Mob Involvement

Extracted Attributes

• Type

  Highly organized Italian-American criminal society and organized crime group

• Origin Period

  Late 19th century and early 20th century

• Peak Presence

  At least 26 cities around the United States with Cosa Nostra families

• Key Activities

  Drug trafficking, money laundering, illegal gambling, political corruption, extortion, kidnapping, fraud, counterfeiting, murders, bombings, weapons trafficking, infiltration of legitimate businesses, labor racketeering, loan sharking, tax fraud schemes, stock manipulation schemes, online sports betting, 'boiler-room' operations

• Origin Locations

  Impoverished Italian immigrant neighborhoods in New York (East Harlem, Lower East Side, Brooklyn), Northeastern United States, Chicago, New Orleans

• Alternative Names

  Italian-American Mafia, Mafia, Mob, Cosa Nostra, La Cosa Nostra

• Organizational Structure

  Families (various criminal organizations), The Commission (nationwide coordination)

• Primary Areas of Activity (Current)

  Northeastern United States (New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, New England), Chicago, Florida, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles

• New York City Families (The Five Families)

  Gambino, Lucchese, Genovese, Bonanno, Colombo

Timeline

• The American Mafia emerges in impoverished Italian immigrant neighborhoods in the Northeastern United States and other major metropolitan areas, following waves of Italian immigration. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1870-01-01

• Prohibition begins, leading to a significant increase in wealth for mobsters and the eventual emergence of the infamous Five Families of New York. (Source: Web Search)

  1920-01-17

• A sharp decline in mob involvement in Las Vegas occurs due to the enforcement of the RICO law, leading to many convictions and imprisonments. (Source: Web Search)

  1980-01-01

• In the 21st century, the Mafia continues to be involved in a broad spectrum of illegal activities, though its operations are mostly confined to the Northeast and Chicago. (Source: Web Search)

  2000-01-01

• The Italian mob conducts a violent shakedown against Molly Bloom, threatening her family in Colorado during her high-stakes poker enterprise. (Source: d8b368c5-197a-45e0-a7e1-8f95137a5130)

  XXXX-XX-XX

American Mafia

The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian-American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian-American criminal society and organized crime group. The terms Italian Mafia and Italian Mob apply to these American-based organizations, as well as the separate yet related Sicilian Mafia or other organized crime groups in Italy, or ethnic Italian crime groups in other countries. These organizations are often referred to by its members as Cosa Nostra (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkɔːza ˈnɔstra, ˈkɔːsa -]; lit. 'Our Thing') and by the American government as La Cosa Nostra (LCN). The organization's name is derived from the original Mafia or Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia, with "American Mafia" originally referring simply to Mafia groups from Sicily operating in the United States. The Mafia in the United States emerged in impoverished Italian immigrant neighborhoods in New York's East Harlem (or "Italian Harlem"), the Lower East Side, and Brooklyn; also emerging in other areas of the Northeastern United States and several other major metropolitan areas (such as Chicago and New Orleans) during the late 19th century and early 20th century, following waves of Italian immigration especially from Sicily and other regions of Southern Italy. Campanian, Calabrian and other Italian criminal groups in the United States, as well as independent Italian-American criminals, eventually merged with Sicilian Mafiosi to create the modern pan-Italian Mafia in North America. Today, the Italian-American Mafia cooperates in various criminal activities with Italian organized crime groups, such as the Sicilian Mafia, the Camorra of Campania and the 'Ndrangheta of Calabria. The most important unit of the American Mafia is that of a "family", as the various criminal organizations that make up the Mafia are known. Despite the name of "family" to describe the various units, they are not familial groupings. The Mafia is most active in the Northeastern United States, with the heaviest activity in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and New England, in areas such as Boston, Providence, and Hartford. It also remains heavily active in Chicago and has a significant and powerful presence in other Midwestern metropolitan areas such as Kansas City, Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and St. Louis. Outside of these areas, the Mafia is also very active in Florida, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Mafia families have previously existed to a greater extent and continue to exist to a lesser extent in Northeastern Pennsylvania, Dallas, Denver, New Orleans, Rochester, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, and Tampa. While some of the regional crime families in these areas may no longer exist to the same extent as before, descendants have continued to engage in criminal operations, while consolidation has occurred in other areas, with rackets being controlled by more powerful crime families from nearby cities. At the Mafia's peak, there were at least 26 cities around the United States with Cosa Nostra families, with many more offshoots and associates in other cities. There are five main New York City Mafia families, known as the Five Families: the Gambino, Lucchese, Genovese, Bonanno, and Colombo families. The Italian-American Mafia has long dominated organized crime in the United States. Each crime family has its own territory and operates independently, while nationwide coordination is overseen by the Commission, which consists of the bosses of each of the strongest families. Though the majority of the Mafia's activities are contained to the Northeastern United States and Chicago, they continue to dominate organized crime in the United States, despite the increasing numbers of other crime groups.

Web Search Results

• American Mafia - Wikipedia

  The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian-American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian-American criminal society and organized crime group. The terms Italian Mafia and Italian Mob apply to these American-based organizations, as well as the separate yet related Sicilian Mafia or other organized crime groups in Italy, or ethnic Italian crime groups in other countries. These organizations are often referred to by its members as Cosa Nostra [...] the Mafia for its illegal activities. There was a sharp decline in mob involvement in Las Vegas in the 1980s. Through the RICO law, many in the Mafia were convicted and imprisoned. [...] In the 21st century, the Mafia has continued to be involved in a broad spectrum of illegal activities. These include murder, extortion, corruption of public officials, gambling, infiltration of legitimate businesses, labor racketeering, loan sharking, tax fraud schemes and stock manipulation schemes. Although the Mafia used to be nationwide, today most of its activities are confined to the Northeast and Chicago. While other criminal organizations such as the Russian Mafia, Chinese Triads "Triad

• How FBI's gambling case highlights Mafia's changing tactics - BBC

  Part of what makes the case feel so cinematic is the alleged involvement of the mob. Thanks to decades of film, television, and books dedicated to tales of mafia exploits, the mafia has developed a mythical place in American culture. "As Ray Liotta said in Goodfellas: 'We were treated like movie stars with muscle'," said attorney Edward McDonald, who, as the real-life prosecutor who managed former mobster-turned-FBI informant Henry Hill, played himself in the iconic film. [...] "These families continued to exist and shifted to rackets that were a lot more profitable and had a lot fewer downside risks to them, in terms of years of prison they might face," said Drew Rolle, the former acting chief of the organised crimes and gangs section at the Eastern District of New York. The mafia now involves itself in securities fraud, gambling, online sports betting, and so called "boiler-room" operations that involve elaborate telephone scams, he added. [...] Skip to content Watch Live Watch Live # 'The mafia ain't what it used to be' - FBI's gambling case shows mob's evolution Kayla Epstein When US officials unveiled two staggering illegal sports betting investigations on Thursday, they described the operations as something "reminiscent of a Hollywood movie".

• How the Mafia Infiltrated American Labor Unions - History.com

  Once in charge of unions, the mob embezzled money from union dues and pension funds and threatened employers with financially crippling strikes to extort payments from them. They paid off corrupt police officers and offered corrupt politicians trade union support in return for immunity from arrest and prosecution. [...] The Mafia targeted unions in low-wage industries known for their semiskilled labor, fierce competition, thin profits and decentralized union structures. In New York City, for example, the Five Families controlled unions in the construction, garment, garbage collection, trucking and restaurant industries. Using bribes and threats of physical violence, mobsters co-opted corrupt union leaders and sometimes installed one of their own in union leadership. [...] In New York, mobsters from the Five Families such as Charles “Lucky” Luciano controlled local unions that operated on the city’s waterfront and shook down all sides. The Mafia took kickbacks from shippers and fishermen to have perishable cargo unloaded. Joseph “Socks” Lanza, head of the local seafood workers union, even took payments from fish processing plants to keep their shops non-union. The costs of all the corruption were passed along to the consumer.

• Transnational Organized Crime - FBI

  In the United States, there are several Mafia groups operating under the La Cosa Nostra name. The major threats to American society posed by these groups are drug trafficking and money laundering. They also are involved in illegal gambling, political corruption, extortion, kidnapping, fraud, counterfeiting, murders, bombings, weapons trafficking, and the infiltration of legitimate businesses. Read more about the history of La Cosa Nostra and the Genovese Crime Family.

• Prohibition Profits Transformed the Mob

  Jewish and Polish, focused on street-level crimes such as extortion, loansharking, drugs, burglary, robbery and contract violence. [...] of these mobsters were part of a generation born in the 1890s and early 1900s that came of age with Prohibition. The infamous Italian-American “Five Families” of New York (Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese, Bonnano and Colombo) would emerge from the wealth produced by Prohibition. [...] The main instigator of modern American organized crime was Charles “Lucky” Luciano, an Italian immigrant (from Sicily) who at the outset of Prohibition, at age 23, began working for illegal gambling boss Arnold Rothstein, an important early investor in bootlegging. Other mobsters who rose as Rothstein’s protégés included Dutch Schultz, Owney Madden and Waxey Gordon. Schultz’s gang featured triggerman Jack “Legs” Diamond and brothers Vincent and Peter Coll.