Charles Crawford (1879 - 1931)

Criminal. Shady Los Angeles racketeer. His murder by a Deputy District Attorney was ruled justifiable homicide.

Frank Costello (1891 - 1973)

Frank Costello Arriving in New York City at the age of four with his immigrant Calabrian parents, Costello grew up in East Harlem and became head of the 104th Street Gang, a group of young Italian hoodlums. In 1915 he went to prison for a year for carrying a concealed weapon; on release he allied […]

Anthony Corallo (1913 - 2000)

Mafia Boss of the Lucchese Crime Family. Criminal record dates back to 1929. He did 2 yrs in prison in 1962 for paying $35,000 in bribes to New York Supreme Court Justice James Vincent Keogh and Assistant U. S. Attorney Elliott Kahaner to assure a light sentence for a mob associate. In 1968 Corallo was […]

Michael Coppola (2026 - 1966)

Organized Crime Figure. Known as “Trigger Mike,” he was a Made-Member in the Costello/Genovese Organized Crime Family, and ran a large gambling operation in Harlem. He was also major drug trafficker and was considered one of the most vicious enforcers in American Mafia history. In 1931, he took control of the artichoke rackets in New […]

Jim Colosimo (1877 - 1920)

Organized Crime Figure. Colosimo was ten years old when he left Italy with his family destined for Chicago. As a teenager he began supplementing his income with thievery, including pickpocketing, and by the time he was 18 he began engaging prostitutes to work for him. Early in his career he took up the Italian practice […]

Joe Colombo (1923 - 1978)

Organized Crime Figure. He was the head of the Colombo crime family (named after him) from 1963 until he was shot in the head and critically wounded at a rally for the Italian American Civil Rights League (which he started) at Columbus Circle in New York City, New York on June 28, 1971. His shooting […]

Vincent Coll (1908 - 1932)

Organized Crime Figure. An Irish-born gangster in New York City, he regaled in the media attention for his violent activities, preferring short-term, violent solutions to his problems with gang rivalry. His attacks on the major New York City gangs left him with the nickname “Mad Dog,” for daring to take on the other mobsters. In […]

Peter Coll (1970 - 1931)

Gangster. He was a foot soldier in his brother, Vincent ‘Mad Dog’ Coll’s army.

Meyer Cohen (1913 - 1976)

Gangster. Born in a poverty-stricken part of New York in 1913. His Jewish mother was from Kiev in the Ukraine. After running away from home at fifteen, he picked up his swagger in the fight clubs of Cleveland, then the nation’s fifth largest city. Lifelong connections with major underworld players were forged there, and in […]

Carl Civella (1910 - 1994)

Organized Crime Figure. Brother of Kansas City Crime Boss Nick Civella. When Nick died in prison Carl became boss of the family and in 1984 he was sentenced to thirty years in federal prison for his role in skimming more than $280,000 from the Las Vegas Tropicana and almost $2 million from casinos run by […]

Antonio Cincotta (1875 - 1915)

Organized Crime Figure. He was a Mafia Blackhand Leader in New York City whom attempted to extort $15,000 from opera star Enrico Caruso in 1910. Cincotta was arrested when he went to pick up the extortion money at a drop in Brooklyn. He was convicted of extortion and sent to prison until December 1914. Cincotta […]

Joseph Catania (1902 - 1931)

Organized Crime Figure. Known as “Joe Baker”, he was a top Captain to Joe “the Boss” Masseria during the Castellammarese War. On February 3, 1931, future mob informant Joseph Valachi, then a soldier loyal to Salvatore Maranzano, shot him six times while he was walking on a street in the Bronx. He died in the […]

Salvatore Catalanotte (1893 - 1930)

Organized Crime Figure. The first unified boss of the Detroit underworld, he was born in Seleni, Trapani, Sicily on February 15, 1894. He arrived in Detroit in 1905, and was a popular figure who held tremendous influence in the Italian community due largely in part to charitable donations and his standing as the head of […]

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 […]