Charles "Lucky" Luciano
Throughout the United States organized crime has been associated with the Italian gangster community, but Charles "Lucky" Luciano's ambition to create alliances with other ethinic groups gave him the power to establish a new order of mobsters. From his start as a teenager in America to the day he created his own criminal empire, Luciano drove to expand his power through personal relations and to create a higher standard for criminals to follow. Luciano was a powerful man who's dream was fulfilled when he became "Boss of Bosses (Rayleigh 1)."Throughout its history, organized crime has been presented to society as an organization. This organization, known as Cosa Nostra, is translated as "Our Thing," and goes back hundreds of years (Rayleigh 1). It was founded in Sicily to offer protection to the common people of that country from police, bandits, and even government agencies. Those in the Cosa Nostra were treated as folk heroes or saviors of the people (Gangsters: Then and Now ). The practice of keeping your mouth shut was the code and if you violated it, the wrath was swift and deadly not only to the culprit, but to his own family as well. When members of the Cosa Nostra arrived in the United States, they took shelter in
Luciano's wide spread criminal activities led to his being investigated by District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey. Dewey had gathered enough evidence to bring in Luciano on ninety counts of extortion and prostitution. He was eventually sentenced to thirty to fifty years (Olson 228). Luciano was considered to be a powerful society member with strong ties to Sicily and so 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 (Borwick 199). In January 1962 he went to the Naples airport where he died of a heart attack (Sabiona 7). Luciano's reing over the Cosa Nostra had finally come to a close. Luciano was standing one day on Six Avenue in New York when a limousine, with curtains drawn, rolled up beside him. Three men leaped from the vehicle and jabbed Luciano in the back with gun muzzles and forced him to the back of the limo (Olson 228). The men began to apply adhesive tape, and then thoroughly kicked, punched, and stabbed Charles. Luciano thought for sure he would die and felt himself get weaker and weaker until he lost all consciousness. Hours later he woke up on the beach, staring unbelieving at the waves rolling in from lower New York Bay (Borwick 199). Luciano had survived his long ride of torture. o action against political figures, prosecutors or reporters. Their principal was "we only kill each other," and it was never better illustrated than in the rubout of New York numbers king, Dutch Schultz. In 1935, Schultz had become the prime target of special prosecutor, Thomas E. Dewey, and he demanded that Murder, Inc., kill Dewey. After Luciano, Lansky, and Costello ruled this would not be possible, Dutch responded by claiming he would do it himself. Immediately, a new vote was taken between the three men, and the principle of law and order prevailed. Schultz got the death penalty (Gangsters: Then and Now, 1995). Murder, Inc. became a useful tool during Luciano's reign. Inc. 1998. .Though Luciano now had the control over the Coas Nostra, it was Lansky who opened up what was for a time the Syndicate's greatest source of income, gambling in Havana. He personally handled negotiations with the dictator Batista. Luciano was pleased with this money machine and never stepped on the toes of Meyer Lansky and listened to him intently (Gangsters: Then and Now, 1995). It was Meyer who had the brains of the outfit, but it was a group of remorseless hired killers who had the muscles to keep everything in order called Murder, Incorporated. The mob never had any disagreement with the justification of the death penalty and so decided it would be very businesslike to set up a special troop of killers that the syndicate could call on for rubouts. By doing this, they felt it would eliminate hostility and conflict of interest in killing each other's members (Sabiona 5). Under the rules, Murder, Inc., killed only for pressing business reasons, and was never to be brought int!
Some common words found in the essay are:
Cosa Nostra, Lucky Luciano's, Masseria Borwick, Lansky Luciano, Maranzano Olson, Friddi Sicily, Murder Inc, Meyer Lansky, November Olson, Dewey Dewey, cosa nostra, charles lucky, murder inc, organized crime, luciano charles lucky, olson 228, borwick 199, rayleigh 1, luciano charles, meyer lansky, unione siciliana, alliances ethinic power, luciano's ambition create, create alliances ethinic, ambition create alliances,
Approximate Word count = 2325
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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