The Gambino Family Case Study

He forced the voters to vote for him under gunpoint. After being elected into office, he promoted Mafia Don Crispi as Prime Minister. Together the two put Sicily under government control and funneled government funds to the society known as the Mafia. In the 1800's, New Orleans was the largest Mafia site in the United States. It was while investigating the murder of an Italian immigrant that the current Police Chief, David Hennessey discovered the existence of this secret society.

Organized crime groups can manage to manipulate financial markets, labor unions and even legitimate industries. They bring drugs and raise violence they buy off officials and use extortion and intimidation to keep their unlegitimate enterprises afloat that include prostitution and human trafficking. They cause our countries millions because of fraud and financial scams. Global organized crime brings $1 trillion dollars into their pockets. It is believed that modern organized crime began in Italy in the 19th Century with the Sicilian group La Cosa Notra and other Sicilian mafia were more powerful than the Italian government.

The final example is that congress even had to get involved into the war against the mafia. “In 1970, Congress passed the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which proved to be a powerful tool in the government’s war on the Mafia.”(American Mafia US History) It’s obvious that the mafia has influenced our government in good and bad ways. From helping stop the spread of communism to influencing elections its obvious the mafia has played a bigger role in politics than most people realize. The selling of illegal substances, prostitution, and illegal gambling were some ... ... middle of paper ... ...er only hours after the assassination can only raise speculation to why the mafia was so quick to silence him. After the Cuban missile crisis America was very tense with Cuba.

Todays Mafia Although many arrests have been made, organized crime and the Mafia are still very active. Organized crime and its families, particularly the Italian mafia, have increased their illegal activities significantly over the past few decades. The Mafia and organized crime go hand and hand, one cannot be spoken without the other. Both of these forms of criminal actions have been recognized since the late 1800's, and police say it is not disappearing too fast. (Widener 6) Migration from Italy, has brought over many Italian criminals and crime tactics.

Many of immigrants came from economically downtrodden southern Italy, with many Mafia members in Sicily and Naples who were fleeing the rule of fascist Benito Mussolini, who began to crackdown on the Mafia in Italy. Although it became a separate coalition, the Cosa Nostra can trace its roots to the Sicilian Mafia, and other Italian criminal groups. The Mob, at its height, stretched from coast to coast, but was most active in New York, the crown-jewel of organized crime. It was a huge influence in other major metropolitan cities like New Jersey, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Florida, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Texas. In New York five families reigned supreme: the Gambino, Lucchese, Genovese, Bonanno and Colombo families.

“Don (term for the boss or head of a Mafia family) Vito Cascio Ferro fled to the United States in 1901 to escape arrest. He is known as the Father of American Mafia.” (La Cosa Nostra) Many Italian immigrants came to the United States through Ellis Island in New York, which is today the most important center of organized Mafia crime in the United States. The new American Mafia came to power during the Prohibition by organizing the sale of outlawed alcohol, but after Prohibition was revoked, the Mafia needed a new “racket.” During the war, the Mafia got government issued ration stamps and sold them on the black market. These days the Mafia is involved in running prostitution, unions, construction, and gambling. New York, also called the “City that never sleeps,” houses the Five Families of New York.

The Mafia was largely made up by 24 separate groups of Italian families. The Italian based mob originated from Sicilian immigrants who brought the idea of the Mafia with them to America and arose as "Cosa Nostra". Italy made a movement against Mafiosi, or members of the Mafia, in Sicily causing many to flee to the United States and eventually join the Cosa Nostra ( MafAm 7). Many members, including notable figures such as Frank Costello, Al Capone and Luciano were involved in some level of organized crime prior to entry into the organization. Additionally there was an attitude against education.

When someone thinks of the Mafia, they think of Prohibition, drugs, money and Al Capone. What people do not immediately think of is the affect the mafia had on society. The most recognized affect to society came with the repeal of the 18th amendment. The appeal was heavily related to the Mafia because of their contribution to the rise in organized crime. The Mafia was more than just an influential group of the 1920’s and 1930’s because it contributed to society in the past and continues to affect the present.

The Mafia way of life may seem like a romantic updated version of the western movie played out on the streets of the big cities where the good guys and the wise guys who share the same instincts and values do battle before an enthralled public but it is actually very different. The Mafia is really just a group of uneducated thugs making money by victimizing the public. Initially, the Mafia was setup as a prominent supplier of bootlegged liquor, but it has spread into many different areas of crime. During this research paper I will discuss three aspects of the Mafia which are crime, structure and decline in leadership. The Mob siphons off public funds, rigs contracts, corrupts unions which many hard working people with legitimate jobs are a part of, smuggles drugs, and runs illegal gambling rings.

History of the American Mafia Imagine living in a world where crime ruled. A world where gangsters were more powerful than politicians, owned the police, and ran the city in whatever way they felt. They robbed whom they wanted and killed when they didn't get their way. Now stop imagining and realize that this happened here in the United States of America in the 1920's. It was run by an organization made up mainly of Italians called the Mafia.