Is the following correct or is it bluff?

Throughout history, crime has existed in many different forms and has been committed by not only individuals, but by groups as well. Crime is something that knows no boundries; it exists in all cultures, is committed by all races, and has existed in all time periods. Crime exists as a part of the economic institution and is a lifestyle for many people. Crime also exists in both organized and un organized forms. Since the early 1900's, "organized" crime has existed in the United States. The following will show where, when, and why the mafia came to the United States, who organized it in the United States, and how it differed from its origins in the European mafia.

In the ninth century, Sicily was occupied by Arab forces. The native Sicilians were oppressed and took refuge in the surrounding hills. The Sicilians formed a secret society to unite the natives against the Arab and Norman invaders. This secret society was called Mafia after the Arabic word for refuge. The society's intentions were to create a sense of family based on ancestry and Sicilian heritage. In the 1700's, pictures of a black hand were distributed to the wealthy. This was an unspoken request for an amount of money in return for protection. If the money wasn't paid, the recipients could expect violence such as kidnappings, bombings, and murder. By the nineteenth century, this society grew larger and more criminally oriented. In 1876, Mafia Don Rafael Palizzolo, ran for political office in Sicily. He forced the voters to vote for him under gunpoint. After being elected into office, he promoted Mafia Don Crispi as Prime Minister. Together the two put Sicily under government control and funnelled government funds to the society known as the Mafia.

In the 1800's, New Orleans was the largest Mafia site in the United States. It was while investigating the murder of an Italian immigrant that the current Police Chief, David Hennessey discovered the existence of this secret society. Police Chief Hennessey was assassinated before this murder case could go to trial. Twelve men were charged with this assassination but were lynched by a newly formed vigilante group. The Italian Ambassador demanded that the vigilantes be tried. President Harrison who disproved of the vigilantes and gave a large cash settlement to the families of the lynched men. This was a widely publicized case because of its' foreign ramifications and the involvement of the President of the United States. Don Vito, Vito Cascio Ferro, was the first Sicilian Capo de Tutti Capi. He fled to the United States in 1901 to escape arrest and formed a group of the Black Hand. Its' members were hardened criminals currently fugitives from Sicily. He is known as the Father of the American Mafia. In 1924, Mussolini was determined to rid Italy of the Mafia so many members fled to the United States to avoid persecution . This increased the numbers of members in the organization.

These fleeing Italians were well aware there was money to be made in the United States through extortion, prostitution, gambling and bootlegging. Every large city soon had its own Mafia chapter. Prohibition which was a legal ban on the manufacturer and sale of intoxicating drinks generated a wave of illegal activity since there was big money to be made. During this time, gangsters openly flaunted their wealth and power. This period established many young men as leaders in the New Age American Mafia.

Charles Luciano, born in 1897 in Sicily, came to New York in 1906. He trained in the Five Points Gang, a Mafia crew, under John Torrio. In this gang, he became friends with Al Capone and other prominent gangsters. Luciano started his own prostitution racket in the early 1920's and was in total control of prostitution in Manhattan by 1925. In 1929 he was kidnapped, beaten and stabbed severally with an icepick. He miraculously survived but maintained "omerta", which is a vow never to reveal any Mafia secrets or members under penalty of death or torture. By 1935, Luciano was known as The Boss of Bosses. He had previously established Murder Inc. with Bugsy Siegel and Myer Lansky, two other well known gangsters. Luciano's wide spread criminal activities led to his being investigated by District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey. He was eventually sentenced to thirty to fifty years for extortion and prostitution. Luciano was considered to be a powerful Mafia member with strong ties to Sicily. After his conviction, the United States government approached him with a deal. In exchange for his assistance in the Allied invasion of Sicily, he was offered deportation to Rome. Luciano contacted his Mafia associates in Italy and the deal was made. Luciano died of a heart attack in 1962 while meeting an American movie producer to do his life story.

Myer Lansky was never an initiated member of the Mafia since he was not Italian. Lansky became a close associate of Luciano after his rise to power and influence among the Jewish gangsters, known as Myer's mob. His speciality was gambling. He formed Murder Inc. which was a group of specialized contract killers which was hired out to other mobs. Lansky was instrumental in working out the deal with the government for Luciano in the Allied invasion. While Luciano was in jail and later deported to Italy, he entrusted the running of the crime syndicate to Lansky. By the 1960's, Lansky's gambling operations extended half way around the globe with departments all over South America and as far as Hong Kong. In 1970, the federal government was planning to charge Lansky with tax evasion , so he fled to Israel. In Tel Aviv, the Israeli government under pressure by the U.S. revoked his visa and Lansky was forced to stand trial. He avoided conviction because of his high level government contacts and retired to Miami, Florida and died in 1983. At the time of his death, his estate was valued at 4 million dollars.

The third member of Murder Inc. was Benjamin (Bugsy) Siegel. He was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1906. While still a teenager, he met Myer Lansky and went on to form the Bug and Myer Mob which specialized in gambling and car theft. In the 1930's, this mob joined with Luciano and formed Murder Inc. Siegel eventually killed Joe. "The Boss", Masseria which ended the present mob wars at that time. Siegel continued to carry out murders for Luciano and by 1937 there was a large number of contracts out of Siegel's life since he had angered so many of the bosses. To protect him, Lansky and Luciano persuaded him to move out to California. In California, Siegel he was the main man in the Luciano and Lansky gang and extorted money from movie studio owners. He continued to do murders for Luciano. Siegel " borrowed" five million dollars of syndicate money to build the first super casino/hotel in Las Vegas. The Flamingo hotel turned out to be a fiasco and lost money. Luciano demanded repayment of the funds and Siegel refused, thinking he was as powerful as Luciano. Luciano ordered his death. Although Siegel was warned by Lansky of this plan, he continued to refuse to repay the money. On June 20, 1947 he was killed.

Dutch Schultz, was another major player in organized crime He opened a saloon in the Bronx, New York during prohibition and organized a group of thugs to expand his bootlegging operations. His empire soon grew to large proportions with many illegal establishments in the Bronx and Manhattan. During his trial for tax evasion, many of his rackets were taken over by Luciano, who expected Schultz to be convicted. Although this prompted him to move his operation to New Jersey, Schultz was still considered so influential Luciano asked him to be a member of the Board of Directors of the crime syndicate. The District Attorney of New York, Thomas E. Dewey was not finished with Schultz though and continued investigating his activities. Schultz decided it was in his best interest to eliminate Dewey but the crime syndicate disagreed. They feared the killing of a District Attorney would only add to their problems but Schultz would not drop his plan. On the evening of October 23, 1935, while Schultz was informing his New Jersey associates of his plan, a Murder Inc. hit man assassinated all of them, Schultz included. He died later that evening in a Newark City hospital.


Alphonse "Scarface" Capone was another organizer of the early American Mafia. He was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1899. His involvement with organized crime began when he was eleven years old. As he got older, he graduated to the more powerful "Five Pointers Gang" where he became acquainted with Luciano. When Johnny Torrio, the original leader of the "Five Pointers Gang" moved to Chicago, he invited Capone to be his sidekick. Torrio's uncle, "Big Jim" Colisimo was the crime boss in Chicago. Trouble between uncle and nephew started and Capone was hired to kill the uncle leaving Torrio in charge of all Chicago. In 1925 when Torrio was severally wounded in a shoot out, he gave Capone his vast business empire, valued at fifty million dollars a year. During this time, Capone fell out of favor with other Mafia gangsters and several attempts were made on his life. Capone took revenge by staging the infamous St. Valentine's Day massacre in which he killed several of his enemies ending resistance to his continuing business dealings. He was finally sentenced for tax evasion and spent most of his eleven year sentence in Alcatraz. In 1939 he was released from prison because he was in the advanced stages of syphilis. He died of this disease in 1947.

At the turn of the century the American Mafia was different from the Sicilian Mafia in a number of ways. The European Mafia was founded on a sense of loyalty and respect for culture, family and the Sicilian heritage. The Mafia was to protect its' members interests and grant them freedom in business in exchange for absolute loyalty and submission to the "family". The Sicilian Mafia was based on the belief that justice, honor and vengeance are for a man to take care of, not for a government to take care of. The Sicilian mafia valued the code of "omerta" , the code of honor and silence and strictly adhered to the ruling that this was a secret society, open only to those who shared Sicilian blood. In contrast to the noble Sicilian mafia, the American mafia has proved to be a conniving, cold hearted organization. The American Mafia consists of a large group of glorified thieves, pickpockets and murderers. Although it began with the adoption of much of the Sicilian heritage it has evolved into an organization that's sole purpose is to make money using any illegal means possible. The members of the American mafia use extortion, bootlegging, prostitution, gambling, kidnapping, and murder to achieve their ends.

The above research has shown that the Mafia has become a wide spread problem. The Mafia has continued to grow and infest our society from the early 1900's. It continues to exploit and destroy the honest citizens of our country. Now, these criminal organizations not only control the adults of our communities but have begun , through the sale and distribution of narcotics, to control our children. Crime organizations must be stopped however this is a difficult task. They have infiltrated members of our government and law enforcement agencies with the lure of money. Unfortunately crime does pay in many instances. It is up to each of us to not look the other way, but be aware that their are really no victimless crimes. One way or another, we all pay either by higher taxes or by a more violent society.

Bogus -

I'm curious.....is this your schoolpaper?

woah...sheeshers, that must've taken a hell lot of research...just one nitpick, it should be 'Meyer' or variations of that theme. Myer isn't proper... //switches out of nitpick mode

nice paper...is it yours?

Getting sucked in by Liz's nitpick mode:

Dutch Schultz didn't die the same night he was shot. He lingered for 48 hours before dying.

There was no Charles Luciano. 'Charlie Lucky's' real name was Salvatore Lucania.

I enjoyed reading that. Well done Bogus if it's your own work. Does it have a title?

And to answer your question, it seems correct I can't think of any flaws in it apart from the comparison of the American and Sicilian Mafia. You have put alot of emphasis on the Sicilian Mafia being very noble and as being a part of society to help society. It may well have started like that to protect its own becuase of so many invasions and their inability of trust to outsiders. But their is less honour in the Sicilian Mafia than what is thought. Apart from my opinion, well done again, it is very well written.

Don Rico -

Your totally right. Didn't he change it from Luciana to Luciano becuase he didn't want to be associated the any Luciana's from the old country?

My only comment is that you give Capone a lot of credit as an organizer of the Mafia. It is true he controlled the Chicago south side, but he was never really a mafia Don in the conventional sense. The Chicago organized crime scene was basically a North side vs South side scenario. The north siders were a group of bootleggers and racketeers led by the likes of Hymie Weiss, Dion O'Bannion, and Bugs Moran. The south siders were led by Capone, and everything played out more like a street fight with one hit after another.

Capone was trying to take out the leadership of the north siders all at once with the St. Valentine's day massacre. He set up a bogus hijacked liquor truck delivery in order to intice Moran into that famous garage. Moran got there late and wasn't there. All Capone succeeded in doing was strengthen the resolve of the government and it led to his downfall a year or two later. I don't think he really compares to the Luciano's, Gambino's, or Lucchese's when it comes to the organizing roots of the Mafia.

Capone could best be compared to John Gotti. Both were ruthless killers, flamboyant publicity seekers that prided themselves on flashy clothes and public opinion. You didn't see Gambino, Castellano, or any of the others in the public eye. This led to the downfall of Capone and Gotti.

Nice piece of work Bogus. Just two comments.

The first: Don Rico is right, Lucky Luciano's Sicilian name is Salvatore Lucania.

The second: The word Mafia comes from the Arabic word mu afah what means refuge OR protection.

Actually, a Lebanese ex-g-friend of mine said once that muafah stood for "exemption" or "being excused"......I'll check again.....

I haven't read that text yet, I'm printing it and reading it later, but well done anyway...

I think bogus has just lived up to his name,that
article is very old and is off of a link on another site,i would give the address but thats not fair to the don of this page.here is the other
part of the excerpt that talks about glamour in
the mafia-own up bogus,you know what you did-
NOTICE THE SPELLING,NOTICE THE INC.PHRASING,I WILL
SAY YOU STUMBLED ONTO A VERY TOUGH SITE TO FIND,
THIS SITE IS RUN ACTUALLY BY A MADE MEMBER OF A
CRIME FAMILY OUT OF PITTSBURGH.
Case Studies > Romancing The Mob, Why Does That Life Seem So Appealing?

Good question, bad question? More to the point is the question true or false? Is it a fair question? Do we find the Mafia appealing or intriguing? I personally feel all of these questions reflect on most of us. However all of these questions I have asked myself on a number of occasions and struggle to answer all of them.

However I think there certain areas of Mafia life reflect on how everyone may feel from time to time. The Mafia represents a different way of living. Right or wrong it still exists. I think everyone one of us gets a little pissed off with being told to live a certain way, all our lives we are brought up being told the right and wrongs of life, whether we like it or not. The Mafia on the other represents a way of life that doesn't care what is wrong and right, but what is only wrong and right in their life, in their code.

Also wouldn't it be nice to be able to get away with some of the things we have done wrong in our lives? At one time the men of honour seemed to get away with everything and not have to worry about the consequences. This is the area that I think becomes appealing. Also from time to time we all get our paths crossed by someone. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to go up to our local Mafia boss and tell him you want someone clipped, or that you want to clip some guy that has really pissed you off. Appealing? Yes, I think so.
I also believe that the Mafia was born in Sicily out oppression. After the years and years of invasions, Sicily decided that they were going to take it any more and decided to wise up and take Sicily for them selves. Thos is where the interest comes from. Looking back to the turn of the century and discovering how many bosses they were and how the Mafia progressed into a global network of criminal conglomerations. This is interesting.

Lets not forget about the intrigue. How many times have we sat down and watched Godfather or Goodfellas and thought, what would it actually be really like to be part of the mob? Being able to do what you wanted to do, the endless possibilities of earning money and having a wild time. What would it be like to have a Mafia boss induct you into the family? The list goes on and on. We have all been to the movies and I think we are allowed to get carried away a little. I think we are allowed to romanticise, because what would life be like if we couldn't?

The Mafia certainly does represent a different way of living. We all get tired of our regular life and our regular jobs so it is easy to get embroiled in the life that mobsters have. On the other hand being honest, the Mafia doesn't portray all that is good in life, hell no. The life is interesting yes. And from time to time I wish I was a made member of the Gambino family. But like any mobster will tell you the realities of being a mobster isn't always a bed of roses. There are definite spells where the cash doesn't come in and you are always living a life of constant looking over your shoulder. Then there are gang wars and the damned justice department. Even being a boss these days isn't what it once was, because as soon as you take on the role the Feds come straight after you. Like you are wearing a big bulls-eye on your back.

I think to really appreciate the Mafia then you have to take everything into account. We know it is a dangerous life to lead and although it may be ideal at certain times in life, I think taking a mans life, someone you didn't know or had done nothing wrong to you, that must be a very difficult order to carry out. Particularly to be expected to have no remorse after and what about the poor guys wife and kids?

So for me the Mafia represents many aspects of the way we live, but only certain aspects the rest of the Mafia life, the bits you have to do when you don't want to, well it just goes to show that from whatever walk of life you are from doing things you don't want to do is part and parcel of being on the planet.
Ciao Amici.

Hey there Eddie. When did I say this was mine? I found this at a site: http://users.aol.com/whizkid01 .

I was wondering if it was accurate.

IT'S a crap page copied from another site,i never
said it was yours just that i knew it was not,if
your gonna copy that sh*t down you need to put the
title or its origin before you sign off,not for
nothin'but your not smart enough to have done that
on your own.

Site has a nice Godfather rendition.

This is how we Sicilians have translated it, but maybe your ex girlfriend is right altough i don't know the meaning of the word exemption. So correct me i've i'm wrong. We Sicilians mostly use the word protection.

Bogus: (bo g@ss) Adj.: disingenuous, inauthentic. fake. Ex. The young lad was bogus indeed.

I read the article aswell, and indeed it was written by someone else. But he's still young, so dont go too hard on him... he is just trying to make a good impression.

If you want a real article, here it is:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/international/lcn.html

Edwardo, Amico, casa che noi fare il pungere Bogus, noi volli caduta sotto il giurisdizione dalla FBI, ovvero asserzioni da Ohio/Montreal. Il migliore idea volei sua a tavola offrire il contratto a tavola qualche Irish uccisores. Comprende? Grazie, ai fatto bene

sigh. somedays I wish that my school gave Italian instead of Spanish... :rolleyes: :p

Couldn't agree more with that. I wish I had Thomas Gambino's life, at least up to 1990. He knew how to keep a low profile, his dad taught him well and he kept his nose out of murder and drugs, made piles of money in the garment industry, got respected and probably didn't have to make his bones to get inducted. When they nailed him for racketeering in '94, he had gotten bail and is now out of jail, with enough money to retire a happy man. Meanwhile Gotti and his two cronies got life (Gravano saved his skin but ruined his life later). So it shows how the low-key and business-minded mobsters are often never bothered by the feds and make some nice money.
I used to want to be in the Luchese faction, but after Corallo it just wasn't a safe idea anymore, Amuso/Casso were psychopaths. Even Michael Pappadio who ran the garment until they killed him in '89 was not saved by his old age/reputation. Amuso forced him to retire and give up all his books just because he was from another part of NYC and was old school but a good earner. He didn't give them up and Al D'arco with Chiodo and another soldier shot him to death and burnt his corpse. Anyway they are the reason the family mainframe collapsed, it was a powerful family in 1985 and now it's hardly got 60 members according to the Luchese squad guys.
Genovese is still a good family, earning and rolling but they hit hard times when Chin got banged four years ago. Bonnano is growing strong again but the feds are piling up on the administration and Spero is gone maybe for good now. I think Colombo/Luchese should disband, they're hardly earners at all today, but then again we only know about the bosses like Allie always getting himself in trouble, there are probably quiet wiseguys earning tons of cash in the low-key legit stuff that doesn't bring attention. Being made is still a nice life, even if it might be dangerous but if you keep your mouth shut and respect your elders you usually turn out ok, but I would never take a position more than soldier these days, capo+ are always getting followed by the FBI and OCTF wherever they go.

N.B, I know i'm repeating myself about that cazzu puta Gotti but it has to be said. When Paul died on December 16 1985, the FBI estimated (correctly) that there were 24 crews operating, with as many as 1000 associates and at least 350 made men in the Gambino family. After John A. Gotti jr went to prison in 1999, the family could barely front $50mil and it was mostly from drug trafficking, and there were about 9 crews left. Real leaders are not made from murder, they are made from respect, leadership as a captain or underboss, and a good mind that can reason. A borgatta is just like any other Fortune 500 company, it has to have managers working on every floor and an excellent chief executive officer, aided by a second-in-command with tactical experience and an advisor with extensive legal/economic knowledge. Gravano may have been good at creating white-collar construction companies but he did not have the brain to run a family in Gotti's absense, as John had wanted it in a taped conversation "So i'm asking you, how do you feel. You want to stay as consigliere, or you want me to make you official acting-boss, underboss? How do you feel, what makes you feel better?". If there was ever a bad boss, it was Gotti. At least Vic Amuso was in his late 50s and had earnt for the Luchese before he murdered Luongo for the position, and he at least tried to give his victims 1 chance before clipping them... Gotti just straight out nailed anyone who looked at him funny. I think Locascio was unlucky to be part of that regime, he would have been much better off in another family or with Castellano, but Joe N. Gallo was also a good consigliere, so you cant always make a trade-off.

[ November 06, 2001: Message edited by: Joey Montana ]

I talked to her and some other friends yesterday...They said that muafah stood for "being excused" in arabic....

But that doesn't mean that you Sicilians got it wrong....You see the way I see it, if someone is from the Honourable Society, they are "excused" from being treated as a normal person....If someone is under the protection of the Honourable Society, then they are excused from the punishment that is imposed by other people or the law (in other words, they are under refuge).....

But that's my interpretation....

I must say, a very nice interpretation Sonny.

That was Bogus Castellano's last post on this board before he mysteriously disappeared. How nostalgic!

more likely his parents took away his computer! Or he finally found GIRLS ! ! !