The Five Families were established by
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano in the wake of the
Castellammarese War (1929 - September 10, 1931), a gang war in New York between partisans of
Joe "The Boss" Masseria and those of
Salvatore Maranzano. The arrangement, under the administration of
The Commission, was created to divide the city among the gangs with mutual interests, and prevent the continuous grab for more territory. Of course, the arrangement has been anything but peaceful, and the Five Families have all gone through periods of prosperity and decline. So who are they, and how are they doing now?
Genovese - Known as the "Ivy League" of the Five Families, the
Genovese crime family can trace its origins back to Sicilian-American street gangs of the early 1900s, but gained establishment under Lucky Luciano. After being sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison in 1935 (he would be deported in 1946), the family fell under the control of
Frank Costello, where it grew in strength through bookmaking, loansharking, illegal gambling and labor racketeering, and also had a prominent role in the development of the
Las Vegas casinos, via
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. Costello suffered from depression and panic attacks, helping to pave the way for his underboss,
Vito Genovese to take over. The beginning of the end started when Genovese family soldier
Joseph "Joe Cargo" Valachi, at the time in prison and facing the death penalty, testified publicly in 1963 about the existence of the Mafia and its inner workings. His testimony helped the FBI close in, and their efforts were eased by family infighting. Today, the family is run by acting
boss Daniel Leo and claims 270 made members, with extensive control over New York, New Jersey, Atlantic City and Florida. It remains the most powerful crime family in America.
Gambino - The roots of the
Gambino crime family can be traced back to Pellegrino "Don Grino" Morano and Salvatore "Toto" D'Aquila, who took over following the jailing of Morano in 1916, but the Gambino crime family was formally founded by
Vincenzo "Vincent" Mangano in the wake of the Castellammarese War. Mangano helped build the family through extortion, union racketeering, and illegal gambling operations including horse betting, running numbers and lotteries, and also created the City Democratic Club, a front for a group of mostly Jewish hitmen for hire known as
Murder, Inc. The family reached its peak in the 1970s, becoming the strongest of the Five Familes at the time, having possibly organized the shooting of Joseph Colombo, head of the Colombo crime family, in 1971, as well as control over the Lucchese family and may have influenced the selection of Frank "Funzi" Tieri as boss of the Genovese crime family. Unfortunately for the Gambinos, the FBI considered them the easiest family to infiltrate - putting a listening device in a lamp on then-boss
Paul Castellano's kitchen table enabled the feds to amass hours of recordings of Castellano discussing and organizing illegal activities, and the FBI had also tapped numerous phones. This resulted in 13 indictments of drug trafficking in 1983. Shortly thereafter, the media-friendly
John Gotti rose to power, but his colorful reign would last barely seven years, as he and current Consigliere Frank "Frankie Loc" LoCascio were convicted and received a sentence of life without parole on April 2, 1992. Today, the family is run by a three-man panel of street bosses consisting of Daniel "Danny" Marino, Giovanni "Johnny" Gambino, and Robert "Bobby" Vernace while top leadership remains in prison. The Gambino crime family now claims
260 made members.
Bonanno - Created by
Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno, orginally part of the Maranzano family, the Bonanno built itself up on gambling, loan-sharking, and racketeering. While Bonanno himself believed in solidarity and blood alliances, picking most of his crew from the same town of
Castellamare del Golfo, Sicily, the family has been embroiled in infighting in the 1950s and 60s between supporters of Gaspar DiGregorio and those loyal to Bonanno. The war - also called The Banana Split - so disgusted The Commission that the family was stripped of its seat and
Phillip "Rusty" Rastelli took over in 1973. Three renegade capos - Phillip Giaccone, Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato and Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera - plotted to overthrow Rastelli, but were murdered by Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero and his capo Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano. Sonny Black had become friendly with new-comer
Donnie Brasco, who was actually FBI agent
Joe Pistone. Pistone's story was dramatized in the movie
Donnie Brasco. Although times looked bleak for the family,
Joseph "Big Joe" Massino, who became boss in 1991, tried to reverse their fortunes by turning their revenue generation towards drug trafficking. It had the opposite effect, in that it brought in the attention of drug task forces on all mob families. Massino would become a police informant, helping along numerous convictions against many if not most made members of the family. Today, Salvatore "Sal the Iron Worker" Montagna is acting boss, taking orders from higher-ups in prison, but now
faces deportation. The family claims 150 made members.
Colombo - Formerly known as the Profaci family, it was founded by
Joe Profaci. The family involved itself in labor rackets, extortion, gambling, hijacking and loan sharking. Profaci faced no serious challenges to his leadership (thanks in part to his close ties to the Bonanno family) until Larry Gallo,
Joey Gallo and Albert Gallo, instigated by the Gambino family, kidnapped prominent members of the family including underboss
Joseph Magliocco and capo
Joe Colombo, demanding changes in profit sharing in return for their release. The Gallo gang would be chipped away by murders and arrests over time. Profaci died of cancer in 1962 and Magliocco rose to power. When Joe Bonanno plotted to murder the heads of the Genovese, Gambino and Lucchese families, Joe Colombo though it was a bad idea, and warned Carlo Gambino and Tommy Lucchese of the plans. In exchange for his loyalty, the Commission named Joe Colombo the new boss of the family. Ironically, Colombo would found the
Italian-American Civil Rights League in the early 1970s to defend Italian Americans from what he saw as prejudice at the hands of the law enforcement authorities. Colombo would be gunned down in 1971, and left in a vegetative state. A power struggle ensued, and the family's ill fortunes were exacerbated by the
Mafia Commission trial of the mid-1980s. Today, Carmine "Junior" Persico, 76, runs the family from federal prison in North Carolina. The family has been greatly weakened and 91 year-old family Underboss John "Sonny" Franzese, released from prison late last year, along with acting boss Thomas Gioeli and captain Dino Calabro all face trials this year, and
could be looking at life imprisonment if convicted.
Lucchese - The
Lucchese crime family started during the First World War under
Gaetano "Tom" Reina, who controlled ice distribution in New York. In the 1920s, Reina became an ally of Joseph Masseria. Reina considered switching over to Maranzano, and when news of his planned betrayal reached Masseria, he had Reina killed. This enraged Reina lieutenant Gaetano "Tommy" Gagliano and
Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese, who defected to Maranzano. Lucchese would become head of the Reina crime family after the Castellammarese War. From there, the family built themselves on labor and construction racketeering, illegal gambling, loansharking, extortion, drug trafficking, money laundering, hijacking, fraud, fencing and murder for hire. Lucchese himself became involved with the
Teamster's Union as well as racketeering around New York's Idlewild Airport (known today as JFK Airport). Amazingly, Lucchese spent 44 years in organized crime without a single conviction, dying of heart failure in 1967. The family was then taken over by
Carmine "Gribbs" Tramunti, who spearheaded a massive East Coast heroin distribution network known as
the French Connection. When Tramunti was convicted in 1974, Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo - a close associate of
Jimmy Hoffa - took over and involved himself further in union activities. The 1980s were a tumultuous period for the family. In 1986,
Vittorio "Vic" Amuso and
Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, seized control of the Lucchese family. When the two demanded their New Jersey faction pay 50% tribute, the faction refused, prompting the bosses to order their New York crew to "
whack Jersey". This resulted in an internal war that claimed many lives, but also a number of botched hits, with many turning informant to protect their own lives. In April 2006, it was revealed that two respected New York City police detectives were also working as hired hitmen and informants for Anthony Casso during the 1980s and early 1990s before they both retired from local law enforcement. Vittorio "Vic" Amuso, 73, remains the official Boss of the Lucchese crime family despite serving a life sentence. A three man ruling panel, Joseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli, 71, Aniello "Neil" Migliore, 73, and Matthew Madonna, 72, has been running the family for the past few years. They currently have
100 made members.
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Seriously, though, GREAT post!
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:55 PM on May 14