Charles Luciano
Charles "Lucky" Luciano ( ; ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian gangster who operated mainly in the United States. He started his criminal career in the Five Points Gang and was instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate. Luciano is considered the father of the Italian-American Mafia for the establishment of The Commission (mafia), the Commission in 1931, after he abolished the Capo dei capi, boss of bosses title held by Salvatore Maranzano following the Castellammarese War. He was also the first official Crime boss, boss of the modern Genovese crime family. In 1936, Luciano was tried and convicted for compulsory prostitution and running a prostitution racketeering, racket after years of investigation by District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey. Although he was sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison, an agreement was struck with the U.S. Department of the Navy through his Jewish Mob associate, Meyer Lansky, to provide na ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lercara Friddi
Lercara Friddi is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italy, Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo. Geography Lercara Friddi rises almost at the foot of Colle Madore and its Sican archeological site, between the Landro valley and the valley of Fiumetorto and Platani. Archeological discoveries showed that this Colle and the valley have been inhabited since the 11th century BC, first inhabited by the sicani, Sican people. It is located on the Palermo – Agrigento route, at a height of 670 metres above sea level. Lercara Friddi was home to many Sulfur mining in Sicily, sulfur mines. When they closed in the 1950s many of the miners immigrated to Belgium, to work in the coal mines. History It was founded in 1583, as part of the new cities established by the Spanish administration of King Philip II of Spain to repopulate the abandoned feudaries, and was granted a licentia populandi on September 22, 1595, though people had lived ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National Library Service For The Blind And Physically Handicapped
The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) is a free library program of braille and audio materials such as books and magazines circulated to eligible borrowers in the United States and American citizens living abroad by postage-free mail and online download. The program is sponsored by the Library of Congress. People may be eligible if they are blind, have a visual disability that prevents them from reading normal print, or a physical disability that keeps them from holding a book. Library materials are distributed to regional and subregional libraries and then circulated to eligible patrons. In total there are 55 regional libraries, 32 subregional libraries, and 14 advisory and outreach centers serving the United States and its territories: the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. History The NLS was established by an act of Congress called the Pratt-Smoot Act and began operation on July 1, 1931. The program was amended ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jewish Mob
Jewish-American organized crime initially emerged within the American Jewish community during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In media and popular culture, it has variously been referred to as the Jewish Mob, the Jewish Mafia, the Kosher Mob, the Kosher Mafia, the Yiddish Connection, and Kosher Nostra"Forgetting sixth commandment: Jewish gangsters were once known in organized crime circles as the 'Kosher Nostra'" , ''The Jewish Independent'', September 19, 2008 or Undzer Shtik (). The last two of these terms are direct references to the [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Thomas E
Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (other) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Apostle * Thomas (bishop of the East Angles) (fl. 640s–650s), medieval Bishop of the East Angles * Thomas (Archdeacon of Barnstaple) (fl. 1203), Archdeacon of Barnstaple * Thomas, Count of Perche (1195–1217), Count of Perche * Thomas (bishop of Finland) (1248), first known Bishop of Finland * Thomas, Earl of Mar (1330–1377), 14th-century Earl, Aberdeen, Scotland Geography Places in the United States * Thomas, Idaho * Thomas, Illinois * Thomas, Oklahoma * Thomas, Oregon * Thomas, South Dakota * Thomas, Virginia * Thomas, Washington * Thomas, West Virginia * Thomas County (other) * Thomas Township (other) Elsewhere * Thomas Glacier (Greenland) Arts and entertainment *Thomas (Burton novel), ''Thomas'' (Burton novel) ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Racketeering
Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. The term "racketeering" was coined by the Employers' Association of Greater Chicago, Employers' Association of Chicago in June 1927 in a statement about the influence of organized crime in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Teamsters Union.David Witwer, "'The Most Racketeer-Ridden Union in America': The Problem of Corruption in the Teamsters Union During the 1930s", in ''Corrupt Histories'', Emmanuel Kreike and William Chester Jordan, eds., University of Rochester Press, 2004. Specifically, a racket was defined by this coinage as being a service that calls forth its own demand, and would not have been needed otherwise. Narrowly, it means coercion, coercive or fraud, fraudulent business practices; broadly, it can mean any criminal ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Compulsory Prostitution
Forced prostitution, also known as involuntary prostitution or compulsory prostitution, is prostitution or sexual slavery that takes place as a result of coercion by a third party. The terms "forced prostitution" or "enforced prostitution" appear in international and humanitarian conventions, such as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, but have been inconsistently applied. "Forced prostitution" refers to conditions of control over a person who is coerced by another to engage in sexual activity. Legal situation Forced prostitution is illegal under customary law in all countries. This is different from voluntary prostitution which may have a different legal status in different countries, which range from being fully illegal and punishable by death to being legal and regulated as an occupation. While the legality of adult prostitution varies between jurisdictions, the prostitution of children is illegal nearly everywhere in the world. In 1949, the UN General As ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Crime Boss
A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, mafia don, mob boss, kingpin, or godfather is the leader of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss has absolute or nearly absolute control over the other members of the organization and is often greatly feared or respected for being willing to use criminal means to exert their influence and gain profits from the criminal endeavors in which the organization engages.Manning, George A. ''iarchive:financialinvesti0002mann, Financial Investigation and Forensic Accounting.'' Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, 2005. Some groups may only have as little as two ranks (a crime boss and their soldiers). Other groups have a more complex, structured organization with many ranks, and structure may vary with cultural background. Organized crime enterprises originating in Sicily differ in structure from those in mainland Italy. American groups may be structured differently from their European counterparts and Latino and African American gangs oft ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Castellammarese War
The Castellammarese War () was a bloody power struggle for control of the American Mafia between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano that took place in New York City from February 26, 1930, until April 15, 1931. The feud was named after the Sicilian town of Castellammare del Golfo, Maranzano's birthplace. Maranzano's faction prevailed in the conflict and divided New York's crime families into the Five Families; Maranzano declared himself '' capo di tutti i capi'' ("boss of all bosses"). However, Maranzano was murdered in September 1931 on orders of Lucky Luciano, who established a power-sharing arrangement through a governing body called the Commission, giving equal stature to all Mafia families to avoid such feuds in the future. Background In the 1920s, Mafia operations in the United States were controlled by Giuseppe "Joe The Boss" Masseria, whose faction consisted mainly of gangsters from Sicily, Calabria (the 'Ndrangheta) and Campania (the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano (; July 31, 1886 – September 10, 1931), nicknamed Little Caesar, was an Italian-American mobster from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss who led what later would become the Bonanno crime family in New York City. He instigated the Castellammarese War in 1930 to seize control of the American Mafia, winning the war after the murder of rival faction head Joe Masseria in April 1931. He then briefly became the Mafia's '' capo di tutti capi'' ("boss of all bosses") and formed the Five Families in New York City but was murdered on September 10, 1931, on the orders of Charles "Lucky" Luciano, who established the Commission, in which families shared power to prevent future turf wars. Life and career Early years Salvatore Maranzano was the youngest of 12 children born to Domenico Maranzano and Antonina Pisciotta. Five of his siblings lived to adulthood: Mariano, Angelo, Nicolo, Giuseppe, and Angela. As a youngster, Maranz ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Capo Dei Capi
''Capo dei capi'' (; "boss of hebosses"), ''capo di tutti i capi'' (; "boss of all hebosses") or Godfather () are terms used mainly by the media, public, fiction writers and law enforcement community to indicate a supremely powerful crime boss in the Sicilian or American Mafia who holds great influence over the whole organization. The term was introduced to the U.S. public by the Kefauver Commission in 1950.De Stefano, ''An Offer We Can't Refuse'', p. 41 Sicilian Mafia 200px, Mugshot of Matteo Messina Denaro taken after his arrest in 2023 In the Sicilian Mafia, the position does not exist. For instance, the old-style Mafia boss Calogero Vizzini was often portrayed in the media as the "boss of bosses" – although such a position does not exist according to later Mafia '' pentiti'', such as Tommaso Buscetta. They also denied Vizzini ever was the ruling boss of the Mafia in Sicily. According to Mafia historian Salvatore Lupo "the emphasis of the media on the definitio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Commission (mafia)
The Commission is the governing body of the American Mafia, formed in 1931 by Charles "Lucky" Luciano following the Castellammarese War. Capeci, Jerry. ''The complete idiot's guide to the Mafia'"The Mafia's Commission" (pp. 31–46)/ref> The Commission replaced the title of '' capo di tutti i capi'' ("boss of all bosses"), held by Salvatore Maranzano before his murder, with a ruling committee that consists of the bosses of the Five Families of New York City, as well as the bosses of the Chicago Outfit and, at various times, the leaders of other families, such as New England, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Detroit, and others. The purpose of the Commission was to oversee all Mafia activities in the United States and serve to mediate conflicts among families. Throughout the history of the Commission, the body has been involved in several incidents including the Apalachin meeting in 1957, a plot to kill several members of the Commission in 1963, and the Mafia Commission Trial in 1985. His ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Italian-American Mafia
The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian-American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian-American criminal society and organized crime group. The terms Italian Mafia and Italian Mob apply to these US-based organizations, as well as the separate yet related Sicilian Mafia or other organized crime groups in Italy, or ethnic Italian crime groups in other countries. These organizations are often referred to by its members as Cosa Nostra (, "Our Thing" or "This Thing of Ours") and by the American government as La Cosa Nostra (LCN). The organization's name is derived from the original ''Mafia'' or ''Cosa Nostra'', the Sicilian Mafia, with "American Mafia" originally referring simply to Mafia groups from Sicily operating in the United States. The Mafia in the United States emerged in impoverished Italian immigrant neighborhoods in New York's East Harlem (or " Italian Harlem"), the Lower East Side, and Brooklyn; also emerging in o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |