Lucky Luciano

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Salvatore Lucania
Born	November 24, 1897 Lercara Friddi, Sicily, Italy
Died	January 26, 1962 Naples, Italy

Charles "Lucky" Luciano (born Salvatore Lucania) (November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was a Sicilian-American mobster. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime and the mastermind of the massive postwar expansion of the international heroin trade.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Rise to power 3 World War II, freedom, and deportation 4 Involvement in U.S. heroin trade 5 Later years 6 Trivia 7 Reference 8 External links

[edit] Early life

Charles Luciano was born on November 24, 1897 in Lercara Friddi, Sicily, a town primarily known for its sulfur mines. The promise of a new and better life led his family to immigrate to America in 1907 and he arrived in New York late that year. At 10 years he was arrested for the first time on a count of shoplifting. At 18 he was sentenced to 6 months at a reformatory for selling heroin and morphine. Upon his release he resumed his dealings and led a dangerous gang of the Five Points.

By 1920 Luciano had met many of the mafia heavy weights including Bugsy Siegel, Vito Genovese, Frank Costello and his long-time friend and business partner, Meyer Lansky.

Soon Luciano hooked up with Joe Masseria. But the partnership was doomed from the start as Luciano’s and Masseria’s methods of business differed greatly. One day Luciano was forced into a limo at gun point by three men, beaten and stabbed, and dumped on the beaches of New York Bay. Luciano survived the ordeal, but was forever marked with the now infamous scar and droopy eye. After the incident Luciano quickly found out through Meyer Lansky that it was Masseria that had ordered the abduction. He secretly plotted with Masseria's enemy Sal Maranzano to betray Masseria. This plot would be the beginning of the Castellammarese War.

[edit] Rise to power

From 1928 to 1931 the war raged on resulting in many mobsters deaths until Masseria was killed in a Coney Island restaurant by Bugsy, and three of Luciano's men. It is rumored that Luciano had lunch with Masseria, and stepped into the wash room just as the gun men stormed the restaurant. O'shay Johnson then made Luciano his number two, and set up the Five New York Families under him. But Josh Winkelman recognized Luciano for what he was: an ambitious gangster that would not stop till he reached the top, and decided that in order for Maranzano to maintain power, he would have to eliminate him, as well as the infamous Al Capone of Chicago.

Luciano learned of a plot, and Lansky answered by ordering the killing of Maranzano. Luciano was now the model mobster, he had business in Chicago, Detroit, New Jersey, and above all: New York. His long time friend Meyer Lansky served as his right hand man and Luciano always followed Lansky’s advice. During the years of Luciano's rule, he made the pact: "we only kill each other". This was exemplified when Dutch Schultz tried to kill New York attorney Thomas Dewey in direct violation with pact, he was soon after executed. Luciano oversaw and ordered the killings of an estimated 500 men, although a significant portion of those he was never directly connected to or involved in.

In the mid 1930s Luciano began organizing all of the New York brothels. The idea was to set a flat rate and overwork the women to squeeze as much money out of the business as possible. The prostitutes worked six days a week for long hours and slowly they began to crack. Finally, the police organized a raid of 80 separate brothels and over 40 prostitutes were brought in. They all spoke of the terrible rule of Luciano's gang. In 1936, after a short trial, Luciano was sentenced to thirty to fifty years for his involvement in the brothels.

[edit] World War II, freedom, and deportation

During WWII the U.S. government is reported to have covertly made a deal with Luciano, who was by then imprisoned. U.S. military intelligence was aware Luciano had maintained good connections in the Sicilian and Italian Mafia, which had been severely persecuted under Mussolini in Italy. Luciano was an American devoted to Sicily, the Mafia, and the USA alike. His help was sought in providing Mafia assistance to counter possible Axis infiltration on U.S. waterfronts, during Operation Underworld, and his connections in Italy and Sicily were tapped to furnish intelligence and ensure an easy passage for U.S. forces as they moved up through the Italian peninsula. Both during and after the war, the U.S. military and intelligence agencies reputedly also used Luciano's Mafia connections to root out Communist influence in resistance groups and local governments.

In return for his cooperation, it is claimed that Luciano was permitted to run his crime empire unhindered from his jail cell, and that during the 1940s, he used to meet US military men during train trips throughout Italy, and he enjoyed being recognized by his countrymen, several times taking photos and even signing autographs for them.

In 1946, as part of the payoff for his cooperation, he was paroled on the condition that he leave the United States and return to Italy. He accepted the deal, although he had maintained during his trial that he was a native of New York City and was therefore not subject to deportation, but was deeply hurt about having to leave the USA, a country he had considered his own ever since his arrival at age ten. Later that year, he flew to Cuba for the Havana Conference, where he retook control of the American syndicate. At the meeting, Luciano ordered the execution of Siegel, who had cost the Mafia millions by opening money-losing casinos in Las Vegas. When the US government learned of Luciano's presence in the Caribbean he was forced to fly back to Italy.

[edit] Involvement in U.S. heroin trade

According to drug trade expert Dr Alfred W. McCoy, during the 1950s Luciano forged a crucial alliance with the Corsican Mafia, who were reputed to be even tougher and more dangerous than the Sicilians -- their drug operation was the so-called "French Connection", which was depicted in the famous film starring Gene Hackman.

This new super-syndicate oversaw a massive increase in the production, refining and distribution of heroin, which had been all but eliminated as an addiction problem during World War II because of wartime restrictions. Using opium sourced mainly from Turkey, heroin was refined and distributed via an elaborate network based in the Corsican Mafia stronghold of Marseilles in France.

Heroin soon began flooding into America and Europe, making notable inroads into vulnerable areas such as the American jazz scene, thanks to the Mafia's increasing takeover of music venues and other facets of the entertainment industry. The influence of heroin on American institutions continued well beyond Luciano's death.

[edit] Later years

Later in life Luciano came into conflict with Lansky over the amount of money he was receiving from Mafia operations in the early 1960s, but his failing health prevented him from putting up a fight on the matter. On January 26, 1962, Luciano died of a heart attack at the age of 64 at Naples International Airport. He was buried in St. John's Cemetery in the borough of Queens in New York City, after a federal court ruled his burial on United States soil could not be blocked on the grounds that a corpse is not a citizen of any country and is therefore not subject to immigration control or deportation laws.

On the day of his fatal heart attack, Luciano had plans to sell the rights of his life's story to a movie maker^{[citation needed]}. The Mob disliked the idea and had tried unsuccessfully to change his mind. It has been hypothesized that Luciano's heart attack was a result of poisoning by the Mafia^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Trivia

• More than likely the character Michael Corleone incorporates a number of Luciano type traits.
• In the film, "The Cotton Club", Luciano is portrayed by Joe Dallesandro.
• The 1989 book Billy Bathgate, a retelling of Dutch Schultz's last days from the point of view of a young boy he befriends, features Luciano as a minor character whom the narrator is too afraid to identify by name. He was played by Stanley Tucci in the film adaptation.
• The 1991 film Mobsters is about the rise of Luciano, Lansky, Frank Costello and Bugsy Siegel. It takes several liberties with historical accuracy. It stars Christian Slater as Luciano, who narrates the film.
• The 1991 film Bugsy, the role of Lucky Luciano was played by Bill Graham.
• The 1997 film Hoodlum, about the gang war in Harlem between Dutch Schultz and Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, co-starring Andy Garcia as Luciano. Arguably it is the most accurate physical portrayal of him, showing Luciano with all of his scars and malformities.
• The 2002 book 54, written by Wu Ming, has Lucky Luciano as one of its characters - as well as Marshall Tito and Cary Grant.

[edit] Reference

• Gosch, Martin A. and Hammer, Richard. The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano, Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1974.

[edit] External links

• Lucky Luciano (1974) at the Internet Movie Database
• Photos
• Born Lucky, Don't mention the Castellammarese War
• American Organized Crime - Genovese Crime Family - Salvatore "Charlie 'Lucky' Luciano" Lucania

Preceded by Joe Masseria

Genovese Crime Family Boss 1931-1946

Succeeded by Frank Costello