The American Mafia - Who Was Who: Dewey

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Lucania, Salvatore (1897-1962)

Born Lercara Friddi, Sicily, Nov. 24, 1897.
Died Naples, Italy, Jan. 26, 1962.

Salvatore "Charlie Lucky" Lucania is probably the most talked about New York Mafia boss. He is the subject of numerous legends, many of them false, while his actual underworld career remains largely unknown. He was a pivotal figure in the Castellammarese War of 1930-31, benefited greatly from the assassinations of two who occupied the position of Mafia boss of bosses and participated in the dismantling of the boss of bosses system and the creation of a Commission system for resolving underworld disputes.

Lucania was the third child born to Antonino and Rosalia Lucania in the Sicilian sulfur-mining community of Lercara Friddi. The family grew to include five children before its migration to America. Lucania, his mother and two of his siblings, reached New York in 1907, joining his father in an apartment in Manhattan's East Village.

A chronic truant from school and frequent gambler, Lucania in his childhood acquired the nickname "Lucky," a result of the first syllable of his surname sounding like "Luck." The source of the "Charlie" portion of his nickname is uncertain. Often, Italian boys seeking to Americanize the name "Salvatore" opted for "Sam." Possibly, "Charlie" came about through the mispronunciation of "Turi," the Italian familiar form of "Salvatore." (In later years, Lucania was known in the press as Charlie "Luciano." The "Luciano" surname appears to have been the result of a persistent misspelling by reporters. Though he is now known to history as "Luciano," Lucania is not believed to have personally used that surname.)

At this time, he became close friends with orphan Michael Lascari and reportedly with future gangland leaders like Meyer Lansky and Benjamin Siegel. He dabbled in criminal activity and was caught in possession of narcotics in 1916. He was served six months in prison as a result.

During the early Prohibition Era, Lucania worked for a number of non-Italian underworld leaders, including Arnold Rothstein and Jack "Legs" Diamond. He often served as a driver, and referred to himself as a professional chauffeur. He was again caught with narcotics in 1923. By taking authorities to a cache of narcotics at 163 Mulberry Street in Manhattan he avoided prosecution.

By the mid-1920s, Lucania was drawn into the growing Manhattan Mafia organization of Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria but continued his affiliation with the Legs Diamond gang. Near the end of 1926, Lucania was believed involved in two shootings related to the Diamond gang. Authorities could not assemble enough evidence to prosecute him.

Lucania (right) arrested with members of the Legs Diamond gang.

Lucania and other known Rothstein associates were questioned by police following that underworld leader's 1928 murder. About a year later, Lucania was taken for "a ride" and severely beaten. Police and press reported that underworld rivals were responsible, but Lucania later revealed that he was beaten by detectives trying to locate Legs Diamond. (Many have said that Lucania's good fortune in surviving this adventure was the inspiration for his "Lucky" nickname, but he was already widely known by that nickname when the incident occurred.)

By the start of the Castellammarese War, Lucania led a lucrative bootlegging division in the Masseria crime family. Others affiliated with Joe the Boss were Frank Costello, Vito Genovese, Willie Moretti, Ciro Terranova and Albert Anastasia. Masseria had risen to the position of boss of bosses of the Mafia in the United States, and was meddling in the affairs of crime families around the country. Groups quietly rose up against him in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and upstate New York, as well as in New York City. As war broke out and Masseria men began to be attacked and killed, it seems that Masseria did not yet know who his enemies were. Over time, he identified them as Mafiosi from Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, led by Buffalo, New York, boss Stefano Magaddino. Only later, did he learn that a wide alliance had formed against him and that the opposition leader was New York City-based Salvatore Maranzano. By then, Masseria had already lost a number of his important allies to assassination.

In 1930, Lucania was twice noted far from New York. In February, he was found gambling with Masseria and others at Miami Beach, Florida. In August, he was reported to be on a transatlantic steamship with Legs Diamond, heading to Germany. Some have suggested that the trip was conducted in order to arrange for narcotics imports to the U.S.

Secret defections from Masseria's organization resulted in the end of Joe the Boss. Following the April 15 murder of Masseria by his own men, Lucania emerged as new leader of that organization. Masseria's death brought about the end of the Castellammarese War and allowed Maranzano to assume the boss of bosses position.

Conflict seemed likely to continue, however, as Maranzano began plotting against Lucania and others he felt he could not work with. Like Masseria, Maranzano was assassinated on orders from Luciano. The September 10 murder left vacant the coveted boss of bosses position. Luciano could have attempted to claim it for himself but instead threw his weight behind a proposal for a dispute-resolving Commission comprised of the nation's most powerful crime family bosses.

Lucania (left) and Lansky arrested
in Chicago in 1932.

As Lucania and the Commission-governed Mafia began forging new alliances and entering into new rackets in the final days of Prohibition, police suspected Lucania involvement in 1933 attacks against racketeer Waxey Gordon and in the 1935 killing of gang boss Arthur "Dutch Schultz" Flegenheimer. With Schultz gone, Lucania's organization absorbed Schultz's rich numbers rackets.

In 1936, New York Special Prosecutor Thomas Dewey brought Lucania and a dozen codefendants to trial for profiting from the coordination and protection of prostitution. Lucania testified in his own defense, but was torn apart on cross examination. He was convicted on sixty-two counts and sentenced to serve 30 to 50 years in Clinton Correctional Facility at Dannemora, near the Canada border. His legal appeals were exhausted by spring 1938.

During Lucania's imprisonment, leadership of his crime family first fell to underboss Vito Genovese. Genovese, however fled the country for Italy to escape prosecution for murder. Frank Costello filled the void as the day-to-day manager of the criminal empire.

In March of 1942, Commander Charles Radcliffe Haffenden of the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) attempted to gain underworld assistance in securing U.S. wartime ports and shipping. He reached out to Lucania defense attorney Moses Polakoff. Haffenden was somehow assured that Lucania could assist the war effort and managed to have Lucania transferred in May from Dannemora to the Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Comstock, just north of Albany and hours closer to New York City. During the rest of 1942 and through to the end of 1945 (months after the war was concluded), Lucania was permitted regular meetings with underworld associates Meyer Lansky, Joseph "Socks" Lanza and Frank Costello. ONI appeared satisfied that Luciano was helping to safeguard American maritime interests and promoting Italian cooperation with Allied landings in Sicily and Italy. After victory in Europe was achieved, the ONI launched an investigation into the relationship between Haffenden and Luciano.

On Jan. 3, 1946, then-Governor Thomas Dewey commuted the remainder of Lucania's sentence on the condition that he be deported to Italy. Dewey noted the alleged assistance provided by Lucania to the U.S. war effort. Lucania met with Lansky, Costello, Lascari and Polakoff at Ellis Island in early February before setting sail for Italy.

ONI and the FBI quickly concluded that no information of value had ever been obtained through the relationship with Lucania and that Haffenden had made his arrangements with the imprisoned crime boss out of a continuing mutually beneficial friendship with Frank Costello.

Lucania did not remain long in Italy. By the fall of 1946, he was in Cuba, planning investments in Havana-areas gambling enterprises and entertaining Mafia visitors from the U.S. American officials pressured the Cuban government in February 1947 to return Lucania to Italy. That was finally accomplished on March 20.

Settling into a life in Italy, Lucania reportedly married dancer Igea Lissoni. He was visited by Lansky in June 1949, by Lascari and by former Tampa bootlegger Salvatore "Red" Italiano in May 1950.

The following year, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Narcotics asserted that Lucania was the key figure in the international drug trade. Under pressure to keep an eye on Lucania's activities, Naples authorities in 1954 imposed "admonition" (curfew, authorization of police raids, travel restrictions) on Lucania. The admonition restrictions are removed by a court order in summer 1956.

Vito Genovese returned as boss of the former Luciano Crime Family in 1957. Genovese had been back in the U.S. since 1946 and had been cleared of the earlier murder charge. His ambition to lead the crime family became evident through a 1957 assassination attempt on Frank Costello. Costello reportedly resigned as boss, turning the crime family reins over to Genovese.

Igea Lissoni died in October 1958 at the age of 37.

Movie producer Martin Gosch, based in Spain, contacted Lucania in 1960, asking for his assistance with the script of a fictional movie based upon his life. In the spring, Lucania is repeatedly visited by New York Mafioso Pat Eboli. Pat's brother Tommy Eboli, a lieutenant to Vito Genovese, visited in December. The visits are widely believed to have been efforts to discourage Lucania from any work on an autobiographical project. Another visit from Pat Eboli occurred Jan. 17, 1962. After that visit, Lucania contacted Gosch to sever their business relationship. (While many suggested that Lucania was ordered by Genovese to pull the plug on the Gosch project, some heard Lucania expressing his personal disapproval of a Gosch effort to tell a more fact-based Lucania life story.) Gosch flew to Naples to meet with Lucania on Jan. 26. Shortly after his arrival, Lucania collapsed in the airport, the victim of a fatal heart attack.

Witnesses reported seeing Gosch putting a pill into the mouth of a disabled Lucania. This resulted in stories that Lucania had been poisoned. Gosch insisted, however, that he was aware that Lucania had a heart condition and carried medication for it. When he saw Lucania collapse, he said, he found a bottle of pills in Lucania's clothes and put one of the pills in his mouth.

Lucania's remains were transported to Queens, New York, for burial.

Some attention was directed toward Gosch's movie project at the time. Gosch told the authorities the script was largely fiction. In 1972, apparently abandoning the movie project, Gosch appeared at the New York office of the FBI seeking assistance with a book he hoped to write about Luciano. The FBI turned him down. Gosch reportedly provided notes (at one point, a book publisher insisted incorrectly that there were audio tape recordings) to author Richard Hammer, relating to conversations between Gosch and Lucania. Hammer produced a book, claiming he based it on the Gosch notes. Gosch died in October 1973. When challenged to produce the Gosch notes, Hammer claimed they all had been burned following Gosch's death. The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano by Gosch and Hammer was published by Little, Brown and Company in February 1975. By the time it was released, it had already been labeled fraudulent by the FBI and by Mafia historians Nicholas Gage, Peter Maas and Hank Messick.

See also:

Sources:

Bonanno, Joseph, with Sergio Lalli, A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1983.
Dewey, Thomas E., Twenty Against the Underworld, Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1974.
Feder, Sid, and Joachim Joesten, The Luciano Story, New York: Da Capo Press, 1994 (originally published in 1954).
Gentile, Nick, with Felice Chilanti, Vita di Capomafia, Rome: Crescenzi Allendorf, 1993.
Gosch, Martin A. and Richard Hammer, The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano, Boston: Little, Brown and Co, 1975.
Turkus, Burton B., and Sid Feder, Murder, Inc.: The Story of the Syndicate, New York: Da Capo Press, 1992 (originally published in 1951).
Vizzini, Sal, with Oscar Fraley and Marshall Smith, Vizzini: The Story of America's No, 1 Undercover Narcotics Agent, New York: Pinnacle, 1972

Passenger manifest of S.S. Roma, departed Naples on Nov. 18, 1905, arrived New York City on Dec. 3, 1905.
Salvatore Lucania World War I draft registration card, serial no. 4468, order no. A1769, Local Board 114 of City of New York, Sept. 12, 1918, stamped 31-9-114-C.
United States Census of 1920, New York State, New York County, Eight Assembly District, Enumeration District 619.
"Charles Luciana, with aliases," FBI memorandum, file no. 39-2141-X, Aug. 28, 1935.
Receiving blotter, Chas. Luciano, no. 92168, Sing Sing Prison, June 18, 1936.
Appeal of the People of the State of New York v. Charles Luciano, et al., May 7, 1937.
Appeal of the People of the State of New York v. Charles Luciano, et al., April 12, 1938.
"Salvatore Lucania...," FBI report Albany 100-5170, Oct. 16, 1942.
"Lucky Luciano," FBI memorandum to Mr. Rosen, file no. 39-2141-2, Feb. 21, 1946.
FBI teletype, Luciano FBI file, Feb. 25, 1946.
Conroy, FBI teletype, file no. 39-2141-6, Feb. 27, 1946
Conroy, E.E., Letter to Mr. Hoover, Charles Luciano FBI file, no. 39-2141-8, March 1, 1946.
Rosen, A., "Charles 'Lucky' Luciano's parole and deportation," FBI memorandum to E.A. Tamm, March 6, 1946.
"Salvatore Lucania…," FBI report NY 62-8768, file no. 39-2141-10, March 13, 1946.
Rosen, A., "Charles 'Lucky' Luciano parole," FBI memorandum to E.A. Tamm, April 3, 1946.
"Salvatore Lucania...," FBI report NY 62-8768, May 5, 1946.
Cornelius, A. Jr., "Charles Lucky Luciano, Miscellaneous, Information concerning parole and deportation," FBI letter, May 9, 1946.
Hoover handwritten note, FBI memorandum from A. Rosen to E.A. Tamm, May 17, 1946.
"Charles 'Lucky' Luciano parole miscellaneous; information concerning," FBI memorandum to Rosen, June 6, 1946.
"Salvatore Lucania,…" FBI report NY 62-8768, July 2, 1946.
Rosen, A., "Charles 'Lucky' Luciano, Miscellaneous Information," FBI memo to E.A. Tamm, Feb. 10, 1947.
"Charles 'Lucky' Luciano," FBI report, Feb. 12, 1947.
"Charles 'Lucky' Luciano," FBI report, March 22, 1947.
Director, FBI, "Charles 'Lucky' Luciano, Foreign Miscellaneous," FBI memo to Legal Attache, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 25, 1947.
Virgil W. Peterson testimony of July 6, 1950, Investigation of Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce (Kefauver Committee), U.S. Senate, 81st Congress 2nd Session, Part 2.
Meyer Lansky testimony of Oct. 11, 1950, Investigation of Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce (Kefauver Committee), U.S. Senate, 81st Congress 2nd Session and 82nd Congress 1st Session, Part 7.
Willie Moretti testimony of Dec. 13, 1950, Investigation of Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce (Kefauver Committee), U.S. Senate, 81st Congress 2nd Session and 82nd Congress 1st Session, Part 7.
Vincent Spoto testimony of Dec. 29, 1950, Investigation of Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce (Kefauver Committee), U.S. Senate, 81st Congress 2nd Session and 82nd Congress 1st Session, Part 1-A.
Gerald Catena testimony of Feb. 14, 1951, Investigation of Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce (Kefauver Committee), U.S. Senate, 81st Congress 2nd Session and 82nd Congress 1st Session, Part 7.
Meyer Lansky testimony of Feb. 14, 1951, Investigation of Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce (Kefauver Committee), U.S. Senate, 81st Congress 2nd Session and 82nd Congress 1st Session, Part 7
Michael Lascari testimony of Feb. 15, 1951, Investigation of Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce (Kefauver Committee), U.S. Senate, 81st Congress 2nd Session and 82nd Congress 1st Session, Part 7.
"Charles 'Lucky' Luciano, General Investigative Intelligence File," FBI memo, Nov. 20, 1952.
"Charles Luciano, Anti-Racketeering," FBI memo, Jan. 22, 1959.
"Charles Luciano, Anti-Racketeering," translations of Italian language articles appearing in the Jan. 11, Jan. 18 and Jan. 25, 1959, issues of L'Europeo magazine, FBI memo, Feb. 18, 1959.
FBI cablegram to Director, Charles "Lucky" Luciano FBI file, Jan. 26, 1962.
"Charles 'Lucky' Luciano," FBI memo, Feb. 12, 1962.
"Charles 'Lucky' Luciano, information concerning," FBI memo, Feb. 19, 1962.
Flynn, James P., "Crime conditions in the New York Division," FBI memo, NY 92-2247, Dec. 3, 1962.
"The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano," FBI memorandum to Mr. Cleveland, Oct. 2, 1974.

"Routs six gunmen in Broadway fight," New York Times, Dec. 12, 1926.
"Broker is wounded in hold-up that fails," New York Times, Dec. 22, 1926.
"Refuses to identify gunman suspects," New York Times, Dec. 30, 1926.
"Robbery suspect questioned," New York Times, Nov. 18, 1928, p. 24.
"M'Cabe gives alibi in Rothstein case; Banton clears him," New York Times, Nov. 18, 1928, p. 1.
"Admit search fails for Rothstein clue," New York Times, Nov. 19, 1928, p. 1.
"Three freed of robbery suspicion," New York Times, Nov. 24, 1928, p. 2.
"Arrest 19 at Miami in gambling clean-up," New York Times, March 2, 1930, p. 33.
"Gang guns slay 2, wound 1 in Broadway night club battle," Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 13, 1929, p. 1.
"Whalen to face bungling charge in Marlow case," Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 14, 1929, p. 2.
"Gangster 'taken for ride' lives to tell about it," Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Oct. 17, 1929, p. 1.
"'Ride' victim wakes up on Staten Island," New York Times, Oct. 18, 1929.
"Harlem racket gang murders two in raid," New York Times, Aug. 16, 1930, p. 1.
"Car clue in Morello case," New York Times, Aug. 17, 1930.
"Ireland will refuse landing to Diamond," New York Times, Aug. 30, 1930.
"Two men shot dead in Bronx gun-trap," New York Times, Nov. 6, 1930, p. 27.
"Bail runner shot in street ambush," New York Times, Feb. 4, 1931.
"Catania dies of wounds," New York Times, Feb. 5, 1931.
"Seize New York hoodlums, here on mystery trip," Chicago Daily Tribune, April 20, 1932, p. 14.
"2 women wounded as gangs open fire in upper Broadway," New York Times, May 25, 1933, p. 1.
"Gang shots linked to war over beer," New York Times, May 26, 1933.
"Federal men list racket 'big shots' in tax drive here," New York Times, May 20, 1935, p. 1.
"Schultz dies of wounds without naming slayers; 3 aides dead, one dying," New York Times, Oct. 25, 1935, p. 1.
"Extradition stay is won by Luciano," New York Times, April 8, 1936, p. 24.
"Lucania is jailed in $350,000 bail," New York Times, April 19, 1936, p. 1.
"Three admit guilt as vice trial opens," New York Times, May 12, 1936.
"Lucania is forced to admit crimes," New York Times, June 4, 1936, p. 1.
"Lucania convicted with 8 in vice ring on 62 counts each," New York Times, June 8, 1936, p. 1.
"Bribery is bared in vice ring trial; 2 face disbarment," New York Times, June 9, 1936, p. 1.
"Lucania is called shallow parasite," New York Times, June 19, 1936.
"Lucania sentenced to 30 to 50 years; court warns ring," New York Times, June 19, 1936, p. 1.
"Fight for freedom begun by Lucania," New York Times, Aug. 12, 1936, p. 5.
"Luciano loses freedom appeal," New York Times, Jan. 15, 1937, p. 3.
"Big liquor concern faces license loss," New York Times, May 7, 1940.
"Dewey commutes Luciano sentence," New York Times, Jan. 4, 1946, p. 25.
"Luciano rules U.S. narcotics from Sicily, senators hear," New York Times, June 28, 1951, p. 1.
Grutzner, Charles, "Luchese presents study in contrasts," New York Times, Oct. 11, 1952, p. 26.
"Luciano dies at 65; was facing arrest," New York Times, Jan. 27, 1962, p. 1.
"Luciano's links to underworld investigated by Italian agents," New York Times, Jan. 28, 1962, p. 66.
"In the end 'Lucky' Luciano was not really so terribly lucky after all," Bridgeport CT Sunday Post, Feb. 4, 1962, p. 14.
Anderson, Jack, "The Last Days of Lucky Luciano," Parade, June 17, 1962.
Gage, Nicholas, "Questions are raised on Lucky Luciano book," New York Times, Dec. 17, 1974, p. 1.
Gage, Nicholas, "F.B.I. tells agents not to trust book on Luciano," New York Times, March 14, 1975.
Scaduto, Tony, "Letters to the Editor: Luciano," New York Times, April 27, 1975.

Flegenheimer, Arthur (1902-1935)

Born Bronx, NY, Aug. 6, 1902

Killed Newark, NJ, Oct. 23, 1935.

Arthur "Dutch Schultz" Flegenheimer was probably the last of the big-time independent criminal operators. Never an inducted member of the Mafia, he had some personal and business relationships with its members. Those relationships ultimately led to his demise.

Born in the Bronx, Schultz grew up in street gangs. He spent more than a year in prison for a burglary committed at age 17. He emerged from prison in time to join Arnold Rothstein's bootlegging operation. In that venture, he came into contact with such notables as Charlie "Lucky" Luciano and Jack "Legs" Diamond.

Schultz and longtime friend Joey Noe became partners in a speakeasy and a beer distribution business and later coerced owners of other speakeasies into becoming outlets for Schultz beer. The Coll brothers were affiliated with the Schultz-Noe mob before going out on their own.

Some bad blood developed between Shultz-Noe and the Rothstein-Diamond organization. Diamond looked to be responsible for Noe's death on Oct. 15, 1928 (Noe lingered at Bellevue Hospital until finally succumbing to his injuries on Nov. 21, 1928.)

Schultz's men attempted retaliation several times, but the bullet-riddled Diamond simply refused to die until blasted in his sleep on Dec. 18, 1931.

The Schultz men appear to have had better luck pursuing revenge against Rothstein, who was gunned down in his hotel on Nov. 4, 1928, just before Noe passed away. Others were suspected of involvement in Rothstein's murder, but Schultz involvement appears likely.

Schultz had a close relationship with Harlem's Tammany boss Jimmy Hines, a useful situation as the gangster muscled in on Harlem numbers rackets and forcefully established a restaurant "union" protection racket. As a show of good faith to the American Mafia, Schultz provided Ciro Terranova, Mafia boss in Harlem, a share of his numbers business.

The relationship between Schultz and the Mafia appeared cordial as the Dutchman's old friend Luciano stepped to power in 1931. Schultz remained largely apart from the nationwide criminal Syndicate welded by Luciano and his allies. Secretly, Mafia leaders were envious of the Dutchman's operations, particularly the lucrative numbers.

New York prosecutor Thomas Dewey and the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover began pursuing Schultz at the end of the Prohibition Era. Public Enemy No. 1 Schultz couldn't be touched for his rackets and his murders, so the government went after him - as it had with Capone - for federal income tax evasion.

Schultz was surprisingly successful in his court battles. After a deadlocked jury in Syracuse and an Aug. 24, 1935, not-guilty verdict in the small town of Malone, NY, where Schultz threw some money around in advance of the trial, it appeared the gangster had the government on the ropes.

But Dewey wasn't ready to quit. He prepared to charge Schultz with state tax evasion. Schultz left the state, heading into Newark, NJ, while he worked on a strategy. The pressure was on Hines as well, so Tammany was little help to the outlaw.

Schultz approached the Mafia's ruling Commission with a plan. With Mafia help, Schultz offered to bump off Dewey. Some accounts indicate that Schultz made a personal appearance at a meeting of the Commission. Others say he sent a message through Albert Anastasia.

Fearing law enforcement's wrath, the Commission decided it wanted no part of the assassination proposal. Enraged by the lack of support, Schultz swore he would see to Dewey's murder himself.

The Commission then acted against Schultz, using members of its enforcement arm (often referred to as "Murder Inc.") to eliminate Schultz and his gang leadership at Newark's Palace Chop House on Oct. 23, 1935. Under orders from Lepke Buchalter, salaried hitmen Mendy Weiss and Charlie "Bug" Workman did the job. Schultz clung to life at Newark County Hospital for 20 hours, speaking a prolonged stream-of-consciousness nonsense that historians are still puzzling over today.

The Luciano Mafia carved up Schultz's Bronx-area rackets.

Related Links:

Newspaper clipping

Anastasia, Albert (1902-1957)

Born Tropea, Italy, Feb. 26, 1902.

Killed New York, NY, Oct. 25, 1957.

The Mafia's "Lord High Executioner" was born Umberto Anastasio in a Calabrian village called Tropea. The date of his birth is variously recorded as Feb. 26, 1902; Sept. 26, 1902; and 1903. As teenagers, he and his brothers worked on Atlantic steamships. They jumped ship in New York and entered the U.S. illegally.

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 him the nickname of "Lord High Executioner." Some also referred to him as "the Mad Hatter." Anastasia became a powerful leader on the Brooklyn waterfront, where brother Anthony "Tough Tony" was a leader in the longshoremen's union.

A devoted friend of underworld giants like Charlie Luciano, Frank Costello, Joe Adonis and Nicola Gentile, Anastasia had a long rivalry with Neapolitan underworld leader Vito Genovese and with some of the traditional Sicilian Mafiosi in Brooklyn.

Anastasia supported boss of bosses Giuseppe Masseria in the Castellammarese War of 1930-31. After the war, Anastasia emerged as the underboss in the Mangano Family. He also reportedly supervised a largely Jewish gang of Brooklyn killers used as Mafia enforcers. That gang became known as Murder, Inc.

Anastasia is believed to have approached the Mafia Commission asking to support Dutch Schultz by eliminating New York State Prosecutor Tom Dewey. Mob boss Joe Bonanno suggested that Luciano had Anastasia float that idea before the Commission, so Luciano himself would not be linked with it. The proposal was rejected and ultimately led to the murder of Schultz.

Dewey later hoped to use hitman-turned-state-witness Abe Reles' testimony to prosecute Anastasia as the official go-between for the Mafia hierarchy and Murder Inc. But Reles suddenly decided to step out of a high-rise hotel window, ending the state's case against Anastasia.

In 1951, with the Manganos suddenly gone (Philip was found murdered, and Vincent disappeared), Anastasia rose to the leadership of that crime family. As Anastasia reached the pinnacle of the Mafia underworld, an old rivalry with Vito Genovese turned deadly. Anastasia was shot to death Oct. 25, 1957, as he sat in a barber's chair in the Park Sheraton hotel lobby. The killing appeared to be part of a effort by Genovese to eliminate the Costello-Anastasia influence in the underworld (Costello was shot in the head - but survived - just a few months earlier and turned control of his organization over to Genovese).

However, the assassination might have been the result of Anastasia's recent moves to establish a gambling/narcotics empire in Cuba outside of the influence of usual Mafia-Cuba go-betweens Meyer Lansky and Santo Trafficante. Anastasia had made a recent trip to Havana and later scheduled a meeting with representatives of Cuban gaming interests in New York. Carlo Gambino, who succeeded Anastasia as boss, Genovese, Lansky and Trafficante all had motives to do away with Anastasia and could have cooperated on the assassination.

Addresses used by Anastasia:

387 Columbia Street, Brooklyn, NY
151 Sackett Street, Brooklyn, NY
636 Arthur Street, Utica, NY
1146 73rd Street, New York, NY
75 Bluff Road, Palisades (Fort Lee), NJ

Criminal record of Anastasia (according to FBI files):

1921 Mar 17 - charged in Brooklyn with homicide, convicted, sentenced to electrocution on July 3, 1921, retrial later ordered, acquitted Aug. 21, 1922.
1922 - charged with homicide, indictment later dismissed.
1923 Apr 06 - charged in Brooklyn with felonious assault, discharged on April 24, 1923.
1923 Jun 06 - charged in Brooklyn with possession of a firearm, convicted, sentenced to two years at Blackwell's Island Penitentiary.
1928 - arrested for homicide, not prosecuted.
1932 - arrested for homicide, not prosecuted.
1933 - charged with homicide, not convicted.
1941 - Kings County district attorney assembles murder case related to the May 1939 killing of Morris Diamond, but abandons it after the November 1941 death of turncoat witness Abe Reles.
1942 Jan 21 - arrested for harboring, not prosecuted.
1954 Apr 14 - stripped of citizenship acquired through military service, reversed on appeal.
1954 Mar - indicted by federal grand jury for income tax evasion, mistrial in Florida declared Nov. 21, 1954, retrial in Camden, NJ, results in guilty plea and a June 3, 1955 sentence of a year in federal penitentiary.
1956 Mar 28 - released from Milan, Michigan, federal penitentiary.