“War, arrogance, and recklessness destroy the ability to profit.” Charles “Lucky” Luciano.
1931 – Chicago – Charles Luciano, the most powerful man in the American and Sicilian Mafia summons the bosses of the other families to meet in a private location.
For years, the organized crime families were actually disorganized, engaged in assassinations of members of rival families, and became on the radar of federal prosecutors. Luciano, the most intelligent of the bosses, knew that if organized crime, while illegal, operated like General Motors, General Electric, and U.S. Steel that profits would significantly increase. Luciano’s idea was to create a “board of directors” that would operate in a similar manner to legitimate corporations. He also wanted to quietly maintain his own power over all the families, and to prevent future gangland wars.
At the meeting, the bosses approved the idea of what the Justice Department would refer to as the Commission. The board of directors would oversee all Mafia activities in the United States and serve to mediate conflicts between families.
The Commission consisted of seven family bosses: the leaders of New York’s Five Families: Luciano, Vincent Mangano, Tommy Gagliano, Joseph Bonanno, and Joe Profaci; Chicago Outfitboss Al Capone; and Buffalo family boss Stefano Magaddino. Charles Luciano was appointed chairman of the Commission. The Commission agreed to hold meetings every five years or when they needed to discuss family problems.
The Commission held the power of approving a new boss before he could take over officially. The New York Five Families also decided that the names of all new proposed members must be approved by the other families. After the new proposed member was approved by the other families, he could become a made man, which meant that he was untouchable.
The Commission allowed Jewish mobsters Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and Dutch Schultz to work alongside them and participate in some meetings. The group’s first test came in 1935, when it ordered Dutch Schultz to drop his plans to murder Special Prosecutor, future governor of New York, and future Republican presidential nominee, Thomas E. Dewey.
Schultz had a temper and Luciano did not have the patience to put up with it. Luciano pointed out that a Dewey assassination would precipitate a massive law enforcement crackdown. An enraged Schultz said he would kill Dewey anyway and walked out of the meeting. The next week, Albert Anastasia approached Luciano with information that Schultz had asked him to stake out Dewey’s apartment building on Fifth Avenue. Upon hearing the news, the Commission held a discreet meeting to discuss the matter. After six hours of deliberations the Commission ordered Lepke Buchalter to take care of the situation. On October 23, 1935, before he could kill Dewey, Schultz was shot in a tavern in Newark, New Jersey, and succumbed to his injuries the following day.
While ignorance can be cured, stupidity cannot.
On May 13, 1936, Luciano’s pandering trial began. Dewey prosecuted the case. He accused Luciano of being part of a massive prostitution ring known as “the Combination”. During the trial, Dewey exposed Luciano for lying on the witness stand through direct examination and records of telephone calls. Luciano also had no explanation for why his federal income tax records claimed he made only $22,000 a year, while he was obviously one of the wealthiest men in the United States.
On June 7, Luciano was convicted on 62 counts of compulsory prostitution. On June 18, he was sentenced to 30 to 50 years in state prison.
But, he would not serve that sentence.
During World War II, the White House, the Navy, and the State of New York made a deal with Luciano. In exchange for a commutation of his sentence, Luciano promised the complete assistance of his organization in providing intelligence to the Navy. Anastasia, a Luciano ally who controlled the docks, promised no dockworker strikes during war. In preparation for the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily, Luciano provided the US military with Sicilian Mafia contacts. This collaboration between the Navy and the Mafia became known as Operation Underworld. It also saved the lives of thousands of American soldiers.
On January 3, 1946, his wartime cooperation paid off. Dewey officially commuted Luciano’s pandering sentence on condition that he did not resist deportation to Italy. Luciano accepted the deal, although he still maintained that he was a US citizen and not subject to deportation.
On February 2, 1946, two federal immigration agents transported Luciano from Sing Sing prison to Ellis Island in New York Harbor for deportation proceedings. On February 10, Luciano’s ship sailed from Brooklyn harbor for Italy.
He would never return to the United States. This left a power vacuum in New York’s underworld. As the years passed, the Commission was weakened, violence between the families increased, and crime figures became more brazen to seek high profiles in society.
Joseph Bonanno was perhaps the only boss who remembered that a low profile was safe. Subsequent bosses, like John Gotti, preferred being in the spotlight and bragging about how he was invincible.
By the 1980’s, organized crime was being heavily targeted by Congress (by passing the RICO Act), federal prosecutors, and the White House.
Luciano helped his criminal companions by establishing the Commission, and he saved the lives of our troops overseas.
With the exception of many Sicilians, he remains one of history’s most controversial figures.