Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was an American gangster, popularly thought to be the impetus behind large-scale development of Las Vegas. He hated the nickname, Bugsy, and wouldn't allow anyone to call him that to his face. Bugsy Siegel - The beginning. Benjamin Hymen Siegelbaum was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a poor Austrian Jewish family, one of five children. As a boy, Siegel joined a street gang on Lafayette Street in the Lower East Side and committ ...

Including:

Bugsy Siegel - The beginning Bugsy Siegel - To California Bugsy Siegel - Las Vegas venture Bugsy Siegel - The Flamingo fiasco Bugsy Siegel - The last act Bugsy Siegel - Cultural references

Read more here: » Bugsy Siegel: Encyclopedia - Bugsy Siegel

See also:

Bugsy Siegel, Bugsy Siegel - The beginning, Bugsy Siegel - To California, Bugsy Siegel - Las Vegas venture, Bugsy Siegel - The Flamingo fiasco, Bugsy Siegel - The last act, Bugsy Siegel - Cultural references

Read more here: » Bugsy Siegel: Encyclopedia II - Bugsy Siegel - The beginning

The Bonanno family's main sources of income had come from running numbers, bookmaking and loansharking. However, in early 1962 Bonanno underboss Carmine Galante was arrested and convicted of narcotics offences. While Bonanno had long denied involvement in narcotics, after Galante's conviction it was revealed the Bonanno family was a major supplier of New York's drug trade. After Profaci's death in 1962, Bonanno had begun to suspect several rival family bosses, specifically Carlo Gambino, Tommy Lucchese and Stefano Magaddino, of conspi ...

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Bonanno crime family, Bonanno crime family - Joseph Joe Bananas Bonanno: 1931-1962, Bonanno crime family - Banana War: 1964-1969, Bonanno crime family - Carmine Galante: 1974-1979, Bonanno crime family - Phillip Rastelli: 1979-1985, Bonanno crime family - Joe Massino, Bonanno crime family - Current Don

Read more here: » Bonanno crime family: Encyclopedia II - Bonanno crime family - Banana War: 1964-1969

Gambino crime family - Origins. The Gambino family can be traced back to the Prohibition period under Alfred Mineo and Steve Ferrigno, during the days of Joe "The Boss" Masseria. Allies of Masseria, Mineo and Ferrigno were killed in an ambush during the Castellammarese War in 1930 by gunmen Joe Profaci, Nick Capuzzi, Joe Valachi, and a hitman from Chicago known only as Buster.

See also:

Gambino crime family, Gambino crime family - Impact of the Gambino crime family, Gambino crime family - History of the Gambino crime family, Gambino crime family - Origins, Gambino crime family - After the Castellammarese war, Gambino crime family - Albert Anastasia, Gambino crime family - Carlo Gambino, Gambino crime family - Paul Castellano, Gambino crime family - The Dapper Don, Gambino crime family - After the Gotti era, Gambino crime family - Bosses of the Gambino Crime Family, Gambino crime family - Music

Read more here: » Gambino crime family: Encyclopedia II - Gambino crime family - History of the Gambino crime family

Genovese started his Mafia career serving Joe Masseria and worked with people like Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and Frank Costello. After World War I, Salvatore Maranzano introduced Genovese to the family headed by Luciano. After a while Maranzano began to realize that these young men would be a threat to his undisputed crown within the mafia, so he made a hit list that included Genovese amongst others. In April 1931, Luciano orchestrated the assassination of Joe Masseria. Vito Genovese was one of the four shooter ...

See also:

Vito Genovese, Vito Genovese - The Beginning, Vito Genovese - Rise to Power, Vito Genovese - Apalachin Meeting

Read more here: » Vito Genovese: Encyclopedia II - Vito Genovese - The Beginning

Joseph Bonanno was born in Castellammare del Golfo, in Sicily, Italy, but emigrated to to the United States as a 3 year old, in 1908. But his family returned to Sicily soon after. Bonanno grew up to be an anti-fascist. In 1925, during Benito Mussolini's rise to power, Bonanno was forced to leave Italy and settle in Cuba (from where he later would return to the USA and become a naturalized citizen in 1945) after joining the mafia side and tryin ...

See also:

Joseph Bonanno, Joseph Bonanno - Early life and career, Joseph Bonanno - The Castellammarese War, Joseph Bonanno - Control of the family, Joseph Bonanno - Plots and kidnapping, Joseph Bonanno - The Banana War, Joseph Bonanno - Later career in Arizona

Read more here: » Joseph Bonanno: Encyclopedia II - Joseph Bonanno - Early life and career

During WWII, America needed new allies to advance its invasion of Sicily and Italy, so 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 ...

See also:

Lucky Luciano, Lucky Luciano - Early Life, Lucky Luciano - Castellammarese War and rise through the ranks, Lucky Luciano - Formation of The Commission, Lucky Luciano - World War II, Lucky Luciano - Later years, Lucky Luciano - Fictional portrayals

Read more here: » Lucky Luciano: Encyclopedia II - Lucky Luciano - World War II

Albert Anastasia - Loyalties during the Castellammarese War. In 1930, Luciano finalized plans to take over crime in America by destroying the two old-line Mafia factions headed by Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano; he outlined his plot to Anastasia. Anastasia joined Luciano and Bugsy Siegel in the plot, and assured Luciano that he would kill everyone for Luciano to be on top. Anastasia, always hungry for power, knew that if Luciano were head of the National Crime Syndicate that he would eventually get a "piece of ...

See also:

Albert Anastasia, Albert Anastasia - Early years, Albert Anastasia - Anastasia's rise to power, Albert Anastasia - Loyalties during the Castellammarese War, Albert Anastasia - Murder Incorporated, Albert Anastasia - World War II, Albert Anastasia - Boss, Albert Anastasia - Executing the executioner, Albert Anastasia - Trivia

Read more here: » Albert Anastasia: Encyclopedia II - Albert Anastasia - Anastasia's rise to power

The war between Masseria and Maranzano became known as the Castellammarese War. Inside their organizations, there was a group of young men who seized their opportunity to get to the top and had both bosses killed within five months of one another. The group included Lucky Luciano, Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky. Before Maranzano died, however, he established a ruling body over Mafia operations, named The Commission. The Commission consisted of fi ...

See also:

Joseph Bonanno, Joseph Bonanno - Early life and career, Joseph Bonanno - The Castellammarese War, Joseph Bonanno - Control of the family, Joseph Bonanno - Plots and kidnapping, Joseph Bonanno - The Banana War, Joseph Bonanno - Later career in Arizona

Read more here: » Joseph Bonanno: Encyclopedia II - Joseph Bonanno - The Castellammarese War

According to popular myth, Bugsy envisioned building a large casino and hotel to which gamblers would flock. His vision was fueled by the fact that Nevada had legalized gambling in 1931. In Las Vegas, gambling was concentrated in downtown casinos along Fremont Street, whose clientele largely consisted of members of the construction crew building the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River 48 km (30 miles) to the southeast. Back in the East, Siegel captivated his fellow mobsters with the idea of building a gambling mecca in the Nevada desert, ...

See also:

Bugsy Siegel, Bugsy Siegel - The beginning, Bugsy Siegel - To California, Bugsy Siegel - Las Vegas venture, Bugsy Siegel - The Flamingo fiasco, Bugsy Siegel - The last act, Bugsy Siegel - Cultural references

Read more here: » Bugsy Siegel: Encyclopedia II - Bugsy Siegel - Las Vegas venture

Gambino crime family - Music. Mr. Moran, a song about Sammy "The Bull" Gravano on A Jackknife to a Swan by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones ...

See also:

Gambino crime family, Gambino crime family - Impact of the Gambino crime family, Gambino crime family - History of the Gambino crime family, Gambino crime family - Origins, Gambino crime family - After the Castellammarese war, Gambino crime family - Albert Anastasia, Gambino crime family - Carlo Gambino, Gambino crime family - Paul Castellano, Gambino crime family - The Dapper Don, Gambino crime family - After the Gotti era, Gambino crime family - Bosses of the Gambino Crime Family, Gambino crime family - Music

Read more here: » Gambino crime family: Encyclopedia II - Gambino crime family - Bosses of the Gambino Crime Family

Bonanno took over much of Maranzano's faction. His business interests included areas as diverse as clothing, cheese factories and funeral homes. It is rumored that Bonanno invented a method of disposing of bodies called the double coffin: the body was hidden underneath the body of a funeral home client's deceased. In the 1960s, Bonanno started making money in Arizona and California. However, his operations in New York were suffering, and this, along with the fact that some other Mafia bosses were getting uncomfortable with Bona ...

See also:

Joseph Bonanno, Joseph Bonanno - Early life and career, Joseph Bonanno - The Castellammarese War, Joseph Bonanno - Control of the family, Joseph Bonanno - Plots and kidnapping, Joseph Bonanno - The Banana War, Joseph Bonanno - Later career in Arizona

Read more here: » Joseph Bonanno: Encyclopedia II - Joseph Bonanno - Control of the family

After the death of Joseph Profaci, a very good friend of Bonanno and leader of the Profaci crime family, Joe Magliocco became boss of the Profaci faction. Bonanno tried to talk Maglicco into ordering the deaths of other important gangsters such as Carlo Gambino, Tommy Lucchese and Sam Giancana. Magliocco gave an order to Joe Colombo to carry out these killings, but Colombo betrayed him, revealing t ...

See also:

Joseph Bonanno, Joseph Bonanno - Early life and career, Joseph Bonanno - The Castellammarese War, Joseph Bonanno - Control of the family, Joseph Bonanno - Plots and kidnapping, Joseph Bonanno - The Banana War, Joseph Bonanno - Later career in Arizona

Read more here: » Joseph Bonanno: Encyclopedia II - Joseph Bonanno - Plots and kidnapping

After World War II, Genovese began a murder spree to gain new status in the underworld, taking advantage of Luciano being in exile in Italy. Facing a murder charge (of Ferdinand "The Shadow" Boccia) in 1937, Genovese was forced to flee to Italy as well. When he later returned to the States, all the witnesses to his murder spree had disappeared. He remained a free man, and attended the infamous Havana Conference in 1946, where he got involved in a scrap ...

See also:

Vito Genovese, Vito Genovese - The Beginning, Vito Genovese - Rise to Power, Vito Genovese - Apalachin Meeting

Read more here: » Vito Genovese: Encyclopedia II - Vito Genovese - Rise to Power

In 1937 the East Coast mob sent Siegel to California to try to develop Syndicate gambling rackets in the West alongside Los Angeles mobster Jack Dragna. Siegel also recruited Jewish gang boss Mickey Cohen as his lieutenant. Siegel used Syndicate money to set up a national wire service to help the East Coast mob get their cut faster. Siegel married his childhood sweetheart Esta Krakow, sister of hitman Whitey Krakow, on January 28, 1929. He eventually moved her and their two daughters to the West Coast, after his bosses had sent him th ...

See also:

Bugsy Siegel, Bugsy Siegel - The beginning, Bugsy Siegel - To California, Bugsy Siegel - Las Vegas venture, Bugsy Siegel - The Flamingo fiasco, Bugsy Siegel - The last act, Bugsy Siegel - Cultural references

Read more here: » Bugsy Siegel: Encyclopedia II - Bugsy Siegel - To California

However, Siegel knew little about construction; under his oversight, the construction costs ballooned from $1 million to $6 million. The Del Webb company, which was in charge of construction, is alleged to have driven building materials onto the site, before simply driving them out the back gate and billing Siegel for the work. When Webb told Siegel of his fears that he would come to harm, Siegel reputedly ...

See also:

Bugsy Siegel, Bugsy Siegel - The beginning, Bugsy Siegel - To California, Bugsy Siegel - Las Vegas venture, Bugsy Siegel - The Flamingo fiasco, Bugsy Siegel - The last act, Bugsy Siegel - Cultural references

Read more here: » Bugsy Siegel: Encyclopedia II - Bugsy Siegel - The Flamingo fiasco

The Gambino Crime Family has been connected to narcotics trafficking, labor racketteering, counterfeiting, loansharking and extortion, gambling, and automobile theft among other criminal operations that bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in profit each year, in addition to many legitimate enterprises over which they exercise control. Through their associate Michael Thevis, the Gambinos controlled most of America's pornography empire during the 1970s. Law enforcement estimates that the Gambino family consists of approximately 200 ...

See also:

Gambino crime family, Gambino crime family - Impact of the Gambino crime family, Gambino crime family - History of the Gambino crime family, Gambino crime family - Origins, Gambino crime family - After the Castellammarese war, Gambino crime family - Albert Anastasia, Gambino crime family - Carlo Gambino, Gambino crime family - Paul Castellano, Gambino crime family - The Dapper Don, Gambino crime family - After the Gotti era, Gambino crime family - Bosses of the Gambino Crime Family, Gambino crime family - Music

Read more here: » Gambino crime family: Encyclopedia II - Gambino crime family - Impact of the Gambino crime family

Born Umberto Anastasio in Tropea, Italy – one of nine brothers – Anastasia moved to New York City around 1919. He became active in Brooklyn's waterfront operations and rose to a position of authority in the longshoreman's union, the International Longshoremen's Association. It was here that Anastasia first demonstrated his penchant for homicide at the slightest provocation, killing a fellow longshoreman in the early '20s – an offense which led to an 18-month sentence he served at the famed Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York. Howeve ...

See also:

Albert Anastasia, Albert Anastasia - Early years, Albert Anastasia - Anastasia's rise to power, Albert Anastasia - Loyalties during the Castellammarese War, Albert Anastasia - Murder Incorporated, Albert Anastasia - World War II, Albert Anastasia - Boss, Albert Anastasia - Executing the executioner, Albert Anastasia - Trivia

Read more here: » Albert Anastasia: Encyclopedia II - Albert Anastasia - Early years

With the killings of Masseria and Maranzano completed, Luciano was able to achieve his vision by joining the major organized crime groups of different ethnicities in New York in what eventually became a national crime syndicate. Unlike Maranzano, who had tried to impose himself as the "Emperor" (technically, capo di tutti capi, "boss of bosses") in an organization modeled after the Roman Empire, Luciano organized a decentralized structure in which the major crime families divided up territories and spheres of activities and met, when ...

See also:

Lucky Luciano, Lucky Luciano - Early Life, Lucky Luciano - Castellammarese War and rise through the ranks, Lucky Luciano - Formation of The Commission, Lucky Luciano - World War II, Lucky Luciano - Later years, Lucky Luciano - Fictional portrayals

Read more here: » Lucky Luciano: Encyclopedia II - Lucky Luciano - Formation of The Commission

By the late 1920s, Luciano became one of the leaders of another mafia family, that of Joe "The Boss" Masseria, while disagreeing with Masseria's bigoted mistrust of everyone who wasn't Sicilian. Luciano knew from his own experience the Sicilians were wasting an opportunity to make more profits by shunning associations with other ethnic groups. In 1930, the Castellammarese War broke out, pitting Masseria and his men against fellow Sicilian Salvatore Maranzano. When Maranzano gained the upper hand, Luciano, along with Vito Genovese, bet ...

See also:

Lucky Luciano, Lucky Luciano - Early Life, Lucky Luciano - Castellammarese War and rise through the ranks, Lucky Luciano - Formation of The Commission, Lucky Luciano - World War II, Lucky Luciano - Later years, Lucky Luciano - Fictional portrayals

Read more here: » Lucky Luciano: Encyclopedia II - Lucky Luciano - Castellammarese War and rise through the ranks