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Genovese crime family

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The Genovese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that controls organized crime activities in New York City, USA, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia (or La Cosa Nostra).

Contents

[edit] History of the Genovese Crime Family

[edit] Origins of the family

The story of the Genovese family is believed to originate in the 1890s, with the arrival from Sicily of Ignazio "Lupo the Wolf" Saietta, whose Black Hand gang allied with fellow Sicilian immigrants, the Morello Family, to form a crime family in East Harlem and Little Italy, Manhatten. The Family's activities centered around extortion, theft, the Italian lottery and a large scale counterfitting ring. When Saietta and fellow boss, Giuseppe Morello were jailed for their parts in the counterfitting ring in 1910, Morello family member and Saietta brother-in-law, Nicholas "Nick" Morello, took control and aimed to create a unified gang of Sicilian criminals, maximising profits and eliminating opponents.

In 1916, Morello was duped into a meeting with rival Neapolitan Camorra and Coney Island, Brooklyn boss, Don Pellegrino Morano, and killed at a the gang's Navy Street cafe. The Family passed into the hands of Morello Family half brothers, Vincent and Ciro Terranova, who controlled the Brooklyn and Bronx/Manhatten family rackets. The brothers ran the family rackets in tandem, but the media of the times usually labelled brother and well known Bronx/Manhatten mafiosi, Ciro "The Artichoke King" Terranova the boss of the Family. The brothers continued to run the Family, but they became increasingly marginalised by the rise to power of Morello Family member, Giuseppe Masseria. Morello Family co-leader,Vincent Terranova, was shot and killed from a moving car by rivals on May 8, 1922, leaving the crime family under the complete control of powerful family member Giuseppe Masseria. The family now took Masseria's name and he kept the Morello Family as allies by making recently released Giuseppe Morello, who know went by Peter, his crime family advisor.

[edit] Lucky Luciano and the Castellammarese War

after becoming boss, Giuseppe Masseria quickly asserted his authority in the underworld and eliminated his main rival, Umberto "Rocco" Valenti on August 11, 1922. By the mid 1920's Masseria had started to reach the pinnacle of New York's underworld and was referred to as "Joe the Boss" by his underlings. Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masserai decided to strengthened his underworld position by having self proclaimed boss of bosses, Salvatore "Tata" D'Aquila assassinated on October 10, 1928. Masseria soon faced a new foe in Salvatore Maranzano another old-school Sicilian criminal from Castellammare del golfo, Sicily. Maranzano would battle Masseria for control of the city's various rackets and eventually their increasingly bitter conflict descended into what became known as the Castellammarese War, a new breed of mafioso began to spy a way to properly organise rackets and increase control by eliminating the old guard. Leading the charge to modernity was Charles Luciano.

By 1931, the Castellammarese War continued to interrupt and decimate the Prohibition era activites and rackets of the Italian Families and the war seemed destined to leave them on the fringe of New York's underworld if a solution to the conflict was not found soon. Masseria Family underboss, highly respected and connected gangster, Charles Luciano rallied his allies and like minded mafiosi under Maranzano, such as Gaetano Gagliano and Tommy Lucchese of the Reina Family to his cause and plotted the elimination of the old line bosses. Giuseppe Masseria was assassinated in Scarpato's Coney Island restaurant by 4 shooters on April 15, 1931. Luciano's plot was successfully concluded when the newly self proclaimed boss of bosses Salvatore Maranzano was stabbed and shot to death in his Helmsley Building, Manhatten office on September 10, 1931 by Luciano's Jewish allies who posed as I.R.S agents. After Masseria and then Maranzano were assassinated at the behest of Luciano, he ascended to the head of the most powerful crime family and pinnicle of the American underworld, reorganizing the mafia and creating it's governing body, the Commission. With the help of the underworld's top gangsters such as Joseph Bonanno, Vincent Mangano, Gaetano Gagliano, Joseph Profaci, Meyer Lansky, Lepke Buchalter and Longy Zwillman, the new defacto boss of bosses, Charles Luciano restructured America's underworld into a National Syndicate of powerful and influential crime families. Luciano elevated loyal family allies, the feared Vito Genovese as his underboss and some believe, Frank Costello as his consigliere, while others believe it to be former Chicago boss, Johnny Torrio to lead the Luciano Family.

Luciano's reign was relatively short-lived - special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey, a future Republican presidential candidate, singled out Luciano as an organised crime ringleader and succeeded in having him convicted on prostitution charges in 1936 and sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison. He continued to run the operation from jail, relaying his orders through his first acting boss, Vito Genovese, who quickly lived up to his feared reputation for violence and fled to Naples, Italy in 1937 to avoid a murder indictment. the family's third most powerful member, Frank Costello became the new acting boss.

[edit] The Costello era

Gambling, loan-sharking, extortion, hijacking, narcotics, labour, union rackets, along with the garment, garbage and construction industries in New York City were prime interests for the family under Costello's stewardship. Known for his flamboyant, persuasive leadership style, which won over many a politician and member of the judiciary (to the great benefit of the family), Costello became known as the "Prime Minister". Costello allegedly even managed to get FBI director J. Edgar Hoover on his side, fixing horse races in Hoover's favour when the Bureau boss indulged in one of his favourite pastimes.

Costello also pushed the family into the lucrative slot machine business with great success, the primary focus being in both New York and New Orleans, thanks to the dubious motives of Louisiana governor Huey Long.

But all the while Costello was pushing the Luciano Family into new rackets and forging political alliances, Genovese was simmering on the sidelines from Italy, believing he was the family's rightful leader. Genovese was forced to bide his time, ingratiating himself with Fascist leader Benito Mussolini and his son-in-law, Count Ciano, as well as overseeing narcotics and black market operations in Italy during the Second world War, but following the war he was returned to New York in 1946 by a U.S. Army official that had arrested him in Italy after the war, when 2 of his black market operatives were caught and rolled over on Genovese. Genovese faced no trial or prison due to the fact that the only witness to the 1934 murder of gangster Ferdinand "The Shadow" Boccia was killed in his jail cell awaiting trial. Vito Genovese rejioned the Luciano Family, no longer as acting boss or even underboss, as Frank Costello had elevated New Jersey gangster, Quarico "Willie Moore" Moretti as the Family's number 2 man, but Genovese ostensibly became a loyal Costello supporter and by extension a supporter of the still-exiled Luciano, as a Family capo until he could plan his take-over and recrute allies to support him.

[edit] Genovese takes control

Costello based much of his support on the muscle of his cousin and underboss, Willie Moretti and his band of hitters. With this in mind, Genovese engineered the 1951 murder of Moretti (based upon the latter's mental problems caused by his untreated syphilis, which was "loosening his tongue"), but was dismayed to learn of the newly-formed alliance between Costello and Albert Anastasia, boss of what would become known as the Gambino family, which further strengthened Costello's position.

Lobbying behind the scenes for Costello's removal following a poor performance by the boss at the Kefauver Committee hearings led to nothing, and eventually Genovese decided he could wait no longer. On May 2, 1957, Genovese gunman and protege, Vincent "The Chin" Gigante tried to assassinate Luciano Family boss, Frank Costello in the lobby of his manhatten apartment building, but botched the hit, leaving Costello with a minor scalp/head wound. Future acting boss, Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli, drove the getaway car.

Clearly shaken by the attempt on his life, Costello decided almost immediately to retire as boss of the family, only being able to stand in the background as friend and ally Albert Anastasia was assassinated on October 25, 1957 in the barber shop of Manhatten's Park Sheraton Hotel. With the now volatile situation in New York's underworld ready to explode, due to the attempt on Costello's life and Anastasia's assassination, Vito Genovese calls for a National La Cosa Nostra meeting. The Apalachin, New York estate of Northeastern Family boss, Joseph "The Barber" Barbara, is chosen for the meeting where Genovese plans to solicit the other family bosses in allowing him to take Charles Luciano's seat as the defacto boss of bosses. The Apalachin Meeting becomes a debacle when curious New York state trooper, Edgar Crosswell decides to check out the estate of known New York and Pennsylvania criminal, Joseph barbara and accidently comes across a national meeting of the nation's La Cosa Nostra. The delegates representing the 26 mafia Families in North America try to flee, but over 60 are detained and later indicted. The worst result the bosses faced due to the Apalachin Meeting was not only the indictments, but the mafia is finally braught into the public lite and now faces more law enforcement scrutiny, even F.B.I. director, J. Edgar Hoover, who formerly denied the existance of a National Crime Syndicate must now admit it's existance. The blame for the Apalachin debacle is placed on the shoulders of Vito Genovese for calling the meeting and Buffalo boss, Stefano Magaddino for chosing the location, many bosses will not forgive them.

Despite the shambolic end to the meeting, Genovese is to powerful, influential and feared to eliminate and finally manages to reach the summit of power in the former Luciano Family which now takes his name. Vito Genovese choses New Jersey mafioso, Gerardo "Jerry" Catena as his underboss and longtime ally, Michele "Mike" Miranda as consigliere of the new Genovese Family. After Genovese successfully removed Costello from power and checked the power of defacto boss of bosses Charles Luciano and became boss of the Family, he continued with the traditional rackets, but made an effort to bring the Genovese Family into the narcotics trade in a big way.

[edit] Drugs and the Genovese family

A great deal of debate took place during the 1950s regarding the place of drugs in the mafia. Some believed they would corrupt the organization and increase its profile, leading to more arrests and police harassment. Others, including Vito Genovese, Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno, Carmine "The cigar" Galante and Gaetano "Tommy Brown" Lucchese took the view that the money to be made in narcotics was too good to be turned down. It is a great myth that La Cosa Nostra does not deal in narcotics, being that they were the largest purveyors of heroin in the United States for decades and it was this which ultimately led to Genovese's and to an extent, La Cosa Nostra's downfall.

Charles Luciano had now lost control of his crime family and with it the power and prestige he once carried. Luciano was still a highly respected and influential mafiosi and still had many allies in the United States. His long-time associate Meyer Lansky, new Gambino Family boss Carlo Gambino and a revenge-seeking Frank Costello, set in motion a plan to frame Genovese in a drug bust. with Luciano and his allies paying $25,000 to a small time Puerto Rican drug dealer named Nelson "Melon" Cantellops to turn informant, the authorities managed to pin a 15-year trafficking conviction on Genovese on April 17, 1959, despite the fact that the claims made by Cantellops (via information fed to him by Lansky et al) were spurious to say the least.

Upon his 1959 conviction, [[Vito Genovese] placed loyal capo,Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli as acting boss of the Genovese Family. Eboli ran the Family in tandem with underboss, Jerry Catena, consigliere, Mike Miranda, top capo and log time Genovese ally,Anthony "Tony Bender" Strollo. What didn't surface until the 1987 defection of Genovese Family soldier and Tony Salerno right-hand-man, Vincent "The Fish" Cafaro was that after Genovese's 1959 conviction that high ranking, New Jersey, Genovese Family member, Philip "Benny Squint" Lombardo also stepped up under mentor Jerry Catena to run the Family and start his rise to power.

Genovese continued to run the family from prison, giving orders and commands concerning the Family and from time to time making heirarchy changes such as the one he made when capo Tony Bender Strollo disappeared after saying goodbye to his wife and leaving his and to plot against those who had helped engineer his downfall, but before he could take his revenge he died of a heart attack on February 14, 1969.

[edit] Gambino pulls the strings

While in jail, Genovese had made Tommy Eboli his acting boss, and upon Don Vito's death the former boxing manager took over full-time. Never accepted as a true boss due to a number of hapless decisions during his time in charge, Eboli was eventually sacrificed three years after Genovese's death, taking five bullets to the face and chest while sitting in his car in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, on July 1, 1972.

With Carlo Gambino directing affairs behind the scenes, his preferred choice as new boss, Frank "Funzi" Tieri, took over. The Genovese and Gambino families grew closer as the Gambinos surreptitiously took over a number of the Genovese rackets, until Tieri became the first mafia boss to be taken down by the RICO laws in 1981. Sentenced to ten years in jail, Tieri died of natural causes before starting his sentence.

Another Gambino puppet, Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno, was promoted from consigliere to boss of the family, but he too succumbed to the new RICO legislation in 1987.

One result of the wayward leadership styles of Eboli, Tieri and Salerno was that government authorities became suspicious that they were acting as boss only to cover up the true leadership of the family. Though Gambino is believed to have manipulated affairs for the benefit of his own outfit, some now suspect that one of the men who originally sat on a committee tasked with directing the family after Genovese's 1959 imprisonment, Philip "Benny Squint" Lombardo, was actually in charge until his death in 1981. Salerno apparently remained in charge following Lombardo's death and his own stroke suffered in the same year, with the real power passing to Vincent Gigante.

[edit] The Oddfather

Gigante became famous in and outside mafia circles not only for his leadership of the Genovese family, but also for his eccentricities. Depending on who was talking about it, Gigante's shambolic appearance, wearing pyjamas and slippers and mumbling to himself as he wandered around Greenwich Village, was either due to genuine mental illness, based on which he won numerous acquittals on various charges during three decades, or a calculated attempt to throw law enforcement off his true activities as boss of the family. Either way, his behaviour earned him the nickname "The Oddfather".

Following his release from prison after a 1959 drug conviction, Gigante became a caporegime. Gigante allegedly took over as boss from Tony Salerno sometime in the ealry to late 1980's. The exact date is unclear, as some suggest he took over following Salerno's 1981 stroke but left the latter as "street boss" to cover his own tracks, contradicting the theory that he took over on Salerno's incarceration in 1987.

Stories abound about Gigante's remarkably secretive leadership style. He is alleged to have ordered his men never to utter his name but instead to point to their chin (a reference to a shortened version of the Italian version of his first name, "Chin"), to receive them at his headquarters one by one and to never allow them to speak above a whisper. He also created the position of "messagrio", a messenger used to put further distance between himself and his men. His sons, Vincent Esposito and Andrew Gigante, were believed to hold this position.

Gigante orchestrated the family's moves into more hi-tech crime, such as computer fraud, alongside the usual racketeering and construction industry scams that were the bedrock of the family's income. However, following seven years of evading prosecution due to his mental instability, Gigante eventually received a 12-year jail sentence on various racketeering and conspiracy charges, including conspiring to kill Gambino boss John Gotti for Gotti's unsanctioned hit on previous Gambino boss, Paul Castellano in 1985 [1]. His trial included testimony from a number of mobster-turned-informants, including Sammy "the Bull" Gravano, a former underboss to Gigante's principal rival, Gambino boss John Gotti.

At a court hearing in April 2003, Gigante finally admitted that his insanity defense had been a ruse all along. He died in prison from heart disease on December 19, 2005[2].

[edit] Current leadership

Since late 2004 a series of prosecutions against high ranking Genovese capos has weakened the family. Dominick "Quiet Dom" Cirillo, allegedly the acting boss while Gigante was in prison, was charged with racketeering, conspiracy to murder, extortion and loan-sharking in 2005, and sentenced to 46 months in prison on March 3, 2006.[3]. Liborio "Barney" Bellomo[4], already incarcerated for racketeering, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges ranging from drug dealing to murder along with 31 other reputed mobsters. Other alleged high-ranking Genovese family members convicted on RICO charges include alleged acting consigliere, Lawrence "Larry Fab" Dentico, alleged acting underboss, John "Johnny Sausage" Barbato and Capo, Anthony "Tico" Antico who were charged in the same indictment as Cirillo and received between 4 and 5 years incarceration. April 10, 2006, also saw four members of the family pleading guilty to various charges while controlling the drywall industry in New York - a typical occurrence in an increasingly difficult time for the family. Over in New Jersey capo Angelo Prisco was already under the spotlight for getting out on parole early through Governor McGreevey's unusual aid arranged by their mutual friend, lawyer Donald Scarinci, a prominent advisor to Senator Bob Menendez [5][6][7]. Prisco was arrested by the Feds on March 7, 2006, and charged with extortion involving bid rigging at the San Gennaro Festival[8],[9]. In a related development, former NJ parole chief took the Fifth Amendment 75 times in a court case when asked about Prisco's early release[10]. Prisco had previously been convicted of leaning on John Gotti Jr. and the nightclub Scores for money, as well as being asked to provide protection for famed actor Steven Seagal from various Gambino extortion efforts[11].

Also facing charges is Vincent Gigante's brother [12]Mario[13], seen by many as the caretaker boss of the family while the leadership remains in limbo, under attack from federal prosecutors. 85 year old, ailing Underboss, Venero "Benny Eggs" Mangano[14] was released from prison into a Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn half way home in late 2006 and returned home on November 2, 2006. [15] Only time will tell if the ailing Mangano will be able to step up and be an active member of the Genovese Family or if he will retire as the classy and respected mafiosi New York media and law enforcement have portrayed him to be? On December 1, 2006, New York Post reporters Jean MacIntosh and Kati Cornell reported that assistant U.S. attorney, Eric Snyder identified 65 year old, Rockleigh, New Jersey businessman, Daniel Leo as the newly elected Genovese Family acting boss. At the November 31, 2006 bail hearing of Genovese Family member Charles Salvano, assistant U.S. attorney Snyder also implicated Leo in two violent extortion schemes involving an East Harlem gambling operation and a New York taxi-company owner, perpetrated by Daniel Leo and his alleged right-hand-man Salvano. [16] New York mob reporter and foremost mafia expert, Jerry Capeci, identified Daniel Leo in his November 30, 2006 Gangland News column as a former member of the Genovese and Lucchese associated, East Harlem and Bronx Purple Gang in the 1970's. The low key and virtually unknown gangster's only arrest came in 1980 when he was charged with contempt of court when he refused to testify in a grand jury probe investigating loansharking, drug trafficking and 4 murders, Leo was found guilty in 1981, but spent no time in prison. In October 1999, the F.B.I. listened in on Genovese Family Capo, Salvatore "Sammy Meatballs" Aparo as he described how the well respected Leo assisted fellow high ranking Genovese Family members, Lawrence Dentico and Ernest Muscarella as they conducted a La Cosa Nostra induction ceromony of 14 proposed associates by pricking their fingers and telling them what to say. A year later in 2000 the F.B.I. listened in once again as Genovese Family associate and informant, Michael "Cookie" D'Urso recorded his conversation with Capo, Allen "Baldie" Longo in which Longo described Leo and Dentico as close associates of incarcerated Boss, Vincent "The Chin" Gigante and how they were presently running the still powerfulGenovese Family since Gigante's 1997 conviction. This shows that Daniel Leo is considered a high ranking and influential member of the Genovese Family and is another example of the their high level of secrecy and organization that has kept the Family on top of the New York and American underworld, earning the Family the title of Organized Crime's Rolls Royce! [17]

[edit] Bosses of the Genovese crime family

(Due to the secretive nature of the organisation, this list is based on generally accepted names and dates but may not be accurate)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Dannen, Fredric. Hit Men. New York: Vintage, 1991
  • Raab, Selwyn. The Five Families. 2005

[edit] External links

fr:Famille Genovese ja:ジェノヴェーゼ一家 no:Genovese-familien sv:Familjen Genovese

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