Mr. Lucky
A man famously known for being in the Italian Mafia is Salvatore Lucania; now known as Lucky Luciano. He was born into a middle class family in Italy, but moved to New York City when he was nine. Like the various other infamous gangsters, Luciano was involved at a young age with gangs. In his early twenties, Lucky partnered with Meyer Lansky and became involved in bootlegging. Most bootleggers had to do their business through small boats, but due to Lansky and Luciano’s connections they were able to dock their large ships in the New York harbor.
Unlike Al Capone, Luciano wanted to spend more time doing business than killing. In order to do this however he had to get rid of a few leaders. There was a feud between two Italian mobs: Masseria (whose mob Luciano was with) and Maranzano. Luciano found that business was declining due to this feud, so he told Maranzano that he would get rid of his boss for him if he could keep his fortune. Maranzano agreed and Luciano arranged for Masseria to eat lead at one of their dinners. Sure enough Masseria was killed and Luciano took control of the mob while Maranzano gained a significant amount of bootlegging territory. Maranzano underestimated Luciano and now saw that Luciano was becoming just as powerful as Masseria was; however, he realized this far too late. Lansky and his gunmen who dressed up as police officers killed Maranzano. Luciano was now in control.
Unlike Al Capone, Luciano wanted to spend more time doing business than killing. In order to do this however he had to get rid of a few leaders. There was a feud between two Italian mobs: Masseria (whose mob Luciano was with) and Maranzano. Luciano found that business was declining due to this feud, so he told Maranzano that he would get rid of his boss for him if he could keep his fortune. Maranzano agreed and Luciano arranged for Masseria to eat lead at one of their dinners. Sure enough Masseria was killed and Luciano took control of the mob while Maranzano gained a significant amount of bootlegging territory. Maranzano underestimated Luciano and now saw that Luciano was becoming just as powerful as Masseria was; however, he realized this far too late. Lansky and his gunmen who dressed up as police officers killed Maranzano. Luciano was now in control.
“The FBI describes Luciano's ascendancy as the watershed event in the history of organized crime…He modernized the Mafia, shaping it into a smoothly run national crime syndicate focused on the bottom line…[the Mafia] controlled bootlegging, numbers, narcotics, prostitution, the waterfront, the unions, food marts, bakeries and the garment trade, their influence and tentacles ever expanding, infiltrating and corrupting legitimate business, politics and law enforcement” (Buchanan). Luciano wanted to reorganize this Mafia known as Cosa Nostra and that’s exactly what he did.
Luciano was living an extravagant, flamboyant lifestyle by this point. He always had a woman at his side and became friends with various celebrities such as Frank Sinatra and George Raft. His leisure ended in 1935 when Thomas Dewey became the prosecutor for New York City. He aimed to have Luciano in prison in order to end the organized crime in the city. He succeeded and Luciano was sentenced to 30-50 years in prison in June of 1936; however, he was lucky. When World War II started, German U-boats began sinking dozens of U.S. merchant ships off the coast. Desperate for help, the government contacted Lansky, for he was “known in the 30s for breaking heads at pro-Nazi meetings” (Buchanan). Lansky quickly visited Luciano in prison and asked for his assistance. Luciano had Lansky contact his men in various cities and before long they “became the eyes and ears of the naval intelligence” (Buchanan).
Because of his war efforts, Luciano’s lawyer and the law reached an agreement that called for Lucky’s deportation to Italy, for he had never become a citizen. Lucky died January 26, 1962, of natural causes, but apparently officials were planning to arrest him for a $150 million heroin group. When asked if he would do it all again, Lucky replied, "I'd do it legal. I learned too late that you need just as good a brain to make a crooked million as an honest million. These days you apply for a license to steal from the public. If I had my time again, I'd make sure I got that license first" (Buchanan).
Luciano was living an extravagant, flamboyant lifestyle by this point. He always had a woman at his side and became friends with various celebrities such as Frank Sinatra and George Raft. His leisure ended in 1935 when Thomas Dewey became the prosecutor for New York City. He aimed to have Luciano in prison in order to end the organized crime in the city. He succeeded and Luciano was sentenced to 30-50 years in prison in June of 1936; however, he was lucky. When World War II started, German U-boats began sinking dozens of U.S. merchant ships off the coast. Desperate for help, the government contacted Lansky, for he was “known in the 30s for breaking heads at pro-Nazi meetings” (Buchanan). Lansky quickly visited Luciano in prison and asked for his assistance. Luciano had Lansky contact his men in various cities and before long they “became the eyes and ears of the naval intelligence” (Buchanan).
Because of his war efforts, Luciano’s lawyer and the law reached an agreement that called for Lucky’s deportation to Italy, for he had never become a citizen. Lucky died January 26, 1962, of natural causes, but apparently officials were planning to arrest him for a $150 million heroin group. When asked if he would do it all again, Lucky replied, "I'd do it legal. I learned too late that you need just as good a brain to make a crooked million as an honest million. These days you apply for a license to steal from the public. If I had my time again, I'd make sure I got that license first" (Buchanan).