The Mafia Extorts.... The U.S.Navy!

[PoliticalChic]

This is quite a story.....Let's begin with Charles 'Lucky' Luciano


Lucky Luciano was the Mafia.

1. If one's only knowledge of the Mafia is "The Godfather" series, well, close enough.
""Luciano is believed to have been one of the models for Vito Corleone and Michael Corleone as the life stories of both characters share similarities with Luciano's biography including Luciano being diagnosed with smallpox upon his arrival in the United States." Lucky Luciano - The Godfather Wiki - The Godfather Mafia Marlon Brando Al Pacino Mario Puzo and more

a "Charles "Lucky" Luciano ... was a Sicilian-born Americanmobster. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first Commission. He was the first official boss of the modern Genovese crime family. He was, along with his associate Meyer Lansky, instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate in the United States." Lucky Luciano - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia




2. Luciano and the Mafia had a nemesis....Thomas Dewey, district attorney of the county of New York. "Dewey was a moralist and a sworn enemy of every lawbreaker in the city. His fight against the Cosa Nostra was carried out not in the name of morality alone but also had utilitarian objectives.

The stream of dollars produced by the Mafia had helped fatten labor unions, and from there a considerable number of Democratic politicians. If he could stop that flow of money, he would also dampen the Democrats' extravagant political campaigns.....some years later he was nominated as the Republican candidate for president."
From the novel "The Prince," by Vito Bruschini, p.327.
[Memo to Bill's wife]




3. Dewey couldn't find a way to charge Luciano with drugs, murder, or a sundry of other crimes....but he was able to talk enough prostitutes into testifying....


a. "The untouchable Luciano contemptuously laughed off the newspaper reports that Dewey intended to nail him.... in early April... extradited to New York to stand trial on charges that he controlled the city's $12 million-a-year vice operations. ... LUCIANO WAS mortified. He was a gentleman, he sputtered; he had nothing to do with the flesh rackets.... Dewey and his racket busters had spent months raiding bordellos, jailing dozens of whores and leaning on them for testimony. A parade of colorful floozies with such names as "Jenny the Factory" and "Cokey Flo Brown" took the stand to drop hints that "the boss" was somebody named "Charlie.... his own worst witness, though, crumbling under Dewey's sneering cross-examination, letting himself get caught in one untruth after another.."
LESSER RACKET GETTING LUCKY MAY-JUNE 1936 CHAPTER 118 - NY Daily News


b. "[Republican] Dewey and his team—which included Eunice Carter, the first African-American woman to serve as a New York assistant district attorney—convinced 68 of the women to testify against Luciano and his associates. Witnesses included such memorable characters as Cokey Flo Brown, who recalled Luciano pledging to “organize cathouses just like the A&P [supermarket chain].” The famous mobster was charged with 62 counts of compulsory prostitution and sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison. Nonetheless, he continued to play a key role in La Cosa Nostra’s management structure while behind bars and after his 1946 deportation to Italy." Major Mob Busts in U.S. History History in the Headlines



So....how did the Mafia blackmail the United States Government?

Stay tuned.

 

[JoeB131]

Okay, more Political Spice Crazy, coming soon.

Reality check. Luciano got a pass because he provided valuable services during WWII.

Of course, the real problem is that the Mafia engages in things that shouldn't be crimes to start with. The worst thing we ever did to organize crime was end prohibition.

Prostitution, Gambling and Drugs should all be decriminalized. If you don't like those things, don't engage in them.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

I read Luciano's biography...the OP is spot on. In the end Dewey ended up going back on his word and Luciano's exile never ended.

 

[JoeB131]

I read Luciano's biography...the OP is spot on. In the end Dewey ended up going back on his word and Luciano's exile never ended.

So your complaint is we didn't keep our word to a murderer and criminal?

 

[SassyIrishLass]

I read Luciano's biography...the OP is spot on. In the end Dewey ended up going back on his word and Luciano's exile never ended.

So your complaint is we didn't keep our word to a murderer and criminal?

A deal is a deal. If the US government made the deal and Luciano delivered and the feds didn't follow through that was wrong. They knew what Luciano had done going in. Besides the charge he was in prison for was trumped up, it was over prostitution and Luciano was against it and rarely involved himself in it. However that doesn't take away the fact he was certainly guilty if far worse crimes.

 

[PoliticalChic]

I read Luciano's biography...the OP is spot on. In the end Dewey ended up going back on his word and Luciano's exile never ended.

Luciano....the most powerful of the Mafia dons.......able to co-opt the US government.


" The modern American Mafia took form under the leadership of Charles “Lucky” Luciano ... brought about fundamental changes to organized crime, setting up the Five Families to rule New York and establishing a National Crime Syndicate."
Charles Lucky Luciano - Facts Summary - HISTORY.com




4. "On May 13, 1936, Luciano's pandering trial began.[32]He was accused of being part of a massive prostitution ring ....

On June 7, 1936, Luciano was convicted on 62 counts of compulsory prostitution.[34]

On July 18, 1936, Luciano was sentenced to 30 to 50 years in state prison, ..." Lucky Luciano - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia



5. "On May 12, 1942, the mobster was removed from Dannemora prison and brought south to Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Comstock, a kinder, gentler place by prison standards. In return for a one-way ticket to Sicily after Luciano's sentence was served—a deal made good on after the war, when he was paroled in 1946..." Smoke Over Manhattan The Fate of the SS Normandie




Wait.....in 1936 he was sentenced to 30 to 50 years, ....and 6 years later given his pick of where he'd like to be incarcerated???

...and freed in 1946?



How'd he manage that?

He made the government an offer they couldn't refuse.

 

[G.T.]

Please stop airing my family business out on the boards.

Plenty of room in my cadillac.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Please stop airing my family business out on the boards.

Plenty of room in my cadillac.

I heard you lived in a van.

 

[G.T.]

Please stop airing my family business out on the boards.

Plenty of room in my cadillac.

I heard you lived in a van.

Your sources must be whack as fuck.

We knew that

 

[PoliticalChic]

Please stop airing my family business out on the boards.

Plenty of room in my cadillac.

I heard you lived in a van.

Your sources must be whack as fuck.

We knew that

You remain as articulate as ever.

Upon reading your posts, one would never be led to suspect you had any covert literary leanings.

 

[PoliticalChic]

To figure out that Luciano prison timeline.....time for a sea cruise!



6. Cruise Ship History: The French Line’s SS NORMANDIE. The greatest liner ever to sail “across the pond”!

"The Normandie was the fastest transoceanic vessel at that time, able to complete the Le Havre–New York crossing in just four and a half days, thanks to a speed of over thirty knots. The Normandi had docked in New York on August 28, 1939, a few days before the Nazi invasion of Poland, and had been laid up in port since Europe went to war.

Once the United States entered the war, the US Naval Command requisitioned the Normandie to convert it to a troop carrier. The vessel could transport up to twelve thousand combat-ready troops at a time, at a speed so fast it wouldn't even require an escort of torpedo boats. It was renamed the USS Lafayette."
Bruschini, Op. Cit., p.334.



a. "At 14:30 on 9 February 1942, sparks from a welding torch used by Clement Derrick ignited a stack of life vests filled with flammable kapok that had been stored in the first-class lounge.[55][56]The woodwork had not yet been removed, and the fire spread rapidly... Enemy sabotage was widely suspected, but a congressional investigation in the wake of the sinking, chaired by Congressman Patrick Henry Drewry(D-Virginia), concluded that the fire was completely accidental." SS Normandie - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Galaxy Rising



See the date?

 

[G.T.]

Please stop airing my family business out on the boards.

Plenty of room in my cadillac.

I heard you lived in a van.

Your sources must be whack as fuck.

We knew that

You remain as articulate as ever.

Upon reading your posts, one would never be led to suspect you had any covert literary leanings.

The structure of my post was grammatically correct; whereas, whomever taught you your terrible misuse of the outline format should likely be strung up by the ballsac and lit on fire in the Town Square.

After that, the body is DEFINITELY not seeing my Caddy. NO SIR NOT A CHANCE IN VADGONIA.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Remember this?

7. . "On May 12, 1942, the mobster was removed from Dannemora prison and brought south to Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Comstock, a kinder, gentler place by prison standards. In return for a one-way ticket to Sicily after Luciano's sentence was served—a deal made good on after the war, when he was paroled in 1946..."
Smoke Over Manhattan The Fate of the SS Normandie



And this?


8. "At 14:30 on 9 February 1942, sparks from a welding torch used by Clement Derrick ignited a stack of life vests filled with flammable kapok that had been stored in the first-class lounge.[55][56]The woodwork had not yet been removed, and the fire spread rapidly... Enemy sabotage was widely suspected, but a congressional investigation in the wake of the sinking, chaired by Congressman Patrick Henry Drewry(D-Virginia), concluded that the fire was completely accidental." SS Normandie - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia





One possibility....

"....fears about possible sabotage or disruption of the waterfront led Commander Charles R. Haffenden of the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) Third Naval District in New York to set up a special security unit. He sought the help of ... Charles Luciano who was an important boss of the five New York Mafia crime families. Luciano agreed to cooperate with authorities in hopes of consideration for early release from prison."
Operation Underworld - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

 

[JoeB131]

A deal is a deal. If the US government made the deal and Luciano delivered and the feds didn't follow through that was wrong. They knew what Luciano had done going in. Besides the charge he was in prison for was trumped up, it was over prostitution and Luciano was against it and rarely involved himself in it. However that doesn't take away the fact he was certainly guilty if far worse crimes.

Yes, he was. and any other country in the world would have taken him out and shot him for them.

We just deported his ass.

 

[PoliticalChic]

The version accepted by those who accept 'common knowledge'....


9. "Dewey stated “Upon the entry of the United States into the war, Luciano’s aid was sought by the Armed Services in inducing others to provide information concerning possible enemy attack. It appears that he cooperated in such effort, although the actual value of the information procured is not clear.”[10][7]Luciano was deported to his homeland Italy on February 9, 1946.[11]There was a media hype of Luciano’s role after his deportation. The syndicated columnist and radio broadcasterWalter Winchelleven reported in 1947 that Luciano would receive theMedal of Honorfor his secret services.[12]

... 2600-page report in 1954 that offered proof of Luciano’s involvement with the Navy without finding any wrongdoing by Dewey.[21]Naval officials reviewed the report and requested Dewey to not release it on the grounds that it would be a public-relations disaster for the Navy and it might detriment future similar war efforts. ....

Notable scholars of the topic such as Selwyn Raab and Tim Newark have questioned the effectiveness of the Mafia in their help during Operation Husky.[23][24] Raab states that Luciano could not have helped during the invasion of Sicily as he was out of touch with the Sicilian Mafia, and neither him nor the Cosa Nostra had any significant contribution to the Allied victory in Sicily." Collaborations between the United States government and Italian Mafia - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia



Hmmmmm......

Questions for the folks who accept the 'common knowledge'?


I'll provide the truth in a bit.....

 

[PoliticalChic]

So....did Luciano receive a pardon for being a hero of WWII?
Or as a payoff not to damage the war efforts?

"In 1951, the Kefauver Committee concluded that there was no reason to believe that Luciano had furnished any wartime services worthy of gubernatorial commutation."
"American Mafia: A History of Its Rise to Power." Thomas Reppetto, p.179



But he had this control ....
"The real name of Lucky Luciano was Salvatore Lucania.... a band of Sicilians were running the docks and had the power to protect or sabotage the efforts of the war."
Mafia: Capitalism and Democracy," by Aldo Gelso, p.99





So....what really happened?


10. "During WWII, Anastasia appears to have been the originator of a plan to free Luciano from prison by winning him a pardon for 'helping the war effort.' To accomplish the goal, Anastasia set out to create problems on the NY waterfront, so that the navy would agree to any kind of deal to stop sabotage.

The French luxury liner SS Normandie was in the process of being converted to a troop ship, burned and capsized in NY harbor. Anastasis was credited with ordering his brother, 'Tough Tony' [Anastasis] to carry out the sabotage."
" The Mafia Encyclopedia," by Carl Sifakis, p. 14.

 

[PoliticalChic]

So....did Luciano receive a pardon for being a hero of WWII?
Or as a payoff not to damage the war efforts?

"In 1951, the Kefauver Committee concluded that there was no reason to believe that Luciano had furnished any wartime services worthy of gubernatorial commutation."
"American Mafia: A History of Its Rise to Power." Thomas Reppetto, p.179



But he had this control ....
"The real name of LuckyLucianowas Salvatore Lucania.... a band of Sicilians were running the docks and had the power to protect or sabotage the efforts of the war."
Mafia: Capitalism and Democracy," by Aldo Gelso, p.99





So....what really happened?


10. "During WWII, Anastasia appears to have been the originator of a plan to free Luciano from prison by winning him a pardon for 'helping the war effort.'To accomplish the goal, Anastasia set out to create problems on the NY waterfront, so that the navy would agree to any kind of deal to stop sabotage.

The French luxury liner SS Normandie was in the process of being converted to a troop ship, burned and capsized in NY harbor. Anastasis was credited with ordering his brother, 'Tough Tony' [Anastasia] to carry out the sabotage."
" The Mafia Encyclopedia," by Carl Sifakis, p. 14.



Luciano received a 'get out of jail' car by blackmailing the United States government.

 

[PoliticalChic]

11. "Charles "Lucky" Luciano had been sitting in his jail cell in 1939 when the Normandie was moved from France to New York Harbor to keep it safe, hatching a plan with his visitors, mobsters Frank Costello, Meyer Lansky, and Moe Polakoff, to get him released from jail. Part of that plan involved the Normandie; it wasn't until the bombing of PearlHarbor, however, that Luciano's scheme began to take form.

Calling his three pals together again, he showed them a newspaper article in which the navy expressed concern about the possibility of Germans sabotaging ships in the harbor. It was Luciano's idea to create a "sabotage incident" and then fix it, so the U.S. Navy would come to him for help. Luciano would provide that help in exchange for a pardon from the man who sent him up the river, former prosecutor Thomas Dewey, ...

A month later, Frank Costello paid Luciano another visit, this time letting him know that fellow mobster Albert Anastasia had worked out a scheme with his brother "Tough" Tony, a major figure in the International Longshoremen's Association, to do something big that might involve the Normandie.

Now, in March 1942, with the famous ship destroyed and with Luciano still in jail, believing that Albert Anastasia had carried out his sabotage scheme, the navy arranged a meeting in [of the navy's chief of staff, Lieutenant Commander Charles Haffenden's] private office off the mezzanine of the Hotel Astor between the lieutenant commander this handshake agreement a strange marriage was sanctioned between the U.S. Navy and key players in the New York Mafia."
Smoke Over Manhattan The Fate of the SS Normandie




12. "Members of organized crime have retrospectively claimed that they indeed sabotaged the vessel. The alleged arson was organized by mobster Anthony Anastasio, who was a power in the local longshoreman's union, for the purpose of providing a pretext for the release from prison of mob boss Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Luciano's end of the bargain would be that he would ensure that there would be no further "enemy" sabotage in the ports where the mob had strong influence with the unions."

The evidence for this successful arson attack comes from Meyer Lansky and Luciano themselves."
See:Bondanella, Peter E (2004).Hollywood Italians: Dagos, Palookas, Romeos, Wise Guys, and Sopranos. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 200.ISBN 0-8264-1544-X.

and

....Gosch, Martin A; Hammer, Richard (1974).The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 260–262.