Jacob Orgen (1893 - 1927)

Born to a middle class Orthodox Jewish family in the city of Minsk in the old Tsarist Russian Empire, Orgen became a well known labor slugger for Benjamin “Dopey Benny” Fein by the early 1910s. Being ambitious, he had formed his own gang, “The Little Augies” c. 1911. He operated his labor rackets diligently for […]

Charles O’Banion (1892 - 1924)

O’Banion was born to Irish Catholic parents in the small town of Maroa in Central Illinois. The O’Banion family moved to Aurora, Illinois, when Dean was a small child. In 1901, after his mother’s death, he moved to Chicago with his father and one of his brothers (a second brother, Frank, remained in Maroa). The […]

August Nykiel (1896 - 1928)

Organized Crime Figure. He was one of the most popular and successful Detroit bootleggers during the early days of Prohibition. In addition to his illegal activities he financed and maintained a semi-professional football team, the Detroit Tigers. His territory was confined to Detroit’s Southwest Side, and his headquarters was a saloon at 8824 W. Jefferson […]

Frank Nitti (1888 - 1943)

Organized Crime Figure. The number 2 man for famed gangster Al Capone, he was born about 1883 in Italy. He started as a barber, but became involved in the Chicago gang started by Capone when he was asked to fence some stolen jewelry. He quickly became a favorite of Capone by his ability to do […]

James Napoli (2026 - 1992)

Organized Crime Figure. He was a Capo in the Genovese Organized Crime Family. He controlled one of the largest gambling operations in the United States from the 1950s though the 1980s.

Guarino Moretti (1894 - 1951)

Organized Crime Figure. He was the Underboss of Frank Costello (1936-1951). A close friend of Lucky Luciano and Joe Bonanno, he ruled illegal gambling in the New Jersey area. By 1950, he was in the latter stages of syphilis which began to affect his mind. Fearing that he would talk too much the Mafia commission […]

Giuseppe Morello (1870 - 1930)

Giuseppe Morello (AKA: The Clutch Hand, Peter, Don Petru) was born in Corleone, Sicily in 1870. Morello was underboss to Joe the Boss Masseria in New York City during the early part of the Castellammarese War of 1930-1931. On Aug. 15, 1930, Morello and two of his men were shot to death in his business […]

George Moran (1893 - 1957)

Gangster. The way he got his nickname is disputed. It is believed it comes for his imaginative but impractical plans for robbing banks and kidnapping millionaires in Chicago during the 1920s or from those who thought he was nuts or “buggy”. He is most known for trying to murder Al Capone. Capone was after Moran […]

Harry Millman (2026 - 1937)

Organized Crime Figure. One of the most prominent members of Detroit’s “Purple Gang”, he was part of a younger generation of Jewish youths in Detroit’s North End who sought to emulate the older, established members of the of the Purple Gang. Harry Millman was a handsome, tough, hard drinking young man who rose to prominence […]

Irving Milberg (2026 - 1938)

Organized Crime Figure. A member of Detroit’s Purple Gang, he was born and raised in Brooklyn along with several other Purples including Abe Axler, Eddie Fletcher, Sam Abramson, and Isadore Cantor. First coming to Detroit in late 1923 to fight in the Oakland Sugar House War, he soon became one of the Purple Gang’s top […]

Michele Merlo (1880 - 1924)

born January 4, 1880 in Sambuca Zabut, Sicily Mafia figure. Chicago labor leader whose death precipitated the city’s infamous 1920’s gangster war

Jack McGurn (1902 - 1936)

Although Capone bodyguard Jack McGurn was never prosecuted in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, the theory endures that he was its mastermind. For one thing, if Capone was behind the Massacre, it seems likely he would have had McGurn handle the details. Also, McGurn would have had good reason to go after members of Bugs […]

Frank McErlane (1894 - 1932)

Organized Crime Figure. Chicago gangster of the bootlegging 1920s. Credited with being the first to use a submachine gun in gang warfare. He was thought to be one of the machine gunners in the St. Valentines Day massacre of 1929, Chicago, Illinois.

John May (1894 - 1929)

Gangster. A member of Bugs Moran crime gang, he was a victim of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago, Illinois. The other victims were Reinhardt Schwimmer, Frank Gusenberg and his brother Peter Gusenberg, Adam Meyer, Albert Weinshenker and Albert Kachellek. On January 19, 1929, Al Capone gangster Patsy Lolordo and his wife, Aleina, were […]

Hattie May (1887 - 1969)

Seven murder indictments were returned today against Jack McGurn and John Scalise, reputed gangsters, in connection with the slaying on St. Valentine’s Day of seven members of the “Bugs” Moran Northside gang in a beer truck garage at 2,122 North Clark Street. Rocco Fanelli, reputed gangster, who has been held under murder charges by the […]

Joseph Masseria (1886 - 1931)

Gangster. Murdered by four mafia gunmen: Albert Anastasia, Vito Genovese, Joe Adonis and Benjamin Siegel. Joseph (Joe the Boss) Masseria’s Mafia Family was the most powerful Organized Crime Family in New York City from the start of prohibition until the out break of the Castellammarese war in 1930. During the Castellammarese war he came into […]

Salvatore Maranzano (1886 - 1931)

Organized Crime Figure. He instigated the 1929 to 1931 “Castellammarese War” amongst New York City, New York organized crime factions. He was briefly the undisputed leader of the entire mafia organizations in New York until he was murdered on the orders of younger crime figures like Meyer Lansky and Charles “Lucky” Luciano.

Philip Mangano (1898 - 1951)

Capo in the Mangano Mafia Family of Brooklyn, NY. The Mangano Family was named after Philip’s older brother Vincent who was the Boss of the Family from 1931 until his death. On April 19,1951, Philip was found shot to death in a marsh near Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn, NY. His brother Vincent disappeared that same […]

Harry Maione (2026 - 1942)

Organized Crime Figure. He was part of the “Murder Inc.”, a group of professional assassins who worked solely for the National Crime Syndicate in the 1930s.

Seymour Magoon (1970 - 1970)

Gangster. He was part of the Murder Incorporated a group of professional killers who worked solely for the National Crime Syndicate in the 1930s. The killers received assignments and payments to murder total strangers in the New York area or anywhere in the country, murdering anyone selected by the syndicate board. Murder, Inc. was destroyed […]

Joseph Magliocco (1898 - 1963)

Organized Crime Figure. Took control of the Profaci Organized Crime Family after the death of his brother-in-law and boss of the family, Joseph Profaci on June 6, 1962. He ran the family until he died of a heart attack in December 1963. After his death Joseph Colombo became boss and the family still bears his […]

Michael Maggio (1889 - 1959)

Organized Crime Figure. Old-time Mafia Don from Philadelphia, who was prominent from the 1920s until his death in 1959. He sponsored future Philadelphia Organized Crime Boss Angelo Bruno for membership into the Philadelphia Family during the 1930s. He died of natural causes at age 69.

Owen Madden (1891 - 1965)

Organized Crime Figure. Nicknamed “Owney”. Born in Liverpool, England, he came to the United States with his family in 1903 and took over New York’s “Gophers” gang when he was only 18 years old. He founded the famous Cotton Club. Madden moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1935 and married local girl Agnes Demby after […]

Ignatius Lupo (1877 - 1947)

Lupo has been described as the most vicious Black Hand leader America has ever known. Lupo’s reign of terror stretched from the late 1800s until he was sentenced to thirty-years in prison in 1909. Using the influence of his relatives, the Morello’s and Terranova’s (both families were powerful Black Hand and Mafia leaders in New […]

Thomas Luchese (1899 - 1967)

Mafia Chieftain. The Luchese crime family of New York is named after him. Close friend of Lucky Luciano.

Lucky Luciano (1897 - 1962)

Lucky Luciano Organized Crime Figure. Born to Antonio and Rosalia Lucania, Lucky had four other siblings, Bartolomeo born in 1890, Giuseppe born in 1898, Filippia born in 1901, and Concetta. His father worked in a sulfur mine in Sicily. When Lucky was 10 years old, the family immigrated to the United States. They settled in […]

William Lovett (1894 - 1923)

Organized Crime Figure. He was the leader of a band of Irish gangsters (called the “White Hand”) in Brooklyn during the teens and 1920s. His gang dealt in extortion, loansharking, gambling and other criminal activities around the Brooklyn docks. During World War I Lovett earned the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions in France.

Carmine Lombardozzi (1913 - 1992)

Organized Crime Figure. He was a member of the Gambino Organized Crime Family in New York City, New York. A top money maker, he was involved in loan sharking and racketeering. In November 1957, he attended the infamous Commission meeting in Apalachin, New York, which was attended by over 100 organized crime figures of the […]

Antonio Lombardo (1891 - 1928)

Chicago gangster. Valued advisor of Al Capone. He became Capone’s consigliere after Johnny Torrio retired in 1927.

Jake Lingle (1891 - 1930)

Journalist, Mob Figure. A reporter for the Chicago Tribune, he covered the city’s organized crime beat during the bloody reign of Al Capone. He was not a writer but a “leg man”, someone who gathered information and phoned it in to the editor’s desk. On June 9, 1930, he was shot dead at close range […]