Charlie
Luciano,
the son of a sulphur miner, was born in Lercara Friddi, Sicily, on
11th November, 1896. His family moved to the United States in 1906
and they settled in New York. Luciano left school at fourteen and
got a job as a shipping clerk. He also sold drugs and in 1915 was
arrested in the possession of several kilos of heroin.
After his release from prison, Luciano returned to crime and in 1920
became a member of the gang headed by Joe
Masseria. By 1925 Luciano was Masseria's second in command, directing
bootlegging, prostitution and drug distribution. In 1929 open warfare
broke out between Masseria and a rival gang led by Salvatore
Maranzano. Luciano was kidnapped by Maranzano's men and after
being stabbed with an ice pick, had his throat cut and was left for
dead on Staten Island beach. Luciano actually survived the attack
and afterwards was always known as Lucky Luciano.
In April 1931, Luciano and two other gang members, Albert
Anastasia and Bugsy Siegel, were
involved in the murder of their leader, Joe
Masseria. Six months later, with the help of Meyer
Lansky, Luciano arranged the killing of Salvatore
Maranzano. Luciano was now the most important criminal boss in
New York. He also joined with Louis Lepke
Buchalter, Abe Reles and
Albert Anastasia to form what became known as Murder Incorporated,
an organisation that carried out executions for money.
Fiorello La Guardia, the mayor of New
York, instructed New York's special prosecutor, Thomas
Dewey, to investigate Luciano's business interests. By 1936 he
had enough evidence of Luciano's illegal activities and he was arrested
and charged with various offences concerning prostitution and extortion.
He was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. However,
Luciano continued to control his criminal empire from prison, and
in 1942, helped the United States government deal with acts of sabotage
that were taking place in New York Harbor.
In February, 1946, Thomas Dewey, now governor
of New York, decided to commute Luciano's sentence and deport him
to Italy. He lived in Rome for a short-period but by 1947 was running
his criminal activities from Cuba. The United States government managed
to persuade the Cuban authorities to send him back to Italy. Charlie
Lucky Luciano died of a heart attack in Naples on 26th January, 1962.
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