Despite the fact that he was once named one of the 20 most influential people, the titans of the XX century, Charles Lucky Luciano (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 in the underworld. He ended up dying in Italy as a deported criminal.
Charles Luciano: biography
"Lucky" was born in Sicily on November 24, 1897. Parents Salvatore Lucania (real name Charlie Luciano), Antonio and Rosalia, moved their four children from Lercara Friddi to New York in 1906. His father, who worked in the sulfur pits in Italy, hoped to find a better life for his family here. The boy attended secondary school No. 19 and graduated from 6 classes. At the age of ten, he was arrested for shoplifting and released on parole by his embarrassed parents. The arrest did not frighten him, nor did he teach him a lesson. He was arrested several more times for petty theft. By 1915, Luciano had become a hardened bully on New York's Lower East Side.
A born leader
Soon Luciano made a gang of tough Italian guys. He taught the guys about racketeering, and they spent their time collecting pennies from local Jewish boys who paid to not be beaten. One boy, Meyer Lansky, did not succumb to the intimidation and instead made fun of the Italians. This bold challenge impressed Luciano. Lansky became his best friend, and the friends were subsequently 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 deaths. Lansky eventually became the "architect" of Luciano's criminal empire in New York and around the world.
Charlie got a job as a courier delivering hats to Jewish craftsman Max Goodman. The relatively successful Goodman provided Luciano with an example of a middle-class lifestyle. But Luciano didn't plan on working as hard as Goodman. He soon realized that if he hid the drugs in the ribbons on his hats, he could kill two birds with one stone. He also learned one of the most valuable lessons of his life: how to make money behind the lines of the legal front. Soon, dealing drugs, Salvatore was making more money than ever before. For this, he even served time. After his release from the state juvenile correctional facility, he changed his name. He thought 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, robbed in order toto make ends meet. In the end, each of them's ruthless natural leadership style 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 propelled him to the top of the underworld. In 1919, the sale of liquor was outlawed. It became clear that the demand for alcohol remained high, and whoever could deliver it would become a very rich man. By 1920, he and Lansky were already supplying alcoholic beverages to every bar in Manhattan.
While Charlie's fame grew, New York City's big local gangs waged a relentless war. Charles Luciano, nicknamed Lucky, at the age of 23, was already on an equal footing with the largest mafia family, headed 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 associates included Giuseppe Doto (Joe Adonis), "Vexi" Gordon, and Arnold Rothstein, who manipulated the results of the 1918 World Series.
Struggle for power
Charles "Lucky" Luciano began to reconsider his alliance with Giuseppe Masseria, who he realized 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 say that the Irish gangsters beat him almost toof death. According to others, it was the police or the feds who caught him with illegal alcohol, or the father of the girl who became pregnant by Luciano. Whoever it was, Charlie was severely beaten, his face was cut with a knife, and he was thrown as dead into a river on Staten Island. After Charlie survived, he was nicknamed Lucky, or Lucky.
The Italian criminal realized that the war must end and that he must lead all the gangs in 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 died every day during the war. In addition, the ongoing bloodshed between the gangs attracted more and more attention from the authorities and harmed his lucrative business. Luciano contacted 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 lieutenant-in-chief had come up with such a plan against his old enemy. Charlie apologized and used the break room, and four men entered the restaurant: Bugsy Siegel, Al Anastasia, Vito Genovese, and Joe Adonis. They shot Masseria. When Luciano left the break room, the four men were gone and the police had nothing to show him.
Next on the list was Maranzana, who didn't know that most of his henchmen were loyal to Lucky. They saw that Charles Luciano was a better businessman who would bring them more profit. Maranzana invited him to a meeting,where he planned to kill him. Charlie didn't show up, but four "taxmen" showed up. 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 becoming the most powerful figure in the underworld, New York's "boss of bosses", was open.
Leader of leaders
Lucky Luciano introduced an effective system of "crime families", appointing them as the leaders of his loyal supporters. He wanted to bring order to 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.
High crime bosses were also popular public figures. Luciano was often seen in restaurants and theaters with famous public figures, artists and other celebrities. Even though he had bodyguards with him at all times, he didn't really need them. Charles Luciano was in charge of organized crime, and no one dared challenge his authority.
In the early 1930s, the "boss of bosses" 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. Overflowing with money, Luciano played the role of a we althy businessman, wore tailored suits and drove around in cars with a personal driver. Butthe good times were coming to an end as special prosecutor Thomas Dewey was appointed to fight organized crime in 1935.
Prosecution
Law enforcement officers knew who was the main figure of the underworld in the United States. Lucky's luck ended in 1936. New York District Attorney Thomas Dewey has filed charges against Lucky Luciano and eight other mafia members for organizing a network of brothels. Even though he had already saved Dewey from an assassination plot once before, that didn't stop the prosecutor from going after him. 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 30 to 50 years in prison, the longest ever given for such an offense. He was imprisoned in Dannemore, the so-called Siberia of organized crime, as it was located on the outskirts of the United States, near the border with Canada. Luciano tried to appeal, but the court upheld his verdict.
Deportation to Italy
Attempts to secure the release of the mafia leader remained unsuccessful until December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and Japan declared war on the United States. The navy feared a submarine attack and needed the cooperation of all the dockers to prevent it, especially after the bombing of the luxury liner Normandie in the New York port. Since Charles Luciano, even in prison, retained complete control overport unions, he was able to bargain for his freedom. In exchange for the help of the dock workers, as well as the order of the Italian mafia to fight against Benito Mussolini, Luciano was promised parole. However, he had to agree to return to Italy and remain there for the rest of his life. When he was released from prison in 1946, he was taken to Ellis Island and sent back to Italy. Although he promised to return to his new homeland, this never happened.
Havana Conference
After a short stay in Italy, he secretly traveled to Cuba, where he met with his old associates at the Havana Conference, including Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel. Luciano attempted to reassert his influence by using the island nation as his base. But soon the United States government became aware of the presence of Lucky in Havana and put pressure on the Cuban authorities, threatening to block the supply of drugs to the country while the leader of the mafia was there.
Under surveillance
On February 24, 1947, the Cuban government arrested Luciano and sent him back to Italy in 48 hours on a Turkish cargo ship, where he remained under close surveillance. According to some reports, he was engaged in drug trafficking there. In early July 1949, the Rome police arrested him on suspicion of participating in drug trafficking to New York. After a week in custody, he was released without charge but banned from visiting the Italian capital.
In June 1951 the policeNaples interrogated Luciano on suspicion of illegal importation into Italy of 57 thousand US dollars in cash and a new American car. After 20 hours of interrogation, he was released without charge.
In November 1954, the legal commission of Naples imposed strict restrictions on Luciano for 2 years. Every Sunday he had to visit the police, sleep at home and not leave Naples without permission.
Private life
In 1929, Charles met the Broadway dancer Galina "Guy" Orlova. The couple were inseparable until the moment of his conclusion. Orlova later tried to visit Charlie in Italy, but was denied entry. In early 1948, Luciano met the Italian dancer Igea Lissoni, who was 20 years his junior, whom he later said was the love of his life. The couple lived together in Naples, but Charlie continued to date other women. Lissoni died of breast cancer in 1959.
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 the Naples airport on January 26, 1962, where he was supposed 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 the family vault at St. John's Cemetery in New York. Having spent his whole life under the name of Charles Luciano, he rests near his parents under the name of Salvatore Lucania.
