Download or read book Wrongly Executed The Long forgotten Context of Charles Sberna s 1939 Electrocution written by Thomas Hunt and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2016-11-11 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Was Charles Sberna wrongly convicted of the murder of Police Officer John H.A. Wilson? Was an innocent man sent to the electric chair in 1939? What reasons could the authorities have had for refusing to consider alternatives and rushing Sberna into Sing Sing Prison's death device? 'Wrongly Executed?' provides the details and historical background of the Sberna case. The story is a complex and controversial one, involving celebrity attorneys, Mafia bosses, violent political radicals, media giants and ruthless establishment figures, all set in a period in which Americans sought stability and government-imposed order after years of political upheaval, economic depression and Prohibition Era lawlessness.
Download or read book America s Forgotten Terrorists written by Jeffrey D. Simon and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2022-05 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Though largely forgotten today, one of the most destructive terrorist groups in the United States was the Galleanists, a fiery band of Italian anarchists active during the early 1900s. In America’s Forgotten Terrorists, Jeffrey D. Simon shows how alienation and frustration among segments of a community were transformed into a militant extremist movement. Luigi Galleani, a gifted writer and speaker, tapped into widespread disappointment among Italian immigrants concerning their lives in America. Unemployment, low wages, long working hours, discrimination, and a poor quality of life made many Italian immigrants receptive to his words. The Galleanists introduced terrorist tactics and strategies that are still used today: they were the first group to send package bombs across the country and to exploit the media for their own advantage. One of their members is also suspected of launching the first vehicle bomb in the United States in 1920, considered the worst act of domestic terrorism until the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The story of the Galleanists is a chilling journey through a volatile period in American history, including labor-management conflicts, World War I, and the Red Scare. An expert in terrorism, Simon offers striking insights into the Galleanist era and some of its eerie connections to modern America, calling us to recognize the risks of repeating our history. How the Galleanists operated and how the U.S. government responded hold lessons for today as we continue to deal with the threat of terrorism.
Download or read book The Mob in Youngstown written by Thomas Hunt and published by Thomas Hunt. This book was released on 2022-11-01 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Murdertown," "Bombtown," "Crimetown." Through decades, the City of Youngstown, Ohio, has been branded with such painful nicknames, due in large part to the rackets, violence and corruption of organized crime in the region. The streets of Youngstown and other communities in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys of northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania have been bloodied through numerous shootings and stabbings and, during an especially disturbing period, a series of gruesome car-bombings. In too many cases, public officials and officers of the law were complicit in the criminal activity, profiting through bribery and graft. Some authorities who resisted corruption and attempted to perform their public duties found themselves the targets of underworld violence. In this November 2022 issue of Informer: The History of American Crime and Law Enforcement, we tackle the history of organized crime in Youngstown region, from the earliest reports of the 1890s through the apparent dissolution of the Mob presence more than a century later. It is a complex subject, as elements of at least four regional Mafia organizations and a persistent non-Mafia Calabrian organization, in addition to other criminal elements, all collided, cooperated, combined and clashed with each other at different times. This resulted in a wealth of interesting but often uncoordinated stories and personalities. Our strategy for dealing with the subject is to present a number of individual standalone articles on the more interesting of these stories, bringing to light the significant personalities, groups, areas and eras. The effort might be compared to the photographic “stitching” of a collection of images into a panorama. Readers will discover the secret criminal organizations behind names like "Society of Honor," "Sacred Circle" and "Society of the Banana" and will encounter such characters as "Fats" Aiello, Ernie Biondillo, Frank Cammarata, "Cadillac Charlie" Cavallaro, Joe Cutrone, "Tony Dope" Delsanter, Vince DeNiro, "Wolf" DiCarlo, "Big Jim" Falcone, Mike Farah, "Red" Giordano, "Big Dom" Mallamo, Dominick Moio, "Two-Gun Jimmy" Prato, Rocco Racco, Rocco Strange, Lenny Strollo, "Zebo" Zottola, along with the Barber brothers, the Carabbia brothers, the Naples brothers, the Romeo brothers and many more. While it is our hope that a coherent image of the history of Youngstown-area organized crime (and its connections to criminal entities outside the region) will emerge, we are concerned by the fact that some of our individual historical “snapshots” do not overlap with or even touch each other while others may overlap quite a bit. We hope that the obvious voids and repetitions will not be a great distraction and that, with some patience, our readers will be able to “get the picture.” Contributors to this Informer issue: James Barber, Justin Cascio, Margaret Janco, Thom L. Jones, Michael A. Tona, Edmond Valin and Thomas Hunt
Download or read book Informer The History of American Crime and Law Enforcement October 2021 written by Thomas Hunt and published by Thomas Hunt. This book was released on 2021-10-04 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Informer issue focuses on the mafiosi of California, particularly those who relocated to the Golden State after launching criminal careers in other regions. California-related articles include: - Trail of blood: Mafia murder of Barnett Baff linked Corleone, East Harlem and the ghettos of Los Angeles; - Sam Streva and the 'San Pedro gang'; - Was DeJohn a victim of Cheese War? - Golden State often unfriendly to transplanted mobsters; - San Francisco boss Lanza held key role with Colorado's Mafia; - New Orleans connection to San Francisco Mafia. Other articles in this issue: - Reinhold Engel: Forgotten leader of a big-time robbery gang; - Another, other Gentile family; - Police rarely appear on U.S. postage; - New York revolutions in policing and crime.
Download or read book Politics Police and Crime in New York During Prohibition written by Francesco Landolfi and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-07-22 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book aims to highlight the causes why the Prohibition Era led to an evolution of the New York mob from a rural, ethnic and small-scale to an urban, American and wide-scale crime. The temperance project, advocated by the WASP elite since the early nineteenth century, turned into prohibition only after the end of WWI with the enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment. By considering the success that war prohibition made to the soldiers' psychophysical condition, Congress aimed to shift this political move even to civil society. So it was that the Italian, Irish and Jewish mobs took the chance to spread their bribe system to local politics due to the lucrative alcohol bootlegging. New York became the core of the national anti-prohibition, where the smuggling from Canada and Europe merged into the legendary Manhattan nightclubs and speakeasies. With the coming of the Great Depression, the Republican Party was aware about the failure of this political measure, leading to the making of a new corporate underworld. The book is addressed to historians of New York, historians of crime and historians of modern America as well as to an audience of readers interested in the history of the Prohibition Era.
Download or read book Deep Water written by Thomas Hunt and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2010-08-18 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Second Edition: Set in the Gilded Age of New Orleans, this historical biography conveys J.P. Macheca's epic life story, as it finally sets the record straight on the 1890 assassination of Police Chief David Hennessy and the 1891 Crescent City lynchings. A longtime street warrior for the corrupt and ruthless New Orleans Democratic machine, Macheca was also the patron of the fledgling American Mafia in southern Louisiana. His underworld connections brought him into conflict with Hennessy and ultimately cost him his life. Macheca and ten other men implicated in Hennessy's assassination were killed while held within Orleans Parish Prison. The incident is remembered as the largest lynching in American history. However, the authors argue that Macheca's life was ended not through the spontaneous rage of a lynch mob but through a calculated act of betrayal by Macheca's former friends and allies. As Macheca's life story unfolds, Deep Water examines the many momentous events of his time and place, including Civil War, federal occupation, Reconstruction, violent political and racial division. The authors illustrate the deliberate influence of the Democratic "Ring" on the growth of the Mafia criminal society, and they underline the inextricability of organized politics and organized crime in the period. Comments on the book's First Edition: "Deep Water is a worthy addition to the organized crime canon and the greater body of books on Civil War-era America." - Scott M. Deitche, author and Blogcritics reviewer. "Deep Water is a memorable reading experience... This book will force a reassessment of a famous event in the history of American organized crime." - Dr. Peter Dale Scott, author. SILVER MEDAL winner, regional nonfiction category, 2008 Independent Publisher Book Awards.
Download or read book Miscarriages of Justice in Potentially Capital Cases written by Hugo Adam Bedau and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Informer The History of American Crime and Law Enforcement October 2020 written by Thomas Hunt and published by Thomas Hunt. This book was released on 2020-10-19 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Issue focuses on Nicola "Nick" Gentile, Mafia leader in U.S. and Sicily, author of 1963 tell-all autobiography. Informer provides Gentile's entire life story, building on original research by Mafia history experts, balancing Gentile's self-serving and self-aggrandizing autobiographical work with verifiable history, correcting misinformation and filling in wide gaps left in his personal account. In addition to studying Gentile's life and career, Informer provides biographical information for dozens of individuals who contributed in interesting ways to his life story. Also in this issue: - 1900s Mafia feuds in Los Angeles, - Book excerpts, - Book announcements, - COVID-19's impact on Mafia, - Obituary. Contributors: Thomas Hunt, David Critchley, Steve Turner, Lennert van't Riet, Richard N. Warner, Justin Cascio, Sam Carlino, Michael O'Haire, Jon Black, Margaret Janco, Bill Feather, Christian Cipollini.
Download or read book Dicarlo written by Thomas Hunt and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2013-07 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume II. DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime is the historical biography of Mafioso Joseph J. DiCarlo, once known as "the Al Capone of Buffalo" and as western New York's "Public Enemy No. 1." Son of the region's first known Sicilian underworld boss, DiCarlo was rejected as heir to his father's criminal empire. After spending troubled years as a vassal of the influential Stefano Magaddino, DiCarlo and his underlings wandered, seeking their fortunes in Youngstown, Ohio, and Miami Beach, Florida, before returning home to witness the bloody disintegration of western New York's Mafia organization. The authors utilize DiCarlo's colorful and violent life story as a window into the history of the powerful Magaddino Crime Family and the American Mafia network, while chronicling the parallels between the life of DiCarlo and the history of the criminal organization that was founded by his father. "This is, truly, the definitive piece about the Buffalo Mafia." - Lee Coppola, award-winning Buffalo journalist.
Download or read book The Origin of Organized Crime in America written by David Critchley and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2008-09-15 with total page 601 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While the later history of the New York Mafia has received extensive attention, what has been conspicuously absent until now is an accurate and conversant review of the formative years of Mafia organizational growth. David Critchley examines the Mafia recruitment process, relations with Mafias in Sicily, the role of non-Sicilians in New York’s organized crime Families, kinship connections, the Black Hand, the impact of Prohibition, and allegations that a "new" Mafia was created in 1931. This book will interest Historians, Criminologists, and anyone fascinated by the American Mafia.
Download or read book The First Family written by Mike Dash and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-06-09 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, there was the one-fingered, cunning Giuseppe Morello and his murderous coterie of brothers. Had it not been for Morello, the world may never have heard of 'men of honour', the code of omertaor Mafia wars. This explosive book tells the story of the first family of New York, and how this extended close-knit clan of racketeers and murderers left the backwaters of Sicily to successfully establish themselves as the founding godfathers of the New World. First Family will explain in thrilling, characterful detail how the American Mafia established itself so successfully. Combining strong narrative and raw violence - set against the raucous bustle of early twentieth-century New York, and the impoverished rural life of nineteenth-century Sicily - this impeccably researched, groundbreaking study of a crucial period of American history is a compelling portrait of the early years of organised crime.
Download or read book The Death Penalty written by Ernest Van den Haag and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-06-29 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From 1965 until 1980, there was a virtual moratorium on executions for capital offenses in the United States. This was due primarily to protracted legal proceedings challenging the death penalty on constitutional grounds. After much Sturm und Drang, the Supreme Court of the United States, by a divided vote, finally decided that "the death penalty does not invariably violate the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment." The Court's decisions, however, do not moot the controversy about the death penalty or render this excellent book irrelevant. The ball is now in the court of the Legislature and the Executive. Leg islatures, federal and state, can impose or abolish the death penalty, within the guidelines prescribed by the Supreme Court. A Chief Executive can commute a death sentence. And even the Supreme Court can change its mind, as it has done on many occasions and did, with respect to various aspects of the death penalty itself, durlog the moratorium period. Also, the people can change their minds. Some time ago, a majority, according to reliable polls, favored abolition. Today, a substantial majority favors imposition of the death penalty. The pendulum can swing again, as it has done in the past.
Download or read book Rogue Mobster written by Mark Silverman and published by . This book was released on 2015-04-29 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mark Silverman grew up in the Boston underworld, under the tutelage of the Winter Hill Gang in Somerville, and the inner circle of the Boston faction of the Patriarca Mafia family. Rogue Mobster is a firsthand account of the violent Boston mob wars of the 1990s, when bodies were piling up across New England and Mark was walking a tightrope between Winter Hill and the Mafia. An amazing journey through the underworld of New England/Boston/Providence/Rhode Island/Massachusettes and the various crews of LCN & the Winter Hill Gang. Irish gangsters and Men of Respect operating in close proximity yet each respecting the other while everyone makes a dollar. This is not your, "run of the mill" tale or the same old story and names just re-arranged. "Rogue Mobster" tells the story of a young up and comer, with connections to the Irish Winter Hill Crew that can be compared to those that Henry Hill had in "Goodfellas". As a youth surrounded by top gangsters, both of Irish and Italian heritage, this half Sicilian, 1/4 Jewish and 1/4 Portugese, makes his way through the treacherous days of the New England Mafia wars; the young renegades who feel that the old regime's time has come and gone, and now want their turn running things as well as the diabolical two faced James "Whitey" Bulger and his Federal Bureau boys. Tumultous times to say the least, add into the mix the fact that the recognized leaders of LCN tap Mark to be their eyes and ears, due to his business proximity with the renegades and the fact that he himself is an up and comer, earning with both hands and enjoying himself along the way. As the saying goes, "keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer", this is a lesson that Mark always kept in mind, and it helped save him while out in the streets making a living. This is not your usual organized crime novel, it's material is refreshing and the facts/details he divulges are a change of pace from the average book. If you are a true crime fan, this is a must read, not much is published about the Winter Hill Gang so be ready for some new names and the 'usual' ones also.
Download or read book The Mob and the City written by C. Alexander Hortis and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2014-05-06 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forget what you think you know about the Mafia. After reading this book, even life-long mob aficionados will have a new perspective on organized crime. Informative, authoritative, and eye-opening, this is the first full-length book devoted exclusively to uncovering the hidden history of how the Mafia came to dominate organized crime in New York City during the 1930s through 1950s. Based on exhaustive research of archives and secret files obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, author and attorney C. Alexander Hortis draws on the deepest collection of primary sources, many newly discovered, of any history of the modern mob. Shattering myths, Hortis reveals how Cosa Nostra actually obtained power at the inception. The author goes beyond conventional who-shot-who mob stories, providing answers to fresh questions such as: * Why did the Sicilian gangs come out on top of the criminal underworld? * Can economics explain how the Mafia families operated? * What was the Mafia's real role in the drug trade? * Why was Cosa Nostra involved in gay bars in New York since the 1930s? Drawing on an unprecedented array of primary sources, The Mob and the City is the most thorough and authentic history of the Mafia's rise to power in the early-to-mid twentieth century.
Download or read book Mafias on the Move written by Federico Varese and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-02-24 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Organized crime is spreading like a global virus as mobs take advantage of open borders to establish local franchises at will. This book argues that mafiosi often find themselves abroad against their will, rather than through a strategic plan to colonizethe territories.
Download or read book Gangsters and Organized Crime in Buffalo written by Michael F. Rizzo and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2012-06-12 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Take a tour of Buffalo, NY's mobster and mafia history. Local mob expert reveals gangsters' stories, hangouts and more. Buffalo has housed its fair share of thugs and mobsters. Besides common criminals and bank robbers, a powerful crime family headed by local boss Stefano Magaddino emerged in the 1920s. Close to Canada, Niagara Falls and Buffalo were perfect avenues through which to transport booze, and Magaddino and his Mafiosi maintained a stranglehold on the city until his death in 1974. Local mob expert Michael Rizzo takes a tour of Buffalo's mafia exploits everything from these brutal gangsters' favorite hangouts to secret underground tunnels to murder.
Download or read book The Deadly Don written by Anthony M. DeStefano and published by Citadel Press. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pulizter Prize-winning journalist Anthony M. DeStefano’s latest in-depth history of organized crime exposes the truth behind the mafia crew that took down John Gotti. THE BOSS OF BOSSES Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anthony M. DeStefano exposes the rise and fall of Vito Genovese in this first comprehensive biography of the legendary mafioso—from his childhood in Naples, Italy, and the beginnings of his bullet-ridden criminal career on lower Manhattan’s mean streets, through his self-exile in the mid-1930s back to his homeland where he ran a black market operation under the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, and his return to New York where Genovese made a fortune as the head of an illegal narcotics empire. As a member of Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria’s gang in New York City, Genovese ran rackets before joining forces with Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Meyer Lansky, and Bugsy Siegel as bootleggers during Prohibition. He helped orchestrate Masseria’s slaughter on behalf of Brooklyn crime lord Salvatore Maranzano, consolidating his position and power before ensuring Maranzano, too, was knocked off. For the next three decades, Vito Genovese—shrewd, merciless, and utterly savage—killed countless gangsters in his bid to become the capo di tutti i capi—boss of bosses—in the American Mafia. Don Vito would betray some of the mafia’s most notorious bosses, including Albert Anastasia and Frank Costello, to eventually seize control of the Luciano crime family, one that still bears the Genovese name today. Praise for Anthony M. DeStefano’s Gotti’s Boys “DeStefano explores John Gotti’s rise to the head of the Gambino family . . . Aficionados are sure to relish the finer, exhaustively researched details.” —Publishers Weekly “A thrilling ride . . . DeStefano has written another excellent biography of a memorable group of gangsters and an excellent addition to the history of the Teflon Don.” —Booklist
