History UsefulNotes / TheMafia

* '''Labor racketeering''': The Mafia became notorious for infiltrating labor unions, especially in the construction, garbage hauling, food services, freight, and clothing sectors. Tommy Lucchese had a hand in controlling the Garment District, while the Detroit mafia was involved with Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamsters. Albert Anastasia had control of the Brooklyn docks and had ties to the International Longshoremen's Association through his younger brother Anthony, while Nicodemo Scarfo had control over the local contracting and bartending unions in Atlantic City. The New York families had enough power to halt construction activities within the city if they didn't get the right payoffs. The crimes involved in labor racketeering included union shakedowns, [[StealingFromTheTill theft of]] union benefit plans, rigging elections in favor of mob-linked candidates, forcing companies into hiring mob-controlled workers, and providing "no-show" jobs to mobsters. Because of the Mafia's entrenchment in labor racketeering, many (bolstered by anti-labor politicians and business groups) now view unions to be inefficient and corrupt. The film ''Film/OnTheWaterfront'' is a good example of detailing the rampant corruption, extortion, and racketeering in the New Jersey dockyards.

Taking over after Costello's forced retirement, Genovese then ordered a hit on rival mob boss Albert Anastasia and called for a national mob meeting to consolidate his own power base in late 1957. But the Apalachin Meeting turned into a debacle as it exposed the Mafia to outside scrutiny for the first time and the other bosses (notably Gambino and Lucchese, who switched sides and supported Costello, Luciano and Lansky) had him falsely implicated on drug charges. To make matters worse, a low-level soldato named [[TheStoolPigeon Joe Valachi]] became the first made man to [[TheInformant testify about the American Mafia's inner workings in front of a Congressional panel]]. Valachi feared Genovese ordered a hit on him, but the threat of the death penalty after he accidentally killed another inmate he thought was assigned by Genovese to bump him off became his rationale to cooperate with the FBI in 1963. While there were other mafiosi who were secretly passing intel, Valachi became the first to openly admit being one. Although his disclosures never led to any major prosecutions, Valachi gave a good glimpse of the Mafia's inner workings. Genovese continued to rule the family from prison via ruling panels and acting bosses until his death in 1969.\\

Chin Gigante proved to be even more cautious and shadowy than Lombardo. He also ruled through "Fat Tony" Salerno, but that was just the start. Not only did he limit his contact with his underlings to some of his cronies, he rarely spoke louder than a whisper, insisted that nobody in the mob ever mention his name, and ordered his men to beat up anyone who defied his warning. Others got around this by pointing to their chins, making "C" shapes with their hands, or using the SpeakOfTheDevil trope as indirect references.[[note]]"Chin" was a childhood nickname for Gigante, whose mother had shouted his name in the old-fashioned Italian way as "vin-CHEN-zo!"[[/note]] He also [[ObfuscatingInsanity shielded himself]] from law enforcement scrutiny via the WanderingWalkOfMadness and PlayingSick, and rarely ventured outside for fear his house could be bugged. Chin's family also coerced doctors to submit fake medical reports claiming he was feeble-minded and mentally unfit to stand trial[[note]]in one instance, when FBI agents showed up at Chin's home, his mother proclaimed that he's the "boss of the toilet". In another, agents were bewildered to see Chin taking a shower while holding an umbrella[[/note]]. It worked until 1997, when he was imprisoned for multiple racketeering and murder charges, and finally admitted to pulling the "crazy stunt" to stymie investigations in 2003[[note]]Ironically, some have suggested this admission was proof that he actually ''was'' nuts, since he seemed to be on the verge of getting acquitted on the basis of insanity...though it could be that he figured he could keep running family from prison, but would have a harder time doing so from a mental hospital[[/note]]. Besides that, Gigante tried to murder John Gotti for killing his own boss in 1986, though he came off as a hypocrite since he actually partook in the botched hit on Frank Costello in 1957[[note]]which was reportedly unsanctioned[[/note]], who barely escaped with a scalp wound.\\

Lucchese died of cancer in 1967 and was replaced by Carmine Tramunti, who had a good relationship with the other bosses; Tramunti later branched out in construction and narcotics trafficking. Tony "Ducks" Corallo took over as boss in 1973 after Tramunti was indicted and convicted for narcotics trafficking in the infamous French Connection case. Corallo expanded the family's rackets in labor unions, construction, and garbage hauling, the latter of which became one of their prime rackets via a cartel of mob-linked haulers and unions forcing customers to use them. One waste hauler, Robert Kubecka and his brother-in-law Donald Barstow, were murdered by capo Sal Avellino when they repeatedly refused to join the mobbed-up cartel. Under Corallo's reign, one of the most notorious robberies took place - the Lufthansa Heist. The heist occurred when several truck hijackers linked to Jimmy "the Gent" Burke and Paul Vario ran off with nearly $6 million in cash and jewelry. Like his predecessors, Corallo took a relaxed approach in running the family, being content with the small tribute he got from the New Jersey faction. Though he never discussed business during sit-downs or on phones as he feared the conversations could be taped, Corallo used a car phone in his Jaguar. He was unaware the car itself was bugged by the New York state police's organized crime unit. The recordings were later used against him during the Commission Case[[note]]other bugs placed by the FBI included Paul Castellano's mansion in Staten Island, Fat Tony Salerno's social club in East Harlem, Colombo underboss Jerry "Lang" Langella's restaurant in Brooklyn, and Colombo capo Ralph Scopo's home. Scopo was included in the Commission Case due to his backdoor influence in construction unions. Through Scopo, the Concrete Club shook down contractors with a 2% kickback (for contracts above $2 million) in exchange for no labor problems[[/note]].\\

Soon enough, the two ordered hits on anyone who was a purported informant, but it backfired as [[DefectorFromDecadence many mafiosi such as Alphonse D'Arco and Peter Chiodo were later forced to flip]] because of Amuso and Casso's increasingly erratic behavior. Amuso even ordered the entire New Jersey faction killed when they balked at Amuso's demands for a hefty 50% of their proceeds instead of the paltry sum they offered, even going so far to demote the faction's head capo, Anthony Accetturo, to the mere rank of a soldier and replace him with an Amuso loyalist. Accetturo later flipped when [[WouldHitAGirl Amuso ordered a hit on his wife]] despite the Mafia's longtime ban on harming women, but Amuso never went through with it because of massive indictments against many mafiosi at the time.\\

Both Amuso and Casso were captured in 1993, but Gaspipe decided to flip in 1994, revealing that [[DirtyCop two NYPD officers]] named [[LawmanGoneBad Louis Eppolito and Steven Caracappa]] were on the Lucchese family's payroll for many years working as [[KillerCop contract killers]] for the Mafia; Eppolito even had relatives who were in the mob, but could never become a made man because he was a cop. Both Eppolito and Caracappa were sentenced to life imprisonment, but Casso was thrown out of the Witness Program in 1998 for numerous infractions. Amuso still runs the battered Lucchese family to this day via the help of ruling panels and acting bosses, a trait shared with the other Mafia families in New York.\\

After Masseria's death, Maranzano hosted a CriminalConvention in upstate New York. Despite introducing many of the rules that still govern the Mafia and the totem pole hierarchy to insulate bosses from the law, he [[ItsAllAboutMe declared himself]] [[KingOfThieves ''capo di tutti capi'' or "boss of all bosses"]], rankling the other mafiosi and reneging on the peace deal he made with Luciano, who wanted a power-sharing arrangement. Maranzano also hated Luciano's association with Jewish mobsters and wanted to control the Garment District rackets that Luciano owned. Realizing [[FullCircleRevolution that they had replaced one despot with another]] and that Maranzano was just another Mustache Pete at heart, the Young Turks decided to kill him. Leveraging the fact that he was facing an IRS audit like Capone to their advantage, they sent hitmen disguised as tax agents to his office in September of 1931. Despite putting up a fight, Maranzano was garroted, stabbed and shot multiple times.\\

With Masseria dead, Maranzano declared himself Boss of Bosses, breaking the deal he made with Luciano prior to Masseria's death to ensure peace between the two sides. [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem Soon enough, the power went into his head]], and Maranzano wanted to kill Luciano and his allies. But Luciano somehow got wind of this, and using this info, alongside the fact that Maranzano was facing a tax audit like Al Capone before him, he makes a move before Maranzano gets to him, and the Capo di Capi is eliminated on September 10, 1931 by hitmen posing as IRS agents.\\

Chin Gigante proved to be even more cautious and shadowy than Lombardo. He also ruled through "Fat Tony" Salerno, but that was just the start. Not only did he limit his contact with his underlings to some of his cronies, he rarely spoke louder than a whisper, insisted that nobody in the mob ever mention his name, and ordered his men to beat up anyone who defied his warning. Others got around this by pointing to their chins, making "C" shapes with their hands, or using the SpeakOfTheDevil trope as indirect references.[[note]]"Chin" was a childhood nickname for Gigante, whose mother had shouted his name in the old-fashioned Italian way as "vin-CHEN-zo!"[[/note]] He also [[ObfuscatingInsanity shielded himself]] from law enforcement scrutiny via the WanderingWalkOfMadness and PlayingSick, and rarely ventured outside for fear his house could be bugged. It worked until 1997, when he was imprisoned for multiple racketeering and murder charges, and finally admitted to pulling the "crazy stunt" to stymie investigations in 2003[[note]]Ironically, some have suggested this admission was proof that he actually ''was'' nuts, since he seemed to be on the verge of getting acquitted on the basis of insanity...though it could be that he figured he could keep running family from prison, but would have a harder time doing so from a mental hospital[[/note]]. Besides that, Gigante tried to murder John Gotti for killing his own boss in 1986, though he came off as a hypocrite since he actually partook in the botched hit on Frank Costello in 1957[[note]]which was reportedly unsanctioned[[/note]], who barely escaped with a scalp wound.\\

On the flip side, [[BadBoss Profaci]] was quite the [[TheScrooge arrogant skinflint]] in mob circles, even going so far to demand a $25 monthly "tax" from his men but paying chump change to them. The "tax" was supposedly a war chest to bribe crooked officials and foot the legal bills of imprisoned members, but Profaci hoarded most of it to himself, which became a source of contention in the late 1950s. The rising dissent against Profaci finally burst open at the seams when he abruptly balked at giving Joe Gallo a lucrative numbers racket formerly owned by Brooklyn-based capo Frank "Shots" Abbatemarco, who was killed for not paying the "tribute" Profaci always demanded from his men. Gallo was widely considered to be a hot-headed capo and the alleged gunman behind the Albert Anastasia hit[[note]]though it's also speculated that Anastasia's underboss Carlo Gambino recruited disgruntled mafiosi from within the Manganos to do the job as Gambino felt Anastasia was too reckless and reportedly had a civilian murdered in 1952. Another theory speculates the New England mob was behind Anastasia's murder.[[/note]].\\

[[HauledBeforeASenateSubcommittee High-profile hearings]] led by Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) in 1951 determined that a vast criminal conspiracy operated by Italians did exist, but it did little to deter the Mafia. It was the [[CriminalConvention Apalachin Summit in late 1957]] that really confirmed [[NoMereWindmill the Mafia's existence]]. It was set up by Genovese, who aimed to wrest control of the Luciano family from Frank Costello and become the KingOfThieves after killing Anastasia, boss of the Mangano (now Gambino) family in October 25, 1957. Around a hundred high-level mobsters attended the meeting at the ranch of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre mafia boss Joe Barbara in the sleepy upstate New York hamlet of Apalachin, but things went awry when a leery state trooper [[SpottingTheThread noticed the many expensive cars with out-of-state plates parked at the ranch]] and called in reinforcements. The attendees tried to flee the scene when they realized what was happening, but more than sixty of the mobsters were caught, including Genovese himself. Others who were nabbed included Carlo Gambino, Paul Castellano, and Santo Trafficante. Tommy Lucchese, Steve Magaddino, and Sam Giancana eluded capture, but Joe Bonanno wasn't so lucky, as [[BlatantLies he was captured in a nearby cornfield despite claiming that he was there to visit a friend]]. Genovese ended up taking the blame, being carted off to jail for presumably trumped-up drug trafficking charges in 1959. Despite the attendees' convictions, they were overturned on appeal as there was no proof of wrongdoing before the meeting was broken up. Even then, the exposure was very damaging for a criminal syndicate that valued secrecy above all. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, who had long denied that anything like the Mafia existed, ate his words and set up the Top Hoodlum Program to target the mob bosses. The legal stress from Apalachin and a drastic loss in personal wealth caused Joe Barbara to die of a heart attack in 1959. The fallout of the summit caused the Commission to "close the books", meaning that no new made men could be inducted into any of the families; they remained closed until 1976.\\

Another blow to the mob came in 1963, when a low-level grunt named Joe Valachi became the first made man to openly flip. Valachi claimed that he was testifying as a public service and to expose the Mafia, but it's believed that he may have agreed to testify as part of a plea bargain over a murder he'd committed while in prison for heroin trafficking[[note]]Valachi believed that he was marked for death by Vito Genovese and bludgeoned another inmate to death after mistaking him for a man named Joseph [=DiPalermo=], who he thought had been assigned to whack him[[/note]]. While there were other mob informants before him, Valachi was the first to openly admit the Mafia's existence. His testimony before Congress provided the American public and law enforcement their first real glimpse of the Mafia's inner workings.\\

Initially, the Commission Case included the ruling panels of the Five Families at the time, but Rusty Rastelli was removed early as he was already indicted on a separate labor racketeering case. This enabled the Bonannos to suffer less exposure than the other families. Neil Dellacroce died of cancer in December 1985 before he could be sentenced, while Paul Castellano was murdered later that month by capo John Gotti while out on bail. Tony Salerno's status as a patsy for Vincent "the Chin" Gigante didn't jeopardize his trial as he was charged for specific criminal acts, not for being the Genovese family boss. The Supreme Court later upheld his conviction in 1987.\\

Initially, the Commission Case included the higher-ups of the Five Families at the time, but Rusty Rastelli was removed early as he was indicted on a separate labor racketeering case. This enabled the Bonannos to suffer less exposure than the other families. Neil Dellacroce died of cancer in December 1985 before he could be sentenced, while Paul Castellano was murdered later that month while out on bail. Tony Salerno's status as a patsy for Vincent "the Chin" Gigante didn't jeopardize his trial as he was charged for specific criminal acts, not for being the Genovese family boss. The Supreme Court later upheld his conviction in 1987.\\