The Gambino Crime Family
Organized Crime CJA/393
William Nelson Barnes
May 30, 2008
The Gambino Crime Family Criminal groups exist everywhere. However what defines each organized crime group depends upon what ultimate goal each group looks to achieve. In New York City, there has been organized crime in existence since the 1900’s. Although changing names, and rulers throughout the years, this group has always been known as the mafia. Predominantly, it has been known as the Italian mafia. Italian mafia just like it’s counterparts in the Irish and Jewish mafia underwent structural, social, and physical changes in order for it to reach its current status. Many people believe it has existed as long as it has due to the ingenious
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Capos are usually in charge of different sections of the family. The sections are defined by the geographies of the family or by the specialized racket the capo normally operates. A racket is “a fraudulent scheme, enterprise, or activity” (Webster, 2007). Gambino employed Lucky Luciano and Frank Costello as his capos. Following suit are the “soldiers” (Grabianowski, 2007) of the family. The soldiers are the ones who do the dirty work for the family. They hold little power and make very little money. Names such as John Gotti, Sammy Gravano, and Angelo Ruggierio all fell into the ranks of soldiers before they made into capos. In continuing the line of command, the next group of gangsters is called “associates” (Grabianowski, 2007). An associate is someone who is not actually part of the family, but they actually work with the family on various criminal enterprises. A “consigliere” (Grabianowski, 2007) is someone who is not supposed to be part of the family as well as elected by the family and not appointed by the boss. He acts as an advisor to the under boss and is supposed to make impartial decisions based upon fairness rather than personal feelings or vendettas. However this is not always the reality. A lot of times the consigliere is appointed and is not impartial on decisions. The operations of the Gambino family have become widespread over the years. What once relied heavily upon the docks and ports of New York and
Gotti implied through the FBI recordings that at you maybe killed for disagreeing with him or you can get killed for just failing to come when he calls. These tapes recorded Gotti communicating information to his top aide such as, “Anytime you have a partner who dose not agree with us, we kill him”. Or when he said “He's gonna die because he refused to come in when I called". The environment in which Gotti and the Gambino crime family operated, was observed by criminal investigators during recordings. The headquarters in Manhattan, the Ravenite Social Club in Little Italy, New York City. This area is known for its large population of Italian Americans. The Gambino crime family used the club as their headquarters, which made it a prime
Out of the ten bosses there are only half were bosses for more than ten years. These guys were ruthless, with the exception of Paul Castellano, he did not “work” his way up the rankings, he was Gambino’s cousin as well as his brother in law (Gambino’s wife’s brother), which is why he became Boss of the Gambino Crime Family after Carlo Gambino became ill and died. Castellano was not involved in the family activities as much he was way more interested in the white collar crimes. Besides Castellano, the other bosses were willing to get “down and
In this paper it was asked of us as a team to give an in-depth historical analysis of an organized crime group. With this class being about organized crime one would think to write about mobsters, but we decided to think outside the box. Even though when thinking of organized crime the first thought is The Italian Mafia and groups of that sort, one has to remember that organized crime comes in many different forms of organizations. From this class we were able to understand more on organized crime and who can be classified as an organized crime organization. Organizations that one would never really think of as having ties to organized crime may have some
Despite the power they were able to achieve by associating with influential politicians, members of the old Mafia didn’t live a lavish lifestyle. While the capomafioso, Don Calò, did possess a significant amount of money, profiting off of their behavior was
Organized crime in the United States keeps the FBI and other law enforcement agencies in a never-ending investigation of criminals suspected of the infiltration of legitimate businesses. A notorious twentieth century organized group was the New England Patriarca Mafia, or N.E.P.M.. Originating in 1915, the N.E.P.M. evolved over the early twentieth century decades, until 1954 when Raymond Loredo Salvatore Patriarca was donned as boss* and promptly began to expand its power. Due to mafia-related language that will be present throughout the paper, a page of definitions is supplied at the end of the paper. Defined words throughout the paper will be noted with an asterisk, “ * ”.
The Five families operate mostly in the State of New York and little through New Jersey. Mainly within five areas like Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, Staten Island and in Northern New Jersey. Since 1960’s the mafia has increased its influence in areas like Long Island and counties like Westchester and Albany. The Five families also have some control in other states like: Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Connecticut and South Florida. The Genovese family operates mostly in Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn and New Jersey and has many influence in other areas inside as well as outside the state. Each family has many crews, which manage every area that their family controls. The Gambino family operates mainly in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and New Jersey and has influence in some other areas around Manhattan and other states. The Bonanno family shares some of its areas with the Gambino family, mainly operates in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island. The Lucchese family controls areas like the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey. And finally the Colombo family operates only in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island. Many of these families have the same areas of influence, but they have very distinct borders of operations on the areas they share control. Today five families do not have as many members as around 5,000 20-30 years ago, today’s count is around 500-600 people in all five families. Four out five big bosses are either jailed or sentenced to life imprisonment. But
The Sicilian Cosa Nostra , is a companionship of organized-crime chemical group based in Italia and America, evolved over centuries in Sicily , an island ruled until the mid-19th one C by a long air of descent of foreign invader . Sicilian arrest ’s together in chemical group to protect themselves and carry out their own justness . In Sicily, the term “mafioso,” or Mafia member, initially had no criminal connotations and was used to refer to a person who was suspicious of central authority.
Mafia bosses often start out as street thugs. But over time, the ones who make it to the top transform their appearance. They take to wearing impeccably tailored suits and owning legitimate businesses.”
Although the Mafia is most associated with the Prohibition era of the 1920’s when it dominated crime in all major US cities, the true beginnings of the most infamous criminal organization started quite earlier. Beginning in the late 1800s, many Italians immigrated to New York City due to continued rumors of success in the area. This trend continued out of the 19th century and into the 20th as over 500,000 Italians immigrated to the United States (Sifakis). As Italian citizens migrated to the cities of the US, they brought along organized Italian criminals, who formed an organization known as Costra Nosa, translating to ‘our thing’, today we call it the Mafia.
This code states that all family-based activities are above all domestic family matters in the home, it enforces silence, a strike upon another member is like a strike on the boss himself. Violating any of these laws is punishable by death with no trial or remorse (Whizkid01 3). This one value is what kept Mafia families powerful and prosperous.
We may not see this group but the mafia was big back in the day. The mafia was the leading group in criminal activity in the 1960’s(Darity). The mafia was a group that would make tons and tons of money off of drugs, robberies and murders. They would sometimes pay off cops to look the other way and if they didn’t get what they wanted they would use their firearms. With stronger and more enforced laws, many lives could have been saved.
The Italian Mafia in the U.S. can trace its origins all the way back to the Sicilian Mafia which was founded in Sicily during the 1800’s (Italian Organized Crime). After thousands of years of different armies with different nationalities conquering Italy and exploiting its people, the Sicilians became to be more clannish and family focused. Originally they were just resistance fighters that were protecting their friends and family. They were relied on for protection, justice, and survival. Nobody cared if they got money from it because it came from the oppressive authorities. Members of these groups were known as “Men of Honor” and they were well respected and even admired because they looked out for their family and kept silent sometimes even unto death. They didn’t become an organized crime group until the 1920’s however (Italian Organized Crime). It was around this same time that the US began to see what later became La Cosa Nostra or “our thing,” better known as the American Mafia which was aided by the “thousands of Italian organized crime figures, mostly Sicilian Mafiosi” who came to the United States illegally (Italian Organized Crime). The modern American Mafia is credited to Charles “Lucky” Luciano who came over in the 1920’s (Italian Organized Crime). Luciano structured La Cosa Nostra just like their Sicilian
His name was on police records for running scams and he quickly rose to power by working with other mafia leaders in the country to build an empire and gain used his ties to other mafia leaders across the country to create a network of connections and to gain control in the American mafia organization. By 1910 D'Aquila was the official ringleader of his own New York–based Sicilian mafia group. In 1928 Salvatore was murdered by Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria murderer’s who was the boss of the Genovese family. Alfred “Al Mineo” Manfredi took over until he killed in the Castellammarese War in 1930. Then Frank Scalise became the new boss and remained in power for three years. Vincent Mangano stayed in power for twenty years until he was murdered and helped the family become more ruthless. Albert Anastasia was rumored to be responsible for Vincent Mangano’s death but denied it. However, he was named the new boss but his reign was short lived due to his murder in 1957. The Commission promoted Carlo Gambino as the new boss of the Anastasia family which turned into the Gambino crime family. Carlo Gambino is believed to have helped organize the hit to take over the
The American Mafia, an Italian-American sorted out wrongdoing system with operations in urban communities over the United States, especially New York and Chicago, rose to control through its accomplishment in the illegal alcohol exchange amid the 1920s Prohibition period. After Prohibition, the Mafia moved into other criminal endeavors, from medication trafficking to illicit betting, while additionally invading worker 's parties and honest to goodness organizations, for example, development and New York 's article of clothing industry. The
Organized crime is an issue that has existed for many years and continues to be on the rise especially with the technology that we have today. Well – known criminal organizations include; Italian Mafia, Russian Mobsters, Nuestra Familia, Mexican Mafia, The Hell’s Angels, The Bandidos, John Gotti, Al Capone, and so much more. One of the most famous criminal organizations are the Gambino Family in which John Gotti was said to be the “Godfather” of the family and was the most powerful criminal in America. That being said, this is just one group can you imagine how many others who operate in our neighborhoods and worldwide? These groups