the murder have resulted in arrests and more
investigations on corruption in the Maxi Trial. A Court of Cassation judge, Corrado
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Carnevale, overturned many verdicts of the Maxi Trial. Carnevale was known as the
“Verdict Slayer” because he acquitted many Mafiosi in his career. Many speculated that
he worked for the interests of the Mafia. In 2002, the Court of Cassation overturned
Carnevale‟s decisions because he was charged with “using his influence to turn legal
decisions in the Mafia‟s favor.”CXI
78
XV
Now that we have seen both the current state of affairs in Italy and the history of
the relationships the government has had with organized crime, I can start to analyze the
best, most efficient ways for Italy to deal with the Mafia. For thousands of years, the
people of Sicily had to form groups for protection against the many invaders that took
over the island and ignored the people. Through this social evolution, the Mafia grew up.
Most of its adult life can be viewed starting at World War I. The seemingly absolute
power began when the Italian government went to the Sicilian Mafia for resources during
the war. When the government and authority figures went to the Mafia for help, they
were essentially just handing over the keys to the country to the criminal organization.
The government showed its weaknesses and the Mafia knew how to exploit them. The
shift in power has hurt Italy ever since. America fell into the trap a couple times too,
specifically in World War II to protect the docks. J. Edgar Hoover and the Kennedy
brothers tried many tactics at confronting the Mafia problem. The Mafia really gained
public attention during the 1960s. Without going into a whole other paper, some may say
that the Kennedy‟s didn‟t return favors and brought too much heat upon them. The
authorities finally felt the power trickle back little by little. Joe Valachi informing us all
of the inner workings of the Mafia and Joe Pistone‟s undercover work really changed the
criminal landscape. Judge Falcone‟s approach eventually got him killed.
In the 20 years since the events covered in this paper have happened, there have
been incidents of hundreds of Mafia arrests at one time. In America, the FBI in particular
take a strategy of collecting a lot of incriminating evidence over a period of years through
wiretapping, photographs, etc. This results in hundreds of arrests at one time every few
79
years. The Northeast region of America is still very heavily populated with Mafiosi. In
the past 20 years, technologies have also improved, benefiting both the Mafia and
government. In Italy, years go by before a big bust happens. Many bosses or high
ranking members go into hiding for years before making headlines when they are caught.
With the Mafia controlling much of the aspects of society and politicians, the tactics are
much different at attacking the Mafia. After the analysis and breakdown of each event,
the best tactic might not be a viable one for both American and Sicilian Mafias.
80
XVI
Based on the circumstances, the Sicilian Mafia really had an easy, non threatening
start with no barriers to enter Sicilian society. At a time of social change and oppression
from Italy and the Sicilian rich, the Mafia could easily pose as friends of the people,
gaining trust, support, and power. In America, Sicilians and Italians faced extreme
prejudice and discrimination. The growing power of the Black Hand did not help them as
a group. With the murder of New Orleans Police Chief David Hennessy, the first major
interaction between Italian organized crime and the government took place. This event is
somewhat difficult to analyze in some aspects to relate it to today‟s problems. The
prejudice and discrimination of Italians in America is much more under control and some
may say close to being gone. To compare to Sicily, there are still many Northerners who
dislike the Southerners, but for the argument, the same applies for Sicily as it did for
America.
After the murder of Hennessey, many innocent people and others (all Italian) who
did not have fair trials were put to death. For one man‟s life, the largest mass lynching in
United States history occurred. The actual killer might not have even been one of the
people lynched. The so called tactic here to stop the Mafia was to eliminate Italians.
This really did not solve anything. It just weakened one crime family, leaving the
surviving family more powerful. Another problem with this specific example is that
Hennessey was friends with the Provenzano family. The rival Matranga family killed
Hennessey because he was testifying against them. The police chief may not have been a
clean cop. In Sicily and Italy, corruption in politics is well known. In America, more
people are probably corrupt than in Italy, but they pretend like they aren‟t. Because no
81
facts can be proved, the argument about corrupt officials must be thrown out at the
moment. We might be able to look at corruption in this case if the deterrent to the Mafia
wasn‟t killing innocent Italians. The method is not legal and the feelings toward Italians
are outdated.
Our next subject to analyze is Giuseppe Petrosino and his Italian squad. Petrosino
was a phenomenal detective and earned every bit of respect. Right away, I have to say
the Petrosino tactic cannot be used in today‟s society. I only say this because law
enforcement has evolved into organizations such as the FBI with their own organized
crime departments. Petrosino was a knowledgeable man that could find out information
about the Italian people due to his background. This style is basically the same as today.
Many people with knowledge of the Italian language lead investigations against the
Mafia in America today. However, this tactic seems good, but it still isn‟t working to the
effects that the public would like to see. Petrosino may have been able to die a natural
death if it were not for the media. I say this for Petrosino and today‟s America and other
peace seeking countries. Any amount of information about what the authorities will do in
the future and released by the media is too much. The media wants attention. They‟ll do
anything for a story. They put the nails in the coffin for Petrosino. He was investigating
the Mafia/Black Hand in Sicily when he was killed by Cascio-Ferro in Palermo. If the
media didn‟t announce the heroic Joe Petrosino‟s trip to Sicily to combat the Mafia, he
may have completed a successful investigation. Even with military plans today, I don‟t
want to know the secrets of our equipment and plans before missions happen. If I‟m an
enemy, I would use any knowledge I have found out to my advantage. If the media stays
out of serious issues, many “wars” against anything might have better chances of
82
working. Basically, in the end, hard work and knowledge by a specialized is not the
solution I am looking for. This is why we have special law enforcement agencies.
Because they are not incredibly effective, I still must search for a solution to combat the
Mafia.
I might not even be writing now if the next events never happened. In World War
I, Italy, in need of supplies and equipment, went to the Mafia. When a government has to
go to an underground organization for help, the former can not be taken seriously or
powerful anymore. The power shifted into the tentacles of the Mafia after this. After the
war, Sicily was still not officially Italy, and was still very much ignored by the
government and people of the peninsula. With Mussolini and his new Fascist
government in place, the next tactic of fighting the Mafia was probably the most
effective, but the furthest from legal, ethical, and humane. Mussolini, after he thought he
was being disrespected in Sicily, promised to control Sicily and the Mafia problem. With
Cesare Mori in control, he cleared Sicily of almost all of its Mafiosi. One of his tactics
was to have people submit essays on where to find these men. In the whole campaign,
not a single essay was written. The real method of clearing Sicily of the Mafia was by
torture. One by one, the Mafia fell. Some feel that this was not as effective in combating
the Mafia because of all the men arrested and tortured, only a few were high ranking
members. Besides the torture and imprisonment of Don Vito Cascio Ferro, none of the
big name Mafiosi were behind bars.
The Mafia seemed to be in check during most of Mussolini‟s reign. This tactic
was the most effective in limiting the Mafia‟s powers, but obviously cannot be used in
today‟s justice system in either Italy or America. The dominos started falling for
83
Mussolini and they came down fast. Small things happened in the world, some not
involving Mussolini at all. In America, democracy allowed the Mafia to take advantage
of politics and business. Nevertheless, Lucky Luciano was sent to prison for a long time.
The true leader of the entire Mafia in the country was put away. In Italy, Mussolini did
what he thought was best for the new Roman Empire; aligning himself with Adolf Hitler.
For the most part, the Italian people hated Il Duce. The Mafia especially hated him for
ripping them apart.
When the Normandie was sunk in New York, the American government knew the
docks were not safe. The only way to bring safety to the public was by securing the
docks and East Coast. The only way to secure the coast was to get information from the
man who owned them all. Luciano struck a deal with a government and his friend Don
Vizzini in Sicily. Luciano helped secure America, arrested Germans, and made the
Allied Invasion of Sicily easier than it would have been. Vizzini and the Sicilians gladly
welcomed the American troops and helped them in their journey to the mainland.
Anything to rid Mussolini of their beautiful country was a pleasure. This resulted in the
Mafia of both countries becoming even more powerful. By going hard at the Mafia and
other factors out of his control, Mussolini set himself for death. Less than two months
went by after the invasion of Sicily when Italy was removed from World War II. He was
killed about a year and a half later. Due to his tactics, the Sicilian Mafia gladly helped to
defeat Mussolini.
Looking at both America and Sicily in this era, no tactic used back then should be
used today. The Mafia needs Democracy to survive. This is clearly illustrated in this 20
year stretch. In America, the Mafia exploited the New Deal, controlled (and still do) the
84
unions, docks, politicians, and businesses with very minimal consequences. The Mafia
held the power. In Fascist Italy, the Mafia could not survive because the government was
more publicly unethical and could get away with whatever they wanted. The solution to
stop the American Mafia and any common criminal would be to stop Democracy. That
simply will not happen anytime soon. In both countries today, you can‟t go out and
torture everyone. Therefore, that tactic won‟t work. Making deals with the Mafia on the
other hand may have to work.
Joe Valachi was and still is a fairly rare specimen. He spoke out against his own
to cut a deal for himself. With witness protection as a popular alternative to jail, a few
more Mafiosi have chosen the same route as Valachi. Due to many factors that can‟t
judge how a tactic would work on a whole group, getting men to talk voluntarily and
consciously to the government won‟t work as a primary strategy.
The next strategy to combat the Mafia was actually unintentional to an extent.
FBI agent Joe Pistone was initially investigating hijackings of trucks in New Jersey and
New York. The 6 month investigation went on for years. Working undercover as jewel
thief, Donnie Brasco, Pistone and the FBI were able to infiltrate the Mafia and learn
about more of the inner workings than ever before. The only problem with this strategy
was that it was done accidentally and on a relatively small scale. Pistone had stated that
he would have loved to have stayed in a little bit longer and become made. Making an
FBI agent a made man would really stick it to the Mafia. The mission was becoming too
dangerous, causing the investigation to be completed. This tactic is not used as much on
this type of scale due to the safety of the agents. For the amount of information gained
85
and prison terms served from the Brasco case, I think this could be a viable solution in
the future.
History repeats itself. Just from the previous sentence I can eliminate the next
and last analysis. The approach Judge Falcone took was a brave, valiant, and courageous
one. With that said and with much respect to Judge Falcone, I believe it was a foolish
approach. A brilliant and passionate man who loved his city and country wanted a better
life for all of the citizens of Italy and any other countries where people faced the Mafia.
He went after all Mafiosi in Italy. He was like Cesare Mori, except did it legally. He was
more like Giuseppe Petrosino though. He could get things done. Eventually, Falcone
became popular with the media; the same downfall of Petrosino. When you go against
the Mafia with the media by your side, you become too public; an easy target. The Mafia
is smart. They‟re always one step ahead. They always have help on the inside of the
government as well; Italy or America.
After analyzing all of these examples of government relationships with the
Sicilian and American Mafia, the best way to counter the Mafia would be to infiltrate
them using undercover agents. The men and women who join the FBI and similar
organizations understand they are putting their lives on the line for the safety of the
country and world. If any of these agents would feel comfortable going undercover and
entering the underground world of organized crime on a large scale, I think the Mafia
could crumble from the inside. By focusing on New York and the Five Families, we
could imagine 2 or more agents in each family. Have some of these agents rise through
the ranks, and really get an understanding of each group. When people are arrested
today, they are usually low ranking soldiers or a few higher ranking men who get
86
released fairly quickly. The bosses and higher ranking men are rarely arrested, tried,
and/or convicted.
Infiltrating the Mafia with an army of undercover agents would be an incredible
breakthrough if possible. Issues facing this would be safety of the agents, psychological
problems, and areas it would take place in. If any agents were seriously injured or killed,
the backlash of this tactic would be extreme. If the media weren‟t a part of the society,
this may not be a problem. There are many debates whether people want to be good or
bad. By giving a great number of people somewhat of a legal immunity, agents might
switch over to the dark side and stay. It may be more enjoyable to be bad than good.
Going undercover may work in a city like New York. With such a large population, it
may be easier to create a back story and gain trust of Mafiosi in the community. This
tactic probably wouldn‟t work in Sicily. The largest city is Palermo. It has a population
similar to Baltimore. A lot of small towns like Corleone have powerful families and
close knit communities. It is very unlikely that an outsider could enter any family in
Sicily.
If this could work, thousands of men could potentially be arrested and sent to trial.
This is where a secondary tactic would come in handy. If even a small percentage of men
would talk, more arrests and information could and would occur. The government would
be essentially making deals with criminals. This brings up the final tactic.
It happens all the time behind closed doors on smaller scales than what I am
referring to. I am talking about the deals made with the Mafia and other Italian organized
crime syndicates. Just suggesting the possibility of making deals with criminals gets
people angry and the suggestion gets shot down fast. These people are offended by talk
87
like that. Personally, I‟m offended that the governments of the world try to pretend like
they are filled with clean cut politicians who look after the good of the public. I‟m
amazed at how naïve people can be when suggesting the government is bad. The whole
point of this paper is to figure a way to help out Italy‟s economy. If Italy‟s economy is
suffering due to the organized crime groups, a solution must be made to combat the
syndicates. In Italy, the Camorra control the garbage industry in Napoli and the Mafia
own the renewable energy industry. These industries take money from the citizens of
Italy and the EU, and also take in billions from grants that Italy and the EU give to these
organizations. The Camorra and Mafia won‟t hand these over to the government, even
though the government should control these industries.
Deals are made all the time with specific politicians. Every once in a while a
politician is caught and goes to trial, but with a justice system like Italy, the case may
never end. I have personally sat in the Italian Parliament during a hearing relating a case
where a politician was involved with the Camorra. In the case, the one political party
tried to kick out the accused politician from the government for talking with the Camorra.
The political party who was on the side of the accused were saying that the other party
used illegal wiretaps to obtain their information, therefore nullifying the case. Just to let
you all know how the justice system is, I still don‟t know how this ended, if it even did.
The best way to get money back may be to get people on tax invasion. Everyone
knows illegal activity goes on, just tax them on it. If they don‟t file all or most income of
illegal activity, arrest them for it. Give them immunity on a few types of crimes as long
as they report the money coming in. When they don‟t, put them away for non-violent
crime.
88
If there was someway that the government could come out and make some type of
deal with the groups who own parts of industries that are vital for the infrastructure of
society, Italy may be able to finally tap into some of the billions of dollars lost every
year. Even a little bit of the untaxed income of organized crime is a lot of money.
Remember, it is speculated that money made by the Mafia and other organized crime
groups of Italy would make up 7-30% of Italy‟s GDP. With that extra income added in,
Italy would be a world economic power. The people of Italy and the EU are fed up with
the corruption. There is no point hiding from it. If people can accept the government
openly works with the Mafia and Camorra, Italy may be able to leave the PIGS, leaving
Portugal, Greece, and Spain all alone. I leave you with this:
Politicians are human. Money speaks. People are corrupt.
89
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Castellammerese War http://www.lacndb.com/php/Info.php?name=Castellammarse%20War
LXXIII
Peter Morello http://www.lacndb.com/php/Info.php?name=Peter%20Morello
LXXIV
May
LXXV
May
LXXVI
Castellammarese War
LXXVII
Salvatore Maranzano
LXXVIII
Salvatore Maranzano
LXXIX
Block
LXXX
New Jersey History‟s Mysteries http://www.njhm.com/dutchschultz.htm
LXXXI
Block
LXXXII
Block
LXXXIII
New Jersey History‟s Mysteries
LXXXIV
Smith
LXXXV
A&E Television Networks, Godfathers, The History Channel, 2003
LXXXVI
A&E
LI
94
LXXXVII
Block
A&E
LXXXIX
A&E
XC
Smith
XCI
Smith
XCII
The Daily Oklahoman Newspaper
XCIII
A&E
XCIV
Smith
XCV
Smith
XCVI
Block
XCVII
Block
XCVIII
Smith
XCIX
"Joseph Valachi." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia
Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 17 Mar. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/621798/JosephValachi>.
C
Lovgren, Stefan, FBI Agent “Donnie Brasco” Recalls Life in the Mafia. National Geographic
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/06/0610_050610_tv_mafia.htmlJune 10, 2005
CI
Lovgren
CII
Salerno, Vincenzo. Remembering Judge Falcone http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art48.htm, 2002
LXXXVIII
CIII
Dickie, John, Cosa Nostra A History of the Sicilian Mafia.: Palgrave Macmillan 2004 p. 301
CIV
Dickie, 302
Dickie, 302
CVI
Dickie, 305
CVII
Dickie 307
CVIII
Dickie 308
CIX
Dickie 309
CX
Salerno
CXI
Dickie 309
CV
95