Paul Castellano (1915 - 1985)

Paul Castellano Castellano was born in Brooklyn on June 26th, 1915. His father was a butcher who also operated an Italian gambling game for the locals. Paul was late Mafia boss Carlo Gambino’s younger cousin, and his sister, Catherine, was Gambino’s wife. Castellano operated several lucrative meat businesses in the 1950s and his control over […]

Vito Cascioferro (1862 - 1943)

Cascioferro is considered to be the mastermind behind the murder of New York policeman and head of the Italian Squad, Joe Petrosino, on March 12, 1909. He was shot and killed in Piazza Marina in Palermo; two men were seen running from the crime scene. Petrosino had gone to Sicily to gather information from local […]

Robert Carey (1894 - 1932)

Robert Carey Gangster. Robert Carey was born and raised in St. Louis. He became embroiled in the early gang wars there between the Egan’s Rats and the Hogans, fleeing to Detroit after the murder of Harry “Cherries” Dunn in September 1916. Thereafter Carey commuted across the Midwest commiting crimes with his childhood friends Fred “Killer” […]

Frank Capone (1895 - 1924)

Frank Capone Born Salvatore Capone, Frank was the son of Gabriele Capone (1865-1920), an Italian immigrant who settled with his wife Teresa Raiola (1867-1952)in New York City in 1894.[1] Besides Al, Frank had another brother who became a mobster, Ralph Capone. Growing up in New York, both Frank and Al became involved in the infamous […]

Louis Capone (1896 - 1944)

Louis Capone In 1936, Capone participated in the murder of Joseph Rosen. Buchalter had previously ruined Rosen’s trucking business and was now afraid that Rosen would implicate him in criminal activity. To protect himself, Buchalter ordered Rosen’s murder. On September 13, 1936, Harry Strauss, Emanuel Weiss and James Ferraco shot Rosen 17 times in his […]

Al Capone (1899 - 1947)

Al Capone Organized Crime Figure, Chicago Gangster. Probably the best known of the 1920s gangsters, he controlled Chicago until brought down by FBI Agent Elliott Ness. Ness later wrote a book “The Untouchables” which detailed his efforts to jail Capone. Capone was the largest of the racketeers, and captured the American public’s imagination as few […]

Nathan Caplin (1891 - 1923)

Nathan Caplin One of seven children, Kaplan was born in New York’s Lower East Side on August 3, 1891. Kaplan began committing petty theft at an early age and later becoming a skilled sneak thief and pushcart extortionist, later becoming known for his skill with the “drop swindle“. He was originally a member of the […]

James Burke (1931 - 1996)

Organized Crime Figure. Known as “Jimmy the Gent”, he was immortalized in the Martin Scorcese gangster film “Goodfellas”. He was one of New York City’s most successful and revered organized criminals who went down in the annals of crime as the architect of the notorious 1978 Lufthansa heist, which looted New York’s JFK airport of […]

Louis Buchalter (1897 - 1944)

Organized Crime Figure. He was a Jewish Mob boss who operated in the New York City, New York Garment District in the 1930s and 1940s, and was a close associate of mafia boss Lucky Luciano. He was part of the Murder Incorporated a group of professional killers who worked solely for the National Crime Syndicate […]

Vito Bonventre (1875 - 1930)

Vito Bonventre Organized Crime Figure. He was an underboss to Salvatore Maranzano during the Castellmmarese War (1930 to 1931). He was shot to death by gunmen of Joe “the Boss” Masseria in the driveway of his Brooklyn home. He was a second cousin of Mafia boss Joseph Bonanno.

Ruggiero Boiardo (1890 - 1984)

Ruggiero Boiardo Was a caporegime in the Genovese crime family who ran mob operations in the Newark, New Jersey area. Born in Naples, Italy, Boiardo’s family immigrated to the Newark area in 1910. His first criminal activity involved bookmaking while he worked as a milkman. Boiardo eventually controlled criminal activities in the First Ward section […]

Thomas Bilotti (1940 - 1985)

Thomas Bilotti Over the years, Bilotti became a close aide-de-camp, confidant and chauffeur for capo Paul Castellano. Bilotti was a regular visitor to Castellano’s Todt Hill, Staten Island mansion and was considered a close family friend. However, when Castellano started an affair with his maid, Bilotti kept it secret from Castellano’s wife. He would also […]

Sam Battaglia (1908 - 1973)

Sam Battaglia Chicago Gangster. He was the middle of three brothers who dominated the Chicago mob for nearly four decades before falling from power. He broke into the mob after spending time with the street gang 42, founded by his brother Paul. Sam, a burglar and muscle man, was a huge, good looking youngster when […]

Joseph Barbara (1905 - 1959)

Joseph Barbara Organized Crime Figure. Immigrated to the United States in 1921 at age 16. He was soon working as a hitman for the Buffalo crime family in their Northern Pennsylvania territory. During the 1930s, Joseph was arrested for several murders, including the 1933 murder of rival bootlegger Sam Wichner. Wichner had gone to Barbara’s […]

Stefano Badami (1888 - 1955)

Stefano Badami (December 10, 1888 – March 31, 1955) was an Italian-American organized crime leader who operated as the initial boss of the Elizabeth-based Mafia faction in New Jersey during the early to mid-20th century.]Born in Corleone, Sicily, to Francesco Badami and Calogera di Giovanni, he immigrated to the United States and rose within criminal networks centered in Elizabeth and Newark, where […]

Abe Axler (2026 - 1933)

Abe Axler Organized Crime Figure. One of the most prominent members of Detroit’s Purple Gang. He was born and raised in Williamburg, Brooklyn, along with future Purples like Eddie Fletcher, Irving Milberg, Sam Abramson, and Isadore Cantor. In the fall of 1921, Abe and his brother Simon were convicted on burglary charges and did 4 […]

Albert Anselmi (1883 - 1929)

Albert Anselmi Organized Crime Figure. Born in Marsala, Sicily in 1884, Albert Anselmi became involved with the Mafia early in his life. Escaping the relatives of one of his murder victims, he fled to America around 1912 and entered the country illegally through the Gulf Coast, eventually settling on “The Hill”, the Italian community of […]

Albert Anastasia (1902 - 1957)

Albert Anastasia As Umberto Anastasio became known as a Brooklyn gangster, he adjusted his name to Albert Anastasia. The adjustment to his surname was reportedly to save his Anastasio relatives from embarrassment. (One of his brothers entered the U.S. legally and became a parish priest in New York.) Anastasia became an accomplished underworld enforcer, earning […]

Louis Amberg (1898 - 1935)

In 1935, Joseph Amberg was killed. On October 23, 1935 (the same day Dutch Schultz was murdered) Louis Amberg’s body was found in a burning car in Brooklyn, charred beyond recognition. He was killed with an ax and a shotgun blast, put in a car and set on fire. It took several days for him […]

Joseph Amberg (1892 - 1935)

Organized Crime Figure. He along with his brothers Louis “Pretty” and Hyman Amberg were the most feared gangsters in the Jewish neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York City, New York during the 1920s and 1930s On September 30,1935, Joseph Amberg and Morris Kessler (one of his henchmen) were lined-up against the wall of an auto repair […]

Herman Amberg (2026 - 1926)

Herman Amberg Organized Crime Figure. Along with his brothers Louis “Pretty” and Joseph Amberg, they were the most feared gangsters in the Jewish neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York City, New York during the 1920s and 1930s. Hyman was arrested for the murder of a Brooklyn jeweler in 1926 and placed in the “Tombs” jail in […]

Louis Alterie (1886 - 1935)

Louis Alterie A prelude to establishing a national crime syndicate in America was the purging from the underworld of unorganizable pathological types. Of course, the Mafia still has its pathological members, and such traits are still highly valuable to the masters of organ-ized crime. But the brass could retain only those brutes who took orders […]

Vincent Alo (1904 - 2001)

Organized Crime Figure. Born in Harlem, New York, Alo started working on Wall Street at age 14. As a young man, Alo was convicted of armed robbery and sent to state prison (either at Sing Sing or Dannemora state prisons).  In 1926, Alo became a made man, or full member, of Giuseppe Masseria‘s powerful New York […]

Tony Alescio (1893 - 1920)

Tony Alescio Organized Crime Figure. Born in Alcamo, Sicily, he was orphaned as a young child and immigrated to Detroit, Michigan in the spring of 1911. Escaping an abusive uncle, mob boss Antonino “Tony” Giannola took him in and treated him as one of his own. He grew to be Giannola’s personal bodyguard, but during […]

Joseph Aiuppa (1907 - 1997)

Organized Crime Figure. He was a long time power in the Chicago, Illinois Mafia syndicate known as “The Outfit”. He began his criminal career as a muscleman and hired gun for Al Capone in 1935; by 1970 he had risen high in the Chicago mob. Though he controlled the mob’s operations in Cicero and the […]

Joe Adonis (1902 - 1971)

Joe Adonis Organized Crime Figure. Born Giuseppe Antonio Doto in the small town of Montemarano, Italy, near Naples, to Michele and Maria Doto. In 1909, Joe and his family entered the United States at New York City. As a young man, Joe supported himself by stealing and picking pockets. While working on the streets, Joe […]

Anthony Accardo (1906 - 1992)

Anthony Accardo Organized Crime Figure. Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1906, he joined the city’s organized crime family, the “Outfit,” during the late 1920s. He served under three bosses (Alphonse Capone, Frank Nitti, and Paul Ricca), before becoming the boss himself. Accardo became prominent in the mob during Al Capone’s reign. He served for a […]

Frank Abbundando (1910 - 1942)

Frank Abbundando Organized Crime Figure. Known as “The Dasher”, he was a member of a murder-for-hire gang made up of Jewish and Italian street gangsters working out of Brooklyn, New York City, New York during the 1930s. This gang, who came to be known in the news media as “Murder Inc.”, carried out gangland murders […]

Frank Abbatemarco (1899 - 1959)

Frank Abbatemarco Organized Crime Figure. Known as “Frankie Shots”, he was a Captain in the Profaci Crime Family (today the Family is called the Colombo Family). He had one of the largest bookmaking and loan sharking operations in New York City during the 1940s and 1950s. He was shot and killed in a bar in […]

Francisco Rabal (1926 - 2001)

Francisco Rabal (8 March 1926 – 29 August 2001), perhaps better known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor born in Águilas, a small town in the province of Murcia, Spain.  In 1936, after the Spanish Civil War broke out, Rabal and his family left Murcia and moved to Madrid. Young Francisco had to work […]