Sam served as the main operator and public face of their gang, and Rose as the discreet enforcer. Its modern organization dates to the beer wars of Prohibition and its most notorious leader, Al Capone. amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "search"; It turned out that the Maceos ran the largest illegal gambling operation in Texas. 2. Top five mobsters youve probably never heard of, This newspaper report about the death of Frank McErlane was published on November 6, 1932, in the, Ozark and upcoming Sylvester Stallone series draw attention to Missouri mobsters. He promptly got himself arrested for another alleged robbery and assault and battery, but got off. We found quite a few compelling stories about forgotten members of one-time syndicates, large and small, and picked a handful of the best. amzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = "Tony Accardo"; He started injecting himself with morphine to ease his nerves. amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "naticrimsynd-20"; T. It's widely known the Bears roster one of the worst lineups in the NFL. He setup the Commission to act as governing body for organized crime on a nationwide scale which took the mob to a new level, he also split New York into Five Families. While Anastasia denied involvement, it's believed he had both brothers killed on the same day. Frustrated Prohibition agents marveled at Netties scheming and driving ability. He was even added to the FBI's Most Wanted list in 1950. His wife had to wait years until he was officially declared dead. Nettie tried to bribe the truck driver not to testify. Roses shop stood on Murdocks Pier over the beach and gulf. Who are the most infamous Irish mobsters in UShistory? So it wasn't that surprising when he suddenly vanished. amzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = "lucky luciano"; Frank McErlane Upon his death from a torturous, four-day bout with pneumonia in 1932, Frank McErlane was described by Chicago Police as the "toughest gangster of them all." Looney is the inspiration for Paul Newman's character, John Rooney, in the Oscar-winning 2002 movie Road to Perdition. McGurn is widely suspected to have been involved in planning the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre, although this has never been proven. The roaring twenties in Chicago are famous throughout the world for two things: illicit alcohol and the mafia. In one account, police reported that Nettie helped a couple of drunken liquor thieves, who had veered off the road. The money was handed over to an anonymous guy in Boston who "[slipped] his hand through a hotel room door." They had their ride of success as criminals, came and went, and now exist only in imperfect, fast-written, snapshot news articles, official police and court documents, interviews and unreliable but entertaining gossip and hearsay. He stole a car (the fourth one he commandeered, after abandoning the first three for some reason) and was never seen again. amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; From 1906 until his death in 1992, he only spent one night in jail in a criminal career that spanned 8 incredible decades. amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "naticrimsynd-20"; A doorman was seriously injured. The recent death of former Chicago Mafia boss John "No Nose" DiFronzo has left many wondering who's the boss now.. amzn_assoc_rows = "1"; 1. Tommy Lucchese David Rudabaugh, AKA "Dirty Dave," was an outlaw in the American Old West. In the 1970s, Nicolo Rizzuto took over the Mafia in Montreal by killing another don, according to the CBC. He perisheddestitute in 1957, mere weeks after beginning a new sentence for bank robbery. He was also a civic leader in the Italian community, according to The Los Angeles Sugar Ring: Inside the World of Old Money, Bootleggers & Gambling Barons. & 3. amzn_assoc_rows = "1"; 1. amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; In 1922, his fortunes changed after Looney allegedly ended William Gabel, a man who had provided evidence against Looney to Prohibition agents. Gangsters Who Vanished And Were Never Found, According to the New England Historical Society, A history of Eastern State Penitentiary records. 20. Federal officers took him and Nettie to jail in the Foust raid. amzn_assoc_default_category = "All"; Vito rose to power during Prohibition as one of the mobs best enforcers and would later become leader of his own family, the Genovese Crime Family. Thought Catalog says he was shot in the head and his body loaded into the trunk of a car. In November 1924, O'Banion was slain while working in his flower shop. In 1958, he switched families and set up his old boss Genovese in a drug bust. He was well-trusted, even being placed in charge of operations when his boss had to flee to Europe in the 1930s, and he ordered more murders than possibly any other mobster. Now that the NFL Combine is underway, the upcoming draft is starting to garner more attention across the entire league. amzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = "frank costello"; He donated to charities and their church. When a man named Arnold Schuster did his civic duty and turned in a bank robber in 1952, American Mafia says Anastasia announced he hated squealers, and ordered Schuster killed. In 1924, he racked up still more arrests for alleged possession of illegal liquor, a jewelry robbery and assaulting a police officer. Anthony and Vic Fertitta, new owners of the venerable Balinese Room (and related to the Maceos via marriage), sold the club. His death was ruled a suicide. Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti was one of Al Capone's top henchmen during his reign over the Chicago Mafia. Santo Trafficante Jr Lucky also offered to help in the war effort during World War II by using his criminal connections in Italy to advance the Allies cause. In 1926, a federal court convicted him of robbery and conspiracy in the Standard Distillery raid and, after a long trial, sentenced him to two years in prison. 3. Despite nearly being killed in a 1957 power move attempt by Vito Genovese, Frank always preferred to swap the gun for a handshake in many of his business dealings. It was a classic Hollywood-style gangster attack. The Outfit would terrorize other policy racketeers, ousting the Italian-American Benvenuti brothers Julius, Caesar and Leo after bombing their homes. Renda married Rizzuto's daughter and got heavily involved in the family business, including handling the finances. Though he fled, first to Canada and then New Mexico, Looney was eventually apprehended, and was convicted of Gabel's demise, as well as "conspiracy to protect gambling, prostitution and illicit liquor traffic." The abode sported an ornate interior, cactus garden, talking parrots, a modern electrical alarm system and staff of armed guards. As equal partners in one of the 16 or 17 big numbers rackets in the South Side, Roe, Edward P. Jones and three other partners netted $4.9 million from 1945 to 1950, employing 70 people plus 300 bet writers on commission. Now, an FBI record obtained tonight by the I-Team may come as a surprise to those who knew Jimmy "The I" Inendino. Being investigated by the Senate is never a good sign. McErlane met his end on October 8, 1932 after falling ill with pneumonia. But there's a grave in Illinois reputed to be his, that claims he died in 1951. McErlane abandoned his vehicle and made his way out of town. Once, in an argument with his wife Marion, she shot him in the leg, causing a fracture. But the men returned and quietly fired several shots into his head as he slept. In critical condition at a hospital, Duffy survived. On April 8, 1962, Strollo left his home, telling his wife he would only be gone a few minutes. amzn_assoc_rows = "1"; 1. McGrath was a union guy and worked as an organizer for the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) along the Hell's Kitchen waterfront. Frank had many connections in the political arena which helped his influence in the underworld. According to the Illinois Crime Survey, Frank McErlane was "the most brutal gunman who ever pulled a trigger in Chicago." They also held the gang responsible for a robbery at the Gwynnbrook booze plant in Baltimore and the Foust Sons Distillery in Glen Rock, Pennsylvania. CHICAGO (WLS) -- The most notorious hoodlum in Chicago history died on Jan. 25, 1947, and while the criminal organization Al Capone built remains a powerhouse 75 years later, more than a few. Uptown. Mafia guys get nicknames, and Anthony Strollo's was the fabulous "Tony Bender." 2. The automobile was then smooshed in a crusher, and finally "melted down in an open furnace,"with Squillante's body still inside. amzn_assoc_title = "Related Products"; Disaster struck in 1937 when narcotics investigators claimed Sam had joined a $10 million national heroin-smuggling syndicate that imported the drug in ocean liners to New York and trafficked it in New Orleans, Waco, Houston and San Antonio. He liked his money and power, and if his boss fell, he risked losing it all. amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "search"; The misdeed started a gruesome five-year Chicago turfwar that culminated in the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre of1929. McErlane proved himself a merciless killer during the Outfits beer wars, slaying three members of a rival liquor gang run by Edward Spike ODonnell. The trust maintained a pool of savvy lawyers to represent the gangsters in court, a crew of experienced rumrunners and a fleet of vehicles to transport pinched legal whiskey. In 1960, Squillante was indicted on extortion charges. According to the New England Historical Society, Danny Walsh was making $5 a day when alcohol was outlawed in America. One of his underlings agreed, saying in A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno that Mangano thought it was his responsibility to guide his "sons" in the correct way of doing things, so the mob didn't lose its traditions. 2. Chin derived from his mothers use of the Italian pronunciation of his given name, Vincenzo. On the last days of his life in summer 1931, Duffy told police of seeing strangers hanging around his property. Though it's never been proven, their cow was supposedly the arsonist responsible. amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; More Stories . amzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = "Meyer Lansky"; In a gun battle with Roe and a bodyguard, Leonard Fat Lenny Caifano, a higher-up in the syndicate, was shot through the head and killed and another gunman wounded. McGrath eventually retired to Floridain 1959. George and Nettie were arrested and among 10 gang members indicted in the robbery. The cops busted him, but Perri swore he was just in the area and had nothing to do with it. Newspapers of the time estimated Capones operations generated $100 million in revenue annually. He restructured the Mafia after planning the assassinations of Sal Maranzano and Joe Masseria, bosses of the mustache Pete era of the Mafia. That year, he opened his own cabaret and dance cafe, the Club Cadix, in a chic part of downtown Philly. He wanted to muscle in on other gang's bootlegging operations, and they wanted to take over his. The charges were eventually dropped. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Italian immigrants followed the movement for jobs as unskilled laborers, in construction, and as . The Shapiro Brothers vs Murder Incorporated. Newspapers referred to him as the Night Club King., In 1934, Sam told an interviewer: We break the law, but in a way that people like. By then the couple had been living in the lap of luxury, from his bootlegging sales, in top-flight hotel suites and an expensive modernist home in the tony blue blood Philadelphia suburb of Overbrook. During his reign he never had an attempt made on his life. The character was originally named "John Looney" in Max Allan Collins's graphic novel of the same name. After serving in the Army during World War I, the 30-year-old Sam returned to Galveston, where he and Rose (age 33) served as barbers, but strained to make a living at only 25 cents a cut. McErlane somehow avoided death while the object of a dozen shootings. Shortly before 11 p.m. on August 4, 1952, Theodore Teddy Roe, numbers gambling boss of Chicagos South Side, was about to enter his car outside his Michigan Avenue apartment when someone yelled his name. He stopped for gas and went to a restaurant, where he was seen by numerous employees, but "never made it into the restaurant." Perri's biographer claims to have proof he lived in Massena, N.Y. under the name "Giuseppe Portolesi" until he died of natural causes in 1953. This Chicago landmark is notorious as the place bank robber John Dillinger was shot by FBI agents in July 1934. They tried to bump me off, but I beat them to it.. He once bragged he'd killed 30 men. The brothers determined to switch to running illicit booze, with Sam opening a soda stand on the pier as a front. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia reports that when asked why Strollo's vanished, Genovese vaguely alluded to ordering his murder, saying it had been a kindness, since Strollo wouldn't have been able to handle prison. Lucky implemented fundamental changes to how the mob was run, creating a business approach to organized crime and putting an end to bloodshed which drew the attention of law officials. amzn_assoc_search_bar_position = "top"; Colosimo was then the top mob boss of Chicago. Drucci went on to become a prominent member of the North Side Gang during the Prohibition era. Long before Al Capone strolled into town, Chicago was teeming with gangsters and mobsters. In order to avoid being prosecuted Gigante faked mental problems for decades to protect him while on trial, often wandering the streets in a bathrobe to which the media dubbed him the Oddfather. amzn_assoc_title = "Related Products"; Here are 20 outlaws and their stories: A gentleman bandit of the highest order, Charles E. Boles AKA "Black Bart" is known for leaving poetic messages at the scene of two of his robberies. amzn_assoc_linkid = "e58c0a996f2a0bd294e36be27a8767ce"; The head of the North Side Gang - Capone's sworn rival - this mobster was said to be the one man Al Capone feared. Once Prohibition became the law of the land, he extended his enterprise into the protection racket, as well, offering cover for law violators. amzn_assoc_linkid = "e58c0a996f2a0bd294e36be27a8767ce"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "search"; This is a list of Irish-American mobsters which includes organized crime figures of predominantly Irish-American criminal organizations or individual mobsters from the early 1900s to the present. After 30 years on the run, Italys most wanted Mafia boss has finally been caught. In 1921, O'Connor was on death row in the Cook County jail, sentenced to hang for killing a police officer. Certain occupations have reputations for being mobbed-up. His next episode with a Thompson took place that October 3 at the Regan A.C. Clubhouse on 52nd Street. Attorneys for the Bootleggers Trusts got the court to drop the charges against Nettie, and gained an acquittal for George. 1. About 15 gang members and a half-dozen trucks arrived. Although Dillinger was able to evade police capture for nearly a year across four different states, he eventually returned to Chicago where he was killed at the Biograph Theater on Lincoln Avenue at the hands of federal agents. amzn_assoc_default_category = "All"; Accardo was born, lived, and eventually died in Chicago in 1992. When police came to question his brother about the death, Vincent Mangano was nowhere to be found. There are rumors he's under the West Side Highway, or that his body was dumped in a cement mixer and became part of a skyscraper. Big Jim Martin, policy chief of a mostly Black part of the West Side, gave up when gangsters sprayed his car with bullets. Old gangsters and popular gangsters are included on this list. That meant if he ever turned back up, they couldn't legally kill him any other way. Or, she finally learned her lesson, from arrests and jail meted out to her and her husband, George, as leaders of the Martin Gang. He held sought-after cruise parties on the gulf in his yacht in Galveston Bay. But he couldn't be charged with anything just for bragging. He was a member of the Chicago Outfit, the Italian-American mafia in that city. Both were immigrants from Palermo, Sicily, in the early 1900s, not members of the Mafia per se, but surely acquainted with Mafia activities while growing up. 14. The job fell to Tenuto. For Illinois residents in communities without easy access to a casino, racetrack or off-track betting facility that hosts a sportsbook, it just got much harder to open a legal sports betting account. amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "naticrimsynd-20"; Tony Accardo. amzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = "John Gotti"; amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "naticrimsynd-20"; McErlanes ill-famed debut of the Tommy gun during the beer wars occurred on September 25, 1925, with ODonnell his intended victim. Accardo came to infamy as a hitman for Al Capone and allegedly participated in the Valentines Day Massacre, the Frankie Yale hit, and the killing of two Outfit traitors at a dinner table in which he received the name Joe Batters from Al Capone due to his skill with a baseball bat. While in court after Netties arrest in the Foust case that December in Harrisburg, Maryland, a reporter labeled her a young petite, pretty blonde of the flapper type who was dressed in a sports costume and flashed a big cluster diamond ring. Georges unfortunate nickname in the news was Monkey Face.. amzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = "Al Capone"; Anastasias brutal murder made headlines, and is still remembered as one of the mobs most gruesome killings. Despite being of a Jewish background in an era where Italian-Americans ran the mob, his admirable knowledge of business and finances made him a key figure in helping to strengthen the mob. Three days later, a crowd estimated at more than 6,500 showed up for the funeral at a church on Wabash Avenue and thousands more walked past the $5,000 open casket of the wealthy man known as Robin Hood for his many donations, gifts and small loans to his employees that he regularly forgave. Fertittas family would later build a casino empire of their own in Las Vegas. He died in Chicago at the age of 29 after being shot by a Chicago police officer. They used the end of the pier to quietly unload bootlegged liquor from Cuba, trucked it east to New Orleans and as far north as Cleveland. On February 25, 1927, during the criminal heyday of Prohibition, Mickey Duffy, touted as the boss of beer, vice and extortion from New Jersey to eastern Pennsylvania, was leaving his nightclub in Philadelphia with his wife, Edith, and a bodyguard.