Introduction
The Gambino Crime Family began in the early 1900’s in New York and grew to be one of the most recognizable Sicilian criminal organizations in America. Several other Sicilian groups also grew to power and these organizations became to be known as the American Mafia. The Gambino Family is one of five families that operate in New York and are part of the “la Cosa Nostra” and is considered to be the strongest of the five families. The family also participated the “The Commission” which was the main governing board of the American Mafia. The family has since declined since it height of power in the 1960’s through the 1980’s but has begun to make a resurgence as a powerful criminal organization (Gambino Family).
The Founder Salvatore
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Soon after arriving in New York he started out working in a cheese importing company but quickly returned to criminal activities. He began working with the Giuseppe Morello who was leader of the Morello gang who had a strong presence in the Bronx. Soon Giuseppe Morello and Ignazio Lupo, his second in command, were arrested for counterfeiting charges and sentenced to thirty years in prison. During this event D’Aquila saw an opportunity to split off from the Morello gang and start his own mafia family. Already a well-respected and powerful lieutenant among the Morello gang, he left with many loyal followers and began his own gang ( Salvatore D'Aquila). D’Aquila’s gang began to quickly grow during the years of the prohibition and that they also controlled a large portion of the New York City waterfront. Due to his control of most of the waterfront other gangs who also wanted access to the waterfront soon allied themselves to D’Aquila’s family further increasing his supremacy in the region. With the success of his family D’Aquila soon became known as the “Boss of Bosses” a tittle previously held by Giuseppe Morello until his arrest in 1909. Giuseppe Morello was soon …show more content…
D’Aquila knew that Morello would want his seat as the “Boss of Bosses” back and D’Aquila was not going to give up his power so easily and soon began plotting a way to assassinate Morello and another gang member known as Giuseppe Masseria who was beginning to make a name for himself in the Morello gang. D’Aquila enlisted the help of Umberto Valenti, a notorious gunman formerly part of the Camorra gang in New York. After several failed attempts to assassinate them Giuseppe Morello and Masseria retaliated and ambushed Valenti and killed him, with Valenti gone the violence subsided and so did D’Aquila’s influence over the Brooklyn area. As time passed
Let me tell you about the “Gabardine Gang”. My father was the leader of an organized crime gang in the city of Hartford Connecticut. Far enough away from New York, New Jersey and Boston crime circuits. Yet, we lived close enough to know what the big guys were doing.. These small gangsters are nothing like you would see on TV or in the movies. My father ran his operation that worked in gambling, burglary, prostitution and bribery. You will never see films or books on these types of gangsters. They are not the glamorous expensive suit wearing types. They don't live in mansions, have maids or servants. These are the ‘blue’ collar types, or as I call them the 'lower-level' gangster. While you may not hear much about these types of gangsters,
Born on the 27th of October, 1940, to a blue collar family in the South Bronx, John Gotti was the fifth of 13 children born to Fannie and J. Joseph Gotti. The family’s income was less than consistent because of John’s father’s unpredictable work as a day laborer. After moving constantly, the family finally settled in East New York: an area notorious for its youth gang activity (“John Joseph Gotti Jr”, 2014). During his teenage years, Gotti became affiliated with the Gambino family, one of the “Five Families” that control most organized crime in New York (Jenkins). He started out as an errand boy for an underground club, where he met Aniello Dellacroce, who would eventually become his men...
Lansky who became legendary gangsters in there own right. Also at this time he obtained
Alphonse Gabriel Capone was the most notorious bootlegger in American History. He was born on January 17, 1899 and died of a heart attack on January 25, 1947. Capone grew up in Brooklyn and became a member of the Five Points Gang. During a street fight he had received a scar on his face that gave him the nickname “Scarface”. Capone quickly moves up the ranks in the mafia world, often noticed for his toughness, in 1919 he grabbed the attention of mobster John Torrio of Chicago. Capone was promoted to bodyguard of the mob boss James Colosimo. When Capone moved to Chicago, bootlegging was just starting to blow up. These bootleggers pounced on the opportunity to completely control the business of making, importing, and distributing alcohol and all alcohol products. Alcohol wasn't the only flourishing industry for the the mob, they also did trade in
Capone, Scareface). Like youths of his time he ran in territorial gangs at first he was with
May, Allen.(2004). John Gotti: The Last Mafia Icon. Retrieved November 10, 2004, from Court TVs Crime Library. Web Site: http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/gotti/index_1.html
Founders of the American Crime Family, Charles and Antonio Matranga moved to New Orleans from Sicily in the middle of the 19th century to work . They opened a saloon and brothel, which would become their base for their mafia. They used racketeering of Italian dockworkers to make most of their money. The Provenzano family had control of all fruit shipments from South America. The Matranga family was threatening to have a war with them over the fruit, but the Provenzanos decided to let them take part of the money they make from the operation to avoid having a gang war. They ended up having a war over grocers, which ended up with many Matrangas dead .
He started his career in crime in Boston as an apprentice to Johnny Torrio. There he earned the unforgettable nickname “Scarface.” It was in a bar when Capone made some rude comments about a woman. Minutes later, the woman’s brother sliced Capone in the face. This man was a friend of Charles “Lucky” Luciano.
South, David. The History of Organized Crime: Secrets of The World’s Most Notorious Gangs. New York: Metro Books, 2013. Print.
During 1869-2014 the Sicilian mafia in America evolved in a number of ways such as: the change in rules, leaders, how it is run, the change in code and power over American society. These topics will be covered throughout this essay and will give you a detailed explanation of the history of the evolution that took place. The Sicilian Mafia started in poor Sicilian ghettos in America and spread into the cities, striking fear into the American society. With around 2,500 members, it is seen as the most powerful and the most active Italian organized criminal group in the United States of America. The Sicilian mafia is more commonly known as La Cosa Nostra.
The Mafia is a secret criminal organization that has great economic and political control over large parts of Sicilian society and operates both criminal and legitimate enterprises in the United States. It is believed to have started during Sicily's late Middle Ages, beginning as separate bonds of strong-arm enforcers hired by local landowners. It eventually evolved into a network of independent groups governing in rural areas. With the Sicilian immigration of the late 19th century, the Mafia began to operate in several large United States cities. During the period of Prohibition it monopolized the trade in bootleg liquor and controlled loan sharking, gambling, and prostitution. Competing Mafia families established mutually recognized territories, reaching agreement by negotiation or by intimidation. By the mid-1930 the Mafia had taken on the institutionalized structure that is now typical of organized crime in the United States.
Considered the most notorious gangster in history, Alphonse Capone, otherwise known as Scarface Al, was born in New York, 1899, in a small apartment in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Having many run-ins with the police growing up, he was always around the local street gang led my Johnny Torrio. After beating one of his sixth grade teachers, he quit school, and quickly learned the way of the streets, joining the Torrio gang, call the James Street Gang. James Street also included Lucky Luciano, one of Capone’s best friends, who would later also become a notorious gangster (Internet 1, 1).
Peter Maas declares organized crime the “biggest business in the country” (Maas). “The largest and best known organized crime group is the nationwide organization variously known as the ‘syndicate’, the ‘mob’, the ‘Mafia’, and the ‘Cosa Nostra’” (Nash, Jason O-155). Some activities of the Mafia include gambling, loan sharking, pornography, illicit drugs, and racketeering. The Mafia began in Sicily, but did not retain to just that one location. In fact, in the late nineteenth century many of the Sicilian members immigrated to the United States (Nash O-155). The Mafia in the United States contains members that are Americans with Sicilian ancestry (“Mafia” M-48). There are several Mafia groups in the United States. Law enforcement authorities agree that there are around twenty-five groups that operate in large cities across the nation (Nash O-155).
Organized crime is a collective result of the commitment, knowledge, and actions of three components: (1) Criminal groups, who are core persons tied by racial, linguistic, ethnic or other bonds; (2) Protectors, who are persons who protect the group’s interests; and (3) Specialist support, which are persons who knowingly render services on an side-job basis to enhance the group’s interests. In order to thrive, an organized crime group needs many different elements. First, it needs an ensured continuity of members, clients, supporters, funds, etc. Additionally, it needs structure, criminality, violence, memberships based on common grounds, and a willingness to corrupt a power and profit goal. Generally, mafia organized crime groups disguise themselves behind the ownership of a legitimate business to avoid questioning from the Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) regarding any financial sources. The ille...
Reppetto, Thomas. American Mafia A history of Its Rise to Power. Edited by John Macrae. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2004.