Ellsworth Johnson (1905 - 1968)

Organized Crime Figure. Ellsworth Raymond “Bumpy” Johnson was a notorious gangster who operated one of the largest numbers rackets headquartered in Harlem, NY. His criminal career spanned three decades from the early 1930’s until his death in 1968. He was one of the first African Americans of his era to become a millionaire, albeit through […]

Jimmy Hoffa (1913 - 1975)

Jimmy Hoffa The FBI’s confirmation last week that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared in 1975. Fox News confirmed last week that the FBI obtained a search […]

James Hines (1876 - 1957)

Jimmy Hines was a powerful Tammany Hall political boss in New York City during the 1920’s and 1930’s. His close association with such organized crime bosses as Lucky Luciano and Dutch Schultz caused New York District attorney Thomas E. Dewey to prosecute Hines on corruption charges in the mid-1930’s. He was convicted in 1939 of […]

Virginia Hill (1916 - 1966)

One of the most famous female mobsters. Hill was a courier for the national crime syndicate, shuttling thousands of dollars from one mobster to the next, even overseas. On a mission to Mexico, she was able to pave the way for future drug smuggling routes. She purportedly slept with many gangsters, but was Bugsy Siegel’s […]

Vannie Higgins (1897 - 1932)

Organized Crime Figure. A veteran of the United States Navy, he rose to prominence by trafficking outlawed rum and other alcohol during the Prohibition Era. He was eventually shot by men of “Murder Inc” in 1932, on a street in Brooklyn, New York City, New York.

Adam Heyer (1889 - 1929)

Adam Heyer On St. Valentine’s Day, 1929, one of America’s most atrocious crimes was committed when seven men were lined up against a wall in a bootlegger’s garage and machine-gunned to death. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, the centerpiece crime of the lawless decade, climaxed ten years of wholesale murder. The mass killing took place […]

Jack Guzik (1886 - 1956)

Gangster.

Peter Gusenburg (1888 - 1929)

Gangster. Victim of Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, Chicago, Illinois.

Frank Gusenburg (1893 - 1929)

Gangster. Victim of Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, Chicago, Illinois.

John Gotti (1940 - 2002)

John Gotti Gotti was born in the Bronx. He was the fifth of the thirteen children of John Joseph Gotti, Sr. and his wife Philomena. John was one of five brothers who would become made men in the Gambino crime family; Gene Gotti was initiated before John due to the latter’s incarceration. Peter Gotti was […]

Waxey Gordon (1888 - 1952)

Organized Crime Figure. Born Irving Wexler in New York City, New York’s Lower East Side, he became one of the most powerful Prohibition-era alcohol smugglers on the Eastern coast of the United States. His power ended when Prohibition was repealed in 1933. In 1951, Gordon was sentenced to twenty-five years in Alcatraz Prison in San […]

Martin Goldstein (2024 - 1941)

Organized Crime Figure. Born Meyer Goldstein, he was a member of a murder-for-hire gang made up of low-level Jewish and Italian gangsters working out of Brooklyn, New York City, New York during the 1930s. This gang came to be known in the news media as “Murder Inc.”, and carried out gangland murders in the New […]

Fred Goetz (1897 - 1934)

Organized crime figure, also known as Shotgun George Ziegler. He was a killer at the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago, Illinois. He earned an engineering degree and served in World War I as a flyer. He jumped bail in 1925 on a charge of raping a seven year old girl. He left the ranks […]

Sam Giancana (1908 - 1975)

Sam Giancana Born ‘Salvatore Giangana’ to Sicilian immigrants from Partanna, in the province of Trapani, in Little Italy, Chicago, also known as “The Patch”. His father, Antonino (later Americanized to Antonio) Giangana, operated a pushcart and later briefly owned an Italian ice shop, which was later firebombed by gangland rivals of his son. It has […]

Anthony Giacalone (1919 - 2001)

Organized Crime Figure. Anthony Giacalone was born on the Eastside of Detroit in January of 1919. The oldest of seven siblings Giacalone spent a lot of time helping his father sell produce from the back of his horse drawn wagon in the Indian Village section of Detroit. Unimpressed by the meager living his father provided […]

Vito Genovese (1897 - 1969)

Vito Genovese Organized Crime Figure. Born in Naples, Italy. He and his family came to the United States in 1912, and lived in Queens, New York. Later, he moved to lower Manhattan to live with relatives. Vito started his criminal career stealing merchandise from pushcart vendors and running errands for mobsters. He later collected money […]

Vincenzo Genna (1970 - 1970)

Gangster. Fled to Sicily with Peter and Sam after their brothers’ murders. They returned to Chicago, and divorced themselves from the rackets to run an olive oil importing firm.

Tony Genna (1890 - 1925)

Tony Genna Known as “The Gentleman”, Tony was one of the six Genna brothers who controlled the Little Sicily section of Chicago during prohibition and fought a bloody gang war against Dean O’Banion‘s the North Side Gang. Tony was a shrewd building contractor and Architect. In this profession, he could have amounted to something honorable, […]

Sam Genna (1970 - 1951)

Gangster. Fled to Sicily with Jim and Peter after their brothers’ murders. They returned to Chicago, and divorced themselves from the rackets to run an olive oil importing firm.

Peter Genna (1970 - 1948)

Gangster. Fled to Sicily with Jim and Sam after their brothers’ murders. They returned to Chicago, and divorced themselves from the rackets to run an olive oil importing firm.

Mike Genna (1895 - 1925)

a Sicilian mobster in Chicago during the 1920s. He headed the Genna crime family with his brothers. He was killed by police officers after a shootout with North Siders, being one of the only American organized crime leaders to be killed by a policeman. Michele Genna was born on January 18, 1895 in Marsala, Sicily. Genna’s […]

Angelo Genna (1970 - 1925)

Chicago Gangster. Killed by Vincent Drucci, Earl Weiss and Bugs Moran, of Chicago’s West Side Gang. Became head of Union Sicilian after Merlo’s death.

Carlo Gambino (1902 - 1976)

Carlo Gambino Born in Sicily, Carlo Gambino came from a family that had been involved in the Mafia for centuries. Although he was thin and somewhat frail-looking, he was also single-minded, ruthless and tough as nails and made a name for himself as an enforcer in local Mafia circles before he was out of his […]

Larry Gallo (2024 - 1968)

Organized Crime Figure.

Joseph Gallo (1912 - 1995)

Organized Crime Figure. He was the Consigliere of the Gambino Organized Crime Family during the reigns of Carlo Gambino, Paul Castellano and for a short time, John Gotti. After Gotti took control of the Family he removed Gallo as Consigliere and replaced him with Sammy (The Bull) Gravano. Gravano would later become the Underboss of […]

Joey Gallo (1929 - 1972)

Joey Gallo Joey Gallo born and raised in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Umberto and Mary Gallo. Joey Gallo grew up in a world already shaped by crime. His father was a bootlegger during the Prohibition era, and he encouraged his boys Larry, Joey and Albert, to be hoodlums […]

Carmine Galante (1910 - 1979)

Carmine Galante Organized Crime Figure. He was the boss of the Bonanno Organized Crime Family. Also known as “The Cigar,” he, along with New York City, New York crime boss Charles “Lucky” Luciano and Montreal, Quebec crime boss Frank Petrula organized the heroin distribution line known as the infamous “French Connection”. He was murdered at […]

Tomasso Gagliano (1884 - 1951)

Organized Crime Figure. He took control of the Reina Mafia Family in New York City following the murder of Bonaventura Pinzolo during the Castellammare War. Gagliano’s Family was based in the Bronx. He died of natural causes in 1951. Following his death Thomas Luchese became boss of the Family, which still bears Luchese’s name.

Carmelo Frisina (1892 - 1931)

Organized Crime Figure. He immigrated to St. Louis from Italy in his late teens. He became head of a mob which specialized in extortion and bootlegging. He constantly fought with other local gangsters for control of the city’s rackets. In January 1928, he and two of his men were ambushed after one of their extortion […]

Eddie Fletcher (1898 - 1933)

Gangster. One of the most prominent members of Detroit’s Purple Gang. Fletcher was born and raised in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, along with future Purples such as Abe Axler, Irving Milberg, and Abe Kaminski. Fletcher was originally a featherweight boxer and even ran for alderman in Brooklyn, but he soon turned to crime. Fletcher first arrived in […]