Despite the fact that he was once named one of the 20 most influential people, titans of the 20th century, Charles Lucky Luciano (1897-1962) was a gangster. World leaders listened to his advice, but this does not negate the fact that he was a major authority on the underworld. In the end, he died in Italy as a deported criminal.
Charles Luciano: biography
Lucky was born in Sicily on November 24, 1897. The parents of Salvatore Lucania (real name Charlie Luciano), Antonio and Rosalia, transported their four children from Lercar Friddy to New York in 1906. His father, who worked in sulfur pits in Italy, hoped to find a better life for his family here. The boy attended high school number 19 and graduated from 6 classes. At the age of ten, he was arrested for shoplifting and released on bail of embarrassed parents. The arrest did not scare him, nor did he teach him a lesson. He was arrested several times for petty theft. By 1915, Luciano had become an inveterate bully of the Lower East Side of New York.
Born leader
Soon, Luciano put together a gang of cool Italian guys. He taught the guys racketeering, and they spent time collecting pennies from local Jewish boys who paid to not be beaten. One boy, Meyer Lansky, did not succumb to intimidation and instead ridiculed Italians. This bold challenge impressed Luciano. Lansky became his best friend, and subsequently friends were able to unite the Italian and Jewish gangs of the Lower East Side. Their friendship led to a successful criminal partnership that lasted until their death. Lansky eventually became the "architect" of Luciano's criminal empire in New York and around the world.
Charlie got a job as a courier in the delivery of hats to the Jewish master Max Goodman. The relatively successful Goodman showed Luciano an example of a middle-class lifestyle. But Luciano did not plan to work as hard as Goodman. He soon realized that if he hid drugs in ribbons on his hats, he could kill two birds with one stone. He also received one of the most valuable lessons in his life: how to make money in the rear of the legal "front". Soon, the drug dealer, Salvatore earned more money than ever before. For this, he even served time. After his release from the state penitentiary for juvenile delinquents, he changed his name. It seemed to him that his name Salvatore, or Sal, was feminine, so he became known as Charlie.
At first, Luciano and Lansky, along with friends Frank Costello and Benny “Bugsy” Siegel, were robbed to make ends meet. In the end, the ruthless inborn leadership style of each of them allowed them to rise to the top of their chosen "profession."
Prohibition era
The actions of the United States government gave Luciano an idea that lifted him to the top of the underworld. In 1919, the sale of alcohol was outlawed. It became clear that the demand for alcohol remained large, and the one who can deliver it will become a very rich person. By 1920, he and Lansky had already delivered alcohol to all of Manhattan's bars.
As Charlie's fame grew, the big local gangs of New York fought an implacable war. Charles Luciano, nicknamed Lucky, was 23 years old on an equal footing with the largest mafia family, led by Giuseppe Masseria, nicknamed Joe Boss. He continued to build his bootlegging empire and controlled the factories, distilleries, trucks, and warehouses used to sell illegal alcohol. His partners included Giuseppe Doto (Joe Adonis), Vexy Gordon, and Arnold Rothstein, who manipulated the results of the 1918 World Series.
Power struggle
Charles "Lucky" Luciano began to reconsider his alliance with Giuseppe Masseria, who, as he understood, was not the head of the strongest family (of the two main families). There are many different stories about the assassination attempt on Luciano, which became a problem for both bosses. Some of them narrate that the Irish gangsters beat him almost to death. According to other sources, it was the police or the federals who caught him with illegal alcohol, or the father of the girl who became pregnant from Luciano. Whoever it was, Charlie was brutally beaten, his face was cut with a knife, and he was thrown, as dead, into the river on Staten Island. After Charlie survived, he received the nickname Lucky, or Lucky.
The Italian criminal realized that the war must end and that he must lead all the gangs of New York. Luciano had to find a way for the two main bosses to kill each other, as the "soldiers" of the mafia on both sides of the barricades during the war died every day. In addition, the ongoing bloodshed between the gangs attracted more and more attention of the authorities and harmed his profitable business. Luciano got in touch with another boss, Salvatore Maranzano, and an agreement was reached to kill Masseria. Luciano met with him at a Coney Island restaurant to discuss plans to eliminate Maranzano. Masseria was delighted that his chief lieutenant came up with such a plan against his long-standing enemy. Charlie, excusing himself, used the rest room, and four men entered the restaurant: Bugsy Siegel, Al Anastasia, Vito Genovese and Joe Adonis. They shot Masseria. When Luciano left the restroom, the four men disappeared and the police could not show him anything.
Next on the list was Maranzana, who did not know that most of his henchmen were loyal to Lucky. They saw that Charles Luciano was the best businessman who would bring them more profit. Maranzana invited him to a meeting where he planned to kill him. Charlie did not appear, but four "tax officials" came. Maranzana had problems with taxes, so all four managed to get into the interior. By the time his personal bodyguards realized what was happening, Maranzana was already dead. They fled in fear, and Luciano’s path to the position of the most influential figure in the underworld, the New York “boss boss,” was open.
Leader of the leaders
Lucky Luciano introduced an effective system of "criminal families", appointing them the leaders of their loyal supporters. He wanted to clean up the organization. With the help of his longtime friend Meyer Lansky, Charlie created a “commission,” or Unione Siciliano. The entire Italian-American mafia in the 1930s was subordinate to this body, which consisted of a group of his Sicilian friends.
The highest criminal authorities were also popular public figures. Luciano was often seen in restaurants and theaters with well-known public figures, artists and other celebrities. Despite the fact that he was constantly with bodyguards, in fact he did not need them. Charles Luciano led organized crime, and no one dared to challenge his authority.
In the early 1930s, the "boss boss" enjoyed life. Under the name of Charles Ross, he lived in New York in a luxurious mansion called the Waldorf Towers, which was part of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Littering money, Luciano played the role of a wealthy businessman, wore custom-made suits and drove around in cars with a personal driver. But the good times were drawing to a close, since in 1935 special prosecutor Thomas Dewey was appointed to fight organized crime.
Prosecution
Law enforcement officials knew who was the main criminal figure in the United States. Lucky Lucky ended in 1936. The New York District Attorney Thomas Dewey indicted Lucky Luciano and eight other mafia members for organizing a brothel network. Despite the fact that he had once saved Dewey from a conspiracy to kill, this did not stop the prosecutor from persecution. Charles Luciano insisted that he was not involved in prostitution. Nevertheless, many witnesses testified against him, and the district attorney won the case. Luciano received from 30 to 50 years in prison - the longest term ever imposed for such an offense. He was imprisoned in Dannemore, the so-called Siberia of organized crime, since it was located on the outskirts of the United States, near the border with Canada. Luciano tried to appeal, but the court confirmed his sentence.
Deportation to Italy
Attempts to secure the liberation of the Mafia leader were unsuccessful until December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and Japan declared war on the United States. The naval forces were afraid of the attacks of submarines and needed the assistance of all the dockers to prevent them, especially after the explosion of the fashionable liner Normandy in the New York port. Since Charles Luciano, even in prison, retained full control of port unions, he was able to bargain for his freedom. In exchange for the help of the dockers, as well as the order of the Italian mafia to fight against Benito Mussolini Luciano promised parole. However, he had to agree to return to Italy and remain there until the end of his life. When he left prison in 1946, he was taken to Ellis Island and sent back to Italy. Despite the fact that he promised to return to his new homeland, this never happened.
Havana Conference
After a short stay in Italy, he secretly arrived in Cuba, where at the Havana Conference he met with his old associates, including Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel. Luciano tried to regain his influence by using the island nation as his base. But soon, the United States government found out about Lucky in Havana and put pressure on the Cuban authorities, threatening to block the supply of narcotic drugs to the country while the mafia leader was there.
Under control
On February 24, 1947, the Cuban government arrested Luciano and at 48 hours sent him on a Turkish cargo ship back to Italy, where he remained under close surveillance. According to some reports, he was involved in drug trafficking there. In early July 1949, the Rome police arrested him on suspicion of participating in a drug smuggling to New York. After a week in custody, he was released without charge, but was barred from visiting the Italian capital.
In June 1951, Naples police questioned Luciano on suspicion of smuggling into Italy 57 thousand US dollars in cash and a new American car. After a 20-hour interrogation, he was released without charge.
In November 1954, the Naples Law Commission imposed severe restrictions on Luciano for 2 years. Every Sunday he had to visit the police, spend the night at home, and without permission not to leave Naples.
Personal life
In 1929, Charles met the Broadway dancer Galina "Guy" Orlova. The couple was inseparable until his conclusion. Orlova later tried to come to Charlie in Italy, but she was denied entry. In early 1948, Luciano met the Italian dancer Igea Lissoni, who was 20 years younger than him, about whom he later said that she was the love of his life. The couple lived together in Naples, but Charlie continued to date with other women. In 1959, Lissoni died of breast cancer.
Death at the airport
Charles Luciano began to think about sharing the details of his life. By a strange coincidence, he died of a heart attack at Naples airport on January 26, 1962, where he was to meet with a film and television producer.
After hundreds of people gathered at his funeral in Naples, Luciano's body was sent to the United States. Lucky was buried in a family crypt at St. John's Cemetery in New York. After spending his whole life under the name of Charles Luciano, he rests near his parents under the name of Salvatore Lucania.