1961 in organized crime

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Valachi</span> American mobster (1904–1971)

Joseph Michael Valachi was an American mobster in the Genovese crime family who was the first member of the Italian-American Mafia to acknowledge its existence publicly in 1963. He is credited with the popularization of the term cosa nostra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vito Genovese</span> Italian-American mobster (1897–1969)

Vito Genovese was an Italian-born American mobster of the American Mafia. A childhood friend and criminal associate of the legendary Lucky Luciano, Genovese took part in the Castellammarese War and helped Luciano shape the new American Mafia's rise as a major force in organized crime in the United States. He would later lead Luciano's crime family, which would in 1957 be renamed by the FBI as the Genovese Crime Family after its then boss Vito.

The Havana Conference of 1946 was a historic meeting of United States Mafia and Cosa Nostra leaders in Havana, Cuba. Supposedly arranged by Charles "Lucky" Luciano, the conference was held to discuss important mob policies, rules, and business interests. The Havana Conference was attended by delegations representing crime families throughout the United States. The conference was held during the week of December 22, 1946, at the Hotel Nacional. The Havana Conference is considered to have been the most important mob summit since the Atlantic City Conference of 1929. Decisions made in Havana resonated throughout US crime families during the ensuing decades.

The Genovese crime family, also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American Mafia. The Genovese family has generally maintained a varying degree of influence over many of the smaller mob families outside New York, including ties with the Philadelphia, Cleveland, Patriarca, and Buffalo crime families.

The Apalachin meeting was a historic summit of the American Mafia held at the home of mobster Joseph "Joe the Barber" Barbara, at 625 McFall Road in Apalachin, New York, on November 14, 1957. Allegedly, the meeting was held to discuss various topics including loansharking, narcotics trafficking, and gambling, along with dividing the illegal operations controlled by the recently murdered Albert Anastasia. An estimated 100 Mafiosi from the United States, Italy, and Cuba are thought to have attended this meeting. Immediately after the Anastasia murder that October, and after taking control of the Luciano crime family from Frank Costello, Vito Genovese wanted to legitimize his new power by holding a national Cosa Nostra meeting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Five Families</span> Five major New York City organized crime families of the Italian American Mafia

The Five Families refer to five Italian American Mafia crime families that operate in New York City. In 1931, the five families were organized by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John C. Montana</span> American politician

John C. Montana was a Buffalo, New York labor racketeer, political fixer, and elected politician who eventually became the underboss and/or consigliere of the Buffalo crime family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam DeStefano</span> American mobster

Samuel "Mad Sam" DeStefano was an American mobster who was associated with the Chicago Outfit. He was one of the organization's most notorious loan sharks and sociopathic killers. Chicago-based Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents, such as William F. Roemer Jr., considered DeStefano to be the worst torture-murderer in the history of the United States. The Outfit used the mentally unstable and sadistic DeStefano for the torture-murders of Leo Foreman and Arthur Adler, the murder of DeStefano's younger brother, Michael DeStefano, and many others. At least one Outfit insider, Charles Crimaldi, claimed DeStefano was a devil worshipper.

The Commission is the governing body of the American Mafia, formed in 1931 by Charles "Lucky" Luciano following the Castellammarese War. The Commission replaced the title of capo di tutti i capi, held by Salvatore Maranzano before his murder, with a ruling committee that consists of the bosses of the Five Families of New York City, as well as the bosses of the Chicago Outfit and, at various times, the leaders of smaller families, such as Buffalo, Philadelphia, Detroit, and others. The purpose of the Commission was to oversee all Mafia activities in the United States and serve to mediate conflicts among families.

Alberto and Vito Agueci, also known as the Agueci brothers, were Sicilian mafiosi who were involved in the French Connection heroin smuggling ring from Europe into the United States and Canada during the late 1950s and early 1960s, closely connected to Hamilton, Ontario mobster Johnny Papalia and the Buffalo crime family.

<i>The Valachi Papers</i> (film) 1972 film by Terence Young

The Valachi Papers is a 1972 neo noir crime film directed by Terence Young. It is an adaptation of the 1968 non-fiction book of the same name by Peter Maas, with a screenplay by Stephen Geller. It tells the story of Joseph Valachi, a Mafia informant in the early 1960s who was the first ever mafioso to acknowledge the organization's existence. The film stars Charles Bronson as Valachi and Lino Ventura as crime boss Vito Genovese, with Jill Ireland, Walter Chiari, Joseph Wiseman, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Guido Leontini, Amedeo Nazzari, Fausto Tozzi, Pupella Maggio, and Angelo Infanti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffalo crime family</span> Organized crime group based in New York, US

The Buffalo crime family, also known as the Magaddino crime family, the Todaro crime family, the New York State crime family, the Buffalo Mafia, the Upstate New York Mafia, and the Arm, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Buffalo, New York. Criminal investigators assert that the family operates throughout Western New York, Erie, Pennsylvania, and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The Buffalo family is purported to hold strong connections with the Hamilton-based Luppino and Papalia families. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the current boss of the Buffalo crime family is Joseph A. "Big Joe" Todaro Jr., having assumed the role after his father, Joseph E. "Lead Pipe Joe" Todaro Sr., retired.

The Lucchese crime family is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. Members refer to the organization as the Lucchese borgata; borgata is Mafia slang for criminal gang, which itself was derived from a Sicilian word meaning close-knit community. The members of other crime families sometimes refer to Lucchese family members as "Lukes".

The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian-American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group.

The Bonanno crime family is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City as part of the criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia.

This is a list of organized crime in the 1890s, arranged chronologically.

This is a list of organized crime in the 1900s, arranged chronologically.

This is a list of organized crime in the 1930s, arranged chronologically.

This is a list of organized crime in the 1950s, arranged chronologically.