The Gambino Family Case Study

In 1957, the rise of the most powerful crime family began in America with the murder of Albert Anastasia in Manhattan, New York. The murder was said to be planned by Carlo Gambino, who is a direct descendant of members of the Italian Mafioso, in an effort to take over Anastasia’s illegal and illicit enterprises. The Gambino family expanded its organization from New York and the east coast to the shores of California. The group is named after the boss of the famous crime family, Carlo Gambino. They were involved in many illicit activities that included construction and labor racketeering, loansharking, extortion, gambling, murder for hire, prostitution, money laundering, toxic and solid waste dumping violations, fraud and wire fraud,

The family is part of a nation-wide criminal network known as the “Mafia”, or “Cosa Nostra”. Prior to Carlo Gambino taking over, another individual was the man in charge. His name was Salvatore D’Aquila and was originally a member of another gang. When the leaders were arrested, convicted, and sentenced, D’Aquila realized the gang was in rough shape so he split off to create his own gang in East Harlem, which turned out to be the beginning of the Gambino Family (American Mafia History, 2017). Beginning in 1963, the structure of organized crime gained a public audience, and not in a good way. The group’s operations extended from New York to California, and “families” were battling to see who could be the most powerful in America. Carlo Gambino was central in the orchestration of plans that would kill in order to take control of their “families” ("Gambino",

During his reign, Carlos increased the families profit level immensely (Crime Museum, 2017). According to (“American Mafia History”, 2017), “over his reign the Gambino family gained a strong influence over the construction industry. They influenced the Teamsters and unions that controlled the building materials of New York” (para 17). White collar activities that involved construction schemes and embezzlement were other areas the Gambino’s controlled in this industry (American Mafia, 2017). Over time, the Gambino family, along with other families in the Italian-American Mafia, controlled organized crime as well as legitimate businesses. Some of the various business interests they controlled include airports, bars, car dealerships, casinos, clubs, corporations, horse racing, hotels, loan sharking, major companies, music industry, politics, politicians, restaurants, sports, and the stock market. They also control many other illegal and legitimate businesses across the world, as well as in the United States (Mafia Wiki, n.d.).