Gambino Crime Family
Kiarra Coley
Immaculata University
Professor Glenn Fowler
December 3, 2015
Abstract The Gambino crime family is one of the five families in New York City. The Gambino crime family is one of the most infamous criminal organizations committing crimes such as racketeering, extortion, money laundering and prostitution. In 1957, the family expanded its power after Albert Anastasia was gunned down while sitting in a barber chair in Manhattan. The Gambino family was named after crime boss Carlo “Don Carlo” Gambino also known as “The Godfather”. He was the boss known for keeping a low profile and reigned from 1959 through 1976 when he died of a heart attack. As the organization grew bosses like Paul Castellano and
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His name was on police records for running scams and he quickly rose to power by working with other mafia leaders in the country to build an empire and gain used his ties to other mafia leaders across the country to create a network of connections and to gain control in the American mafia organization. By 1910 D'Aquila was the official ringleader of his own New York–based Sicilian mafia group. In 1928 Salvatore was murdered by Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria murderer’s who was the boss of the Genovese family. Alfred “Al Mineo” Manfredi took over until he killed in the Castellammarese War in 1930. Then Frank Scalise became the new boss and remained in power for three years. Vincent Mangano stayed in power for twenty years until he was murdered and helped the family become more ruthless. Albert Anastasia was rumored to be responsible for Vincent Mangano’s death but denied it. However, he was named the new boss but his reign was short lived due to his murder in 1957. The Commission promoted Carlo Gambino as the new boss of the Anastasia family which turned into the Gambino crime family. Carlo Gambino is believed to have helped organize the hit to take over the …show more content…
Throughout his criminal career he was never connected to any criminal activities and never went to jail. Gambino died of a heart attack in 1976 and his brother-in-law Paul Castellano took over. In 1985, Paul Castellano was murdered based on the command someone in his inner circle, John Gotti. Gotti was the new leader of the Gambino Crime Family with Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano his second-in-command. Gotti was nicknamed Teflon Don because charges were filed against him but he was never convicted until his underboss Gravano was arrested in 1990 and gave authorities information about Gotti’s criminal activities. He was finally sentenced to life in prison in 1992 and died in 2002 of cancer. His son John Gotti Jr. became the heir to the family crime business until he was
Gotti became the leader of the gang, but unlike other gangs, was not concerned about territory. His gang was mostly into higher levels of criminality that dealt with fencing stolen goods, stealing automobiles and rolled drunks. While a member of the Fulton-Rockaway Boys, he was arrested five times however all his charges were reduced to probationary sentences. Later in life, Gotti marries Victoria DiGorgio. However marriage does not slow down John Gotti Jr. On a yearly basis, John Gotti committed crimes and was convicted of them. Several of the crimes ranged from grand larceny, hijacking, and murder. Though Gotti was convicted for several of the crimes, he proved to be a model inmate and was released on good behavior. In 1980, John Gotti tragically loses his son Frank when his bike was hit by their neighbors' car. Later, the neighbor was forced to move because of the constant retaliation from the Gotti family and friends.
After John Gotti died and Gotti Jr. went to prison, Peter Gotti, John Gotti's brother, took control of the Gambino crime family. At the time, Peter Gotti was 79 and went to jail in 2002 (Gold). In conclusion, Gotti influenced the world of organized crime by showing his leadership, reputation, and brutal management tactics. Gotti’s rise to power in the Gambino crime family demonstrates the importance of having determination and confidence. He gained many reputations, good or bad.
Along with New York, he began to make plans for The Commission, a nation-wide governing body for organized crime. He also became one of the Big Six bootleggers, dealing drugs on a larger scale (“Lucky Luciano Biography.com.” Edited by Biography.com, The Biography.Com website, A&E Television Networks, 17 June 2015, www.biography.com/people/lucky-luciano-9388350). At some point in Luciano’s life, Masseria and Maranzano-- the top bosses-- were engaged in a turf war. After hiring Luciano to take out Masseria, Maranzano launched him to the top alongside him. However, Maranzano soon decided Luciano was a threat and attempted to take him out. Luciano heard of this plan and beat him to it, ensuring his power over the Genovese family of organized crime in New York
The 1920s was a very eventful time period for the US crime scene. With the emergences of major crime bosses like Al Capone, Meyer Lansky, Charles Luciano, and others there was much to be done in the crime world. Charles “Lucky” Luciano (born as Salvatore Lucania) would become a key player in the reshaping and modernization of the mafia and the crime world. Young Luciano would show signs of pursuing a criminal career. His parents and family however disapproved of their son’s action and career path and essentially exiled him, respecting his family’s wishes he would later change his name from Salvatore Lucania to Charles Luciano. He also by the age of 10 he involved extortion, and thievery. Upon his arrest for the distribution of drugs in 1915, the police would offered to release him if he would tell them what he knew about the mob, Luciano however refused to talk due to the Sicilian code of silence, this action would vastly considered pivotal in fast tracking his career in
Gotti implied through the FBI recordings that at you maybe killed for disagreeing with him or you can get killed for just failing to come when he calls. These tapes recorded Gotti communicating information to his top aide such as, “Anytime you have a partner who dose not agree with us, we kill him”. Or when he said “He's gonna die because he refused to come in when I called". The environment in which Gotti and the Gambino crime family operated, was observed by criminal investigators during recordings. The headquarters in Manhattan, the Ravenite Social Club in Little Italy, New York City. This area is known for its large population of Italian Americans. The Gambino crime family used the club as their headquarters, which made it a prime
By 14 years of age, he had a sizable criminal record. In 1916 he had his own gang called the Five Points gang and befriended a Jewish gangster Meyer Lansky and ran bootlegging rackets with him. Luciano became a top Lieutenant in Giuseppe Masseria’s gang in 1927. When the Castellammarese War broke out between the Masseria and Maranzano crime families, Luciano allied with Maranzano and coordinated to have Masseria killed and became the new boss. Maranzano planned to have him killed, but Luciano
The Gambino crime family was considered to be the fiercest Italian Mafia ever. Carlo Gambino was determined to become the Boss of Bosses. It did not take long for Gambino to accomplish his lifelong dream. His determination was proven when his former bosses, if he was asked to kill than he would do it without hesitation. This was just the beginning of his control in the Mafia.
Paul Castellano, or “Big Paul” was an eight-grade dropout and boss of the richest, most dangerous, and most powerful crime syndicate in the United States. Born June 26, 1915 in Brooklyn, Big Paul began his life in the mob by running numbers. When he was named successor to the great Carlo Gambino, trouble arose. Many members felt that Aniello Dellacroce, although in prison, deserved the role but instead Gambino had promoted Paul. Some saw this as nepotism which was generally frowned upon on by La Cosa Nostra. To settle tensions Castellano gifted Neil Dellacroce some of the family’s most lucrative operations throughout Manhattan and Queens, but this did not completely satisfy the slighted underboss. Paul, like Gambino, was an unusual type of Mafia boss. Unfortunately, while Don Carlo was revolutionary, Big Paul was unsatisfactory. He was embarrassed that he was categorized as a gangster and preferred to be regarded as a diplomat or businessman. Big Paul was said to look more like a businessman or CEO than a mobster. Paul Castellano was flashy too; he liked elegant clothing, fine dining, and being driven around by chauffeur. He even detested violence which is not a good quality for a mob boss to obtain. “The Pope” as he was referred to, was standoffish. His predecessor had gone to the markets in Little Italy, held court in public places, lived in the city, and interacted with his soldiers and capos. Big Paul on the other hand, generally held court at his private estate, did
Imagine living in a world where crime ruled. A world where gangsters were more powerful than politicians, owned the police, and ran the city in whatever way they felt. They robbed whom they wanted and killed when they didn't get their way. Now stop imagining and realize that this happened here in the United States of America in the 1920's. It was run by an organization made up mainly of Italians called the Mafia.
We may not see this group but the mafia was big back in the day. The mafia was the leading group in criminal activity in the 1960’s(Darity). The mafia was a group that would make tons and tons of money off of drugs, robberies and murders. They would sometimes pay off cops to look the other way and if they didn’t get what they wanted they would use their firearms. With stronger and more enforced laws, many lives could have been saved.
Carlo Gambino, the man who is the family namesake, never served a day of jailtime in his life. He liked to keep low key, but many things are attributed to this family. Murder Inc., an infamous group of talented, for-hire hitmen, was started by Albert Anastasia, member of the Gambino family. While this was well publicized and talked about, perhaps the most publicized and talked about Mafia happening recently was the John Gotti case. John Gotti, Don of the Gambino family, was “ratted out” but one of his underlings, Sammy “The Bull” Gravano. Sammy, in return for this favor to the police, served only five years in jail for twenty murders. However, this offense, breaking the “Omerta” is one of the worst possible things any member of the Mafia could ever do. As Michael Corleone says to his wife Kay, “Don’t ask me about my business, Kay.” (Godfather) Everyone in the Mafia must learn many, many rules and live by all of them. Of most importance is Omerta, as stated before, but many guidelines are set for way of life as well. Members cannot show signs of weaknesses. Crying and wearing glasses are two such things. Also, women are looked upon as inferior and a couple that is unable to produce sons is frowned upon. Since power is very influential in how this business is run, members must know their place because “someone always wants more, that’s how wars start.” (Anonymous) Making reference to the movie “The Godfather” is
The Gangster Disciples are still an active group in the United States (Mallory, 2012). There are members of the group in over 35 states and 70 U.S. cities (Mallory, 2012). Nearly 20,000 members reside in the city of Chicago, where the FBI considers this group a “major organized crime group” (Mallory, 2012, p. 208). The Gangster Disciples were formed after the death of the group’s original leaders, David Barksdale (Mallory, 2012). A young man who was already a member of the group, Larry Hoover become the new leader of the Gangster Disciples because he was a person that Barksdale watched over (Mallory, 2012). After his death, the group split into the Black Disciples and the Gangster Disciples (Mallory, 2012). The group became prone to violence
The Italian Mafia in the U.S. can trace its origins all the way back to the Sicilian Mafia which was founded in Sicily during the 1800’s (Italian Organized Crime). After thousands of years of different armies with different nationalities conquering Italy and exploiting its people, the Sicilians became to be more clannish and family focused. Originally they were just resistance fighters that were protecting their friends and family. They were relied on for protection, justice, and survival. Nobody cared if they got money from it because it came from the oppressive authorities. Members of these groups were known as “Men of Honor” and they were well respected and even admired because they looked out for their family and kept silent sometimes even unto death. They didn’t become an organized crime group until the 1920’s however (Italian Organized Crime). It was around this same time that the US began to see what later became La Cosa Nostra or “our thing,” better known as the American Mafia which was aided by the “thousands of Italian organized crime figures, mostly Sicilian Mafiosi” who came to the United States illegally (Italian Organized Crime). The modern American Mafia is credited to Charles “Lucky” Luciano who came over in the 1920’s (Italian Organized Crime). Luciano structured La Cosa Nostra just like their Sicilian
The Mafia was first developed in Sicily in feudal times to protect the estates of landlords who were out of town. The word Mafia, derived from the Sicilian word, Mafioso, means family. Today, Mafia is a name which describes a loose association of criminal groups. These groups can be bound together by blood, oath or sworn secrecy. Many people had considered the Sicilian Mafia as the most ruthless mobsters of the twentieth century.
By the late 20th century the Mafia's role in U.S. organized crime seemed to be diminishing. Convictions of top officials, defections by members who became government witnesses, and murderous internal disputes thinned the ranks. In addition, the gradual breakup of insulated