1986 in organized crime

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John Gotti American mobster

John Joseph Gotti Jr. was an American gangster and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambino boss Paul Castellano in December 1985 and took over the family shortly thereafter, becoming boss of what has been described as America's most powerful crime syndicate.

Vincent Gigante American boxer and mobster

Vincent Louis Gigante, also known as "the Chin", was an American mobster who was boss of the Genovese crime family in New York City from 1981 to 2005. Gigante started out as a professional boxer who fought in 25 matches between 1944 and 1947. He then started working as a Mafia enforcer for what was then the Luciano crime family, forerunner of the Genovese family. Gigante was one of five brothers; three of them, Mario, Pasquale, and Ralph, followed him into the Mafia. Only one brother, Louis, stayed out of the crime family, instead becoming a priest. Gigante was the shooter in the failed assassination of longtime Luciano boss Frank Costello in 1957. In 1959, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for drug trafficking, and after sharing a prison cell with Costello's rival, Vito Genovese, Gigante became a caporegime overseeing his own crew of Genovese soldiers and associates who operated out of Greenwich Village.

Gambino crime family Italian-American organized crime group

The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. The group, which went through five bosses between 1910 and 1957, is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963, when the structure of organized crime first gained public attention. The group's operations extend from New York and the eastern seaboard to California. Its illicit activities include labor and construction racketeering, gambling, loansharking, extortion, money laundering, prostitution, fraud, hijacking, and fencing.

Carmine Persico

Carmine John Persico Jr., also known as "Junior", "The Snake" and "Immortal", was an American mobster and the long-time boss of the Colombo crime family in New York City from 1973 until his death in 2019. He was serving a total of 139 years in federal prison from 1987 until his death on March 7, 2019.

The Mafia Commission Trial was a criminal trial before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in New York City, United States, that lasted from February 25, 1985, until November 19, 1986. Using evidence obtained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 11 organized crime figures, including the heads of New York's so-called "Five Families," were indicted by United States Attorney Rudolph Giuliani under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) on charges including extortion, labor racketeering, and murder. Eight of them were convicted under RICO, and most of them were sentenced to 100 years in prison on January 13, 1987, the maximum possible sentence under that law.

The Five Families is the organization of the five major New York City organized crime families of the Italian American Mafia formed in 1931 by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War.

Colombo crime family One of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, US

The Colombo crime family is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was during Lucky Luciano's organization of the American Mafia after the Castellammarese War, and the assassinations of Giuseppe "Joe The Boss" Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano, that the gang run by Joseph Profaci was recognized as the Profaci crime family.

This article is about events in organized crime in 1984.

Vittorio "Little Vic" Amuso is an American New York mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family. He was described as a "Deadly Don" by Assistant United States Attorney Charles Rose. Amuso's reign is considered one of the bloodiest periods in American Mafia history during the late 1980s and early 1990s, alongside his former underboss and close protégé Anthony Casso, who turned informer against him in 1994. Since the death of Colombo crime family boss Carmine Persico in March 2019, Amuso is currently the longest-serving crime family boss of the Five Families and American Mafia, dating back to 1987. Amuso has been serving a life sentence since 1992 and is currently allocated at the Federal Correctional Institution, Cumberland, in Maryland, on murder and racketeering charges.

Michael DiLeonardo is a former Italian-American mobster turned government informant. He was a capo belonging to the Gambino family. In the early 2000s, DiLeonardo decided to cooperate with the FBI and managed to convict over 80 mobsters. He was temporarily in a witness protection program.

The Commission (American Mafia) Governing body of the American Mafia

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 the Buffalo crime family. The purpose of the Commission was to oversee all Mafia activities in the United States and serve to mediate conflicts among families.

Lucchese crime family One of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, US

The Lucchese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia.

The Genovese crime family's New Jersey faction is a group of Italian-American mobsters within the Genovese crime family who control organized crime activities within the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey faction is divided into multiple crews each led by a different caporegimes who oversees illegal criminal activities in labor racketeering, illegal gambling, loansharking and extortion. Since the prohibition era the Genovese family's New Jersey faction has maintained a strong presence in the Northern Jersey area. A number of members within the New Jersey faction like Guarino "Willie" Moretti, Gerardo "Jerry" Catena and Louis "Bobby" Manna have held top leadership positions in the Genovese family. From the 1990s until his death in 2010, Tino "the Greek" Fiumara was one of the most powerful capos in the New Jersey faction.