Highly organized Italian-American crime related society
Criminal organization
American Mafia Founded 1868; 156 years ago (1868 ) [ 1] Founding location New York City , New Jersey , Philadelphia , Chicago , Detroit , New Orleans , Boston , and various other Northeastern and Midwestern cities in the United StatesYears active Since the mid-19th century Territory Ethnicity
Full members ("made men ") are of Italian descent[ 2]
Other criminals of any ethnicity are employed as associates
Membership (est.) Over 3,000 members and associates[ 3] Activities Racketeering, illegal gambling, loan sharking, extortion, drug trafficking, labor union corruption, business infiltration, political corruption, money laundering, fraud, theft, counterfeiting, smuggling, weapons trafficking, kidnapping, assault, murder, bombing, arson, prostitution and pornography[ 4] Allies Rivals
The American Mafia ,[ 23] [ 24] [ 25] commonly referred to in North America as the Italian-American Mafia , the Mafia , or the Mob ,[ 23] [ 24] [ 25] is a highly organized Italian-American criminal society and organized crime group. The terms Italian Mafia and Italian Mob apply to these US-based organizations, as well as the separate yet related Sicilian Mafia or other organized crime groups in Italy , or ethnic Italian crime groups in other countries. These organizations are often referred to by its members as Cosa Nostra (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkɔːza ˈnɔstra, ˈkɔːsa -] , "Our Thing" or "This Thing of Ours") and by the American government as La Cosa Nostra (LCN ). The organization's name is derived from the original Mafia or Cosa Nostra , the Sicilian Mafia, with "American Mafia" originally referring simply to Mafia groups from Sicily operating in the United States.
The Mafia in the United States emerged in impoverished Italian immigrant neighborhoods in New York's East Harlem (or "Italian Harlem "), the Lower East Side , and Brooklyn ; also emerging in other areas of the Northeastern United States and several other major metropolitan areas (such as Chicago and New Orleans )[ 26] during the late 19th century and early 20th century, following waves of Italian immigration especially from Sicily and other regions of Southern Italy . Campanian , Calabrian and other Italian criminal groups in the United States, as well as independent Italian-American criminals, eventually merged with Sicilian Mafiosi to create the modern pan-Italian Mafia in North America. Today, the Italian-American Mafia cooperates in various criminal activities with Italian organized crime groups, such as the Sicilian Mafia, the Camorra of Campania and the 'Ndrangheta of Calabria. The most important unit of the American Mafia is that of a "family ", as the various criminal organizations that make up the Mafia are known. Despite the name of "family" to describe the various units, they are not familial groupings.[ 27]
The Mafia is most active in the Northeastern United States , with the heaviest activity in New York , Philadelphia , Baltimore , New Jersey , Pittsburgh , Buffalo , and New England , in areas such as Boston , Providence , and Hartford . It also remains heavily active in Chicago and has a significant and powerful presence in other Midwestern metropolitan areas such as Kansas City , Detroit , Milwaukee , Cleveland , and St. Louis . Outside of these areas, the Mafia is also very active in Florida , Phoenix , Las Vegas , and Los Angeles . Mafia families have previously existed to a greater extent and continue to exist to a lesser extent in Northeastern Pennsylvania , Dallas , Denver , New Orleans , Rochester , San Francisco , San Jose , Seattle , and Tampa . While some of the regional crime families in these areas may no longer exist to the same extent as before, descendants have continued to engage in criminal operations, while consolidation has occurred in other areas, with rackets being controlled by more powerful crime families from nearby cities.[ 28]
At the Mafia's peak, there were at least 26 cities around the United States with Cosa Nostra families, with many more offshoots and associates in other cities. There are five main New York City Mafia families, known as the Five Families : the Gambino , Lucchese , Genovese , Bonanno , and Colombo families. The Italian-American Mafia has long dominated organized crime in the United States. Each crime family has its own territory and operates independently, while nationwide coordination is overseen by the Commission , which consists of the bosses of each of the strongest families. Though the majority of the Mafia's activities are contained to the Northeastern United States and Chicago, they continue to dominate organized crime in the United States, despite the increasing numbers of other crime groups.[ 29] [ 30]
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America's First Mafia War: New Orleans, 1868‑1872 Thomas Hunt and Martha Macheca Sheldon, The American Mafia (2008) Archived September 23, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
American Mafia Timeline Part 1. 1282-1899 Thomas Hunt, The American Mafia (2012) Archived June 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
The beginnings of America's Mafia in New Orleans Matt Haines, Very Local (February 4, 2020) Archived June 16, 2024, at archive.today
^ La Cosa Nostra in the United States James O. Finckenauer, National Institute of Justice (1999) Archived April 4, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
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Crime 'Families' Taking Control of Pornography Ralph Blumenthal and Nicholas Gage, The New York Times (December 10, 1972) Archived November 11, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
Organized Crime Reaps Huge Profits From Dealing in Pornographic Films Nicholas Gage, The New York Times (October 12, 1975) Archived May 7, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
Pornography and obscenity C. E. Casey and L. Martin, Office of Justice Programs (1978) Archived May 9, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
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La Cosa Nostra in the United States James O. Finckenauer, National Institute of Justice (1999) Archived April 4, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
"Organized Crime" . Federal Bureau of Investigation . Archived from the original on March 29, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2017 .
The Rise and Fall of Organized Crime in the United States James B. Jacobs, University of Chicago Press (2020) Archived July 8, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
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Family Affairs: Two Mafia cases go to court Jacob V. Lamar Jr., Time (October 14, 1985) Archived January 15, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
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The Mafia's Morality Crisis Jeffrey Goldberg, New York (January 9, 1995) Archived April 17, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
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Organized Crime in Chicago: Beyond the Mafia Robert M. Lombardo (2012) ISBN 9780252078781
Chris Paciello ratted on mob bosses, new documents show Frank Owen, Miami New Times (March 8, 2012) Archived May 8, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
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Why War Horns May Sound Over Philly, Or Not… Pan American Crime (October 20, 2016) Archived November 15, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
Carmine Persico, Colombo Crime Family Boss, Is Dead at 85 Selwyn Raab , The New York Times (March 8, 2019) Archived December 3, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
End of an Era: Lucchese Underboss Gets Life in Prison Aliya Bashir, Westchester Magazine (September 23, 2020) Archived March 26, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
The Legacy of East Harlem’s Purple Gang Is One of Fear and Violence Tim Reynolds, Medium (October 12, 2023) Archived April 14, 2024, at archive.today
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New York Gang Reported to Sell Death and Drugs Howard Blum, The New York Times (December 16, 1977) Archived June 6, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
La Cosa Nostra – 1989 Report State of New Jersey Commission of Investigation (1989) Archived May 26, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
Sources: Mob Buys Coke From The JBM Kitty Caparella, Philadelphia Daily News (August 30, 1989)
Heroin & The 20th Century Detroit Mafia Scott Burnstein, The Gangster Report (July 1, 2014) Archived October 19, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
Nicky Barnes, ‘Mr. Untouchable’ of Heroin Dealers, Is Dead at 78 Sam Roberts, The New York Times (June 8, 2019) Archived March 29, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
Steel City Mafia: Blood, Betrayal and Pittsburgh’s Last Don Paul N. Hodos (2023) ISBN 9781467153751
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^ "Organized Crime In Detroit: Forgotten But Not Gone" . CBS Detroit . James Buccellato and Scott M. Burnstein. June 24, 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2016 . Archived March 26, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
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^ Dixie Mafia Russell McDermott, Texarkana Gazette (December 12, 2013) Archived April 4, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
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Man Tied to Mafia Guilty on 10 Counts The New York Times (January 20, 1992) Archived April 9, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
The Man New York Daily News (October 12, 1994) Archived August 14, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
Greek Mob: Brotherly Mafia Love in Philly Nick Christophers, Greek Reporter (July 23, 2009) Archived March 8, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
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^ Thibault, Eric (April 11, 2017). "La pègre libanaise alimentait les Hells Angels et la mafia" . www.journaldemontreal.com . Retrieved April 11, 2017 . Archived April 15, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
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Soviet Emigre Mob Outgrows Brooklyn, and Fear Spreads Ralph Blumenthal and Celestine Bohlen, The New York Times (July 4, 1989) Archived September 22, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
Russia's New Export: The Mob James Rosenthal, The Washington Post (June 24, 1990) Archived April 15, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
Former Lucchese Crime Boss Is to Testify on Russian Mob Selwyn Raab , The New York Times (May 15, 1996) Archived May 23, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
Code of Betrayal, Not Silence, Shines Light on Russian Mob Bill Berkeley, The New York Times (August 19, 2002) Archived February 29, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
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1986 Report of the Organized Crime Consulting Committee National Criminal Justice Reference Service p.7 (1986) Archived June 30, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
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A Mafia-Bloods Alliance Suzanne Smalley, Newsweek (December 20, 2007) Archived November 22, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
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Beyond the 'Whitey' Bulger lore: 19 murder victims Ann O'Neill, CNN (June 27, 2011) Archived February 25, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
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6 Convicted of Racketeering After Muscling In on Mob Julie Preston, The New York Times (January 5, 2006) Archived March 24, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
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^ a b Finckenauer, James O. "La Cosa Nostra in the United States" (PDF) . ncjrs.gov . United Nations Archives. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 29, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2016 .
^ a b Dickie, John (2015). Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia . Macmillan. p. 5. ISBN 9781466893054 . Retrieved August 5, 2016 .
^ Mike Dash (2009). First Family . Random House. ISBN 9781400067220 .
^ Roberto M. Dainotto (2015) The Mafia: A Cultural History pp.7-44 ISBN 9781780234434
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^ Gardiner, Sean; Shallwani, Parvaiz (February 24, 2014). "Mafia Is Down—but Not Out" . The Wall Street Journal . Archived from the original on March 14, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2017 .