Jr: 1643 books

Domenico Raccuglia was second in line in the Sicilian Repubblica hierarchy when he was arrested by Carabinieri in 1999. Charged with multiple crimes he was involved in the kidnapping of an informant's son. The youth was killed following an extensive captivity. Beginning in 1996 Raccuglia was on Italy's...

Ciro Terranova was known as the artichoke king because of his dominance of the artichoke market in New York City. A Sicilian he came to America with his family in 1893. Ciro was one of three brothers who were involved in organized crime. My e-book looks at several incidents in Terranova's life...

The Magaddino crime family of Buffalo/Niagara Falls, New York was controlled by brothers Stefano and Antonio Magaddino. The siblings managed illicit criminal activity that extended from western New York to southern Ontario and the Ohio Valley. The Magaddinos were heavily involved in narcotics and...

Thomas Pitera is a unique Mafioso, a man who rose to significant heights as a Bonanno family hitman. His most well-known murder was carried out for John "the Teflon Don" Gotti. The assassination of Willie Boy Johnson outside of his Brooklyn residence was carried out by Pitera and accomplices. Johnson,...

Anthony Spilotro was an integral lynch pin in the Chicago Mafia. His criminal career began in 1955 when he stole from a Cook County haberdashery. "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio tutored Spilotro, employing him as an enforcer. In the early 1970s "Anthony the Ant" moved on to Las Vegas...

Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli took his name from a boxer of the early 20th century. His brother was known as "Patsy Ryan". Tommy came up as a bootlegger in the 1920s and 1930s. He made the acquaintance of Anthony "Tony Bender" Strollo while living in Greenwich Village. Strollo brought Eboli along in the...

Joseph Laratro was a Lucchese crime family member who spent his career in the gambling and betting rackets. As early as 1939 he was arrested for possession of policy slips in an illegal numbers racket. He was also cited for running slot machines for illegal purposes. He was one of thirty-nine men...

The Colombo crime family is one of five major Mafia families in New York City. The youngest of the syndicate organizations in NYC the Colombos evolved during the breakup of the old Joe Profaci family. Profaci controlled an organization of his own following the conclusion of the Castellammarese War...

Vito Guarino was an Ozone, Queens based mobster associated with the murder for hire Brooklyn outfit, Murder Inc. For years Murder Inc. operated out of the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. Led by Louis Lepke Buchalter and Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, the criminal organization was the first nationwide...

Samuel Valente's criminal record dated to 1923. He served six years of a prison sentence for dealing narcotics before being paroled in 1946. In 1947 the subject of Valente's impending deportation was taken up by a United States House Subcommittee. Representative William Thomas Byrne of Valente's Rensselaer...

Gaetano Thomas Lucchese worked his way up in the ranks of organized crime during the years before the Castellammarese War of 1929-1931. Lucchese was a hit man for Tommaso Gagliano and others. An early conviction for auto theft in 1922 is perhaps the only time Lucchese was imprisoned for any length...

Early on Alphonse Attardi was a soldier in Salvatore D'Aquila's crime family. As a young man he was initiated into the Mafia in Sicily before coming to the United States around 1919. After D'Aquila's death in 1928 Attardi joined the Maranzano family which eventually became the...

Carmine Galante died a violent death while enjoying a meal at a favorite Italian Restaurant in Brooklyn, New York. My e-book describes the murder of Galante and two others on July 12, 1979. I also look extensively at Galante's criminal career beginning with the murder of anti-Fascist editor,...

The early 1930s were a period of investigation of corruption in politics and police departments. A commission led by Judge Samuel Seabury was especially active in New York City. By September 1932 its revelations forced the resignation of Mayor James J. "Jimmy" Walker. This was an era of...