CHARLES “LUCKY” LUCIANO 2
Charles “Lucky” Luciano: The Father of Modern Crime
Thesis: The immigration of the Lucania family from Italy to the United States would be the cause of one of the most drastic changes in the workings of organized crime.
1. Charles Luciano experienced the hard childhood experienced by the children of almost all immigrants.
1.1 November 24, 1897, Charles Luciano, christened Salvatore Lucania, was born in the village of Lercara Friddi in Sicily (Gosch, 1975).
1.2 As Luciano was growing up, his family scraped by, sometimes even going without food (Gosch, 1975).
1.3 Every cent that they could obtain went towards paying passage on the boat to America (Gosch, 1975).
1.4 In the spring of 1906, in the teeming
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5.4 By 1923, Charles Luciano was on top of a pyramid far grander than he could have dreamed (Gosch, 1975).
5.5 He had nearly reached the throne; almost the king of booze in New York (Gosch,
1975).
6. The more important Luciano became in the underworld, the more pressure there was to join forces with one of two families. 6.1 Both Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano wanted Luciano to join one or the other (Gosch, 1975). 6.2 Luciano made a decision and became affiliated with Masseria’s operation (A&E
Television Networks, n.d.). 6.3 Luciano figured that he could handle Masseria and work out a deal to join him without having to give up his whiskey business (Gosch, 1975).
6.4 He also felt sure that with Masseria to boost him, he could muscle Maranzano out of the Wall Street district (Gosch, 1975).
7. Major changes were coming for organized crime.
7.1 In 1928, a feud broke out between the Masseria and Maranzano crime families (A+E
Networks, 2009).
CHARLES “LUCKY” LUCIANO 6
7.2 This feud, dubbed the Castellammarese War, dominated events in the Italian underworld until 1931 (Gosch, 1975).
7.3 In 1929, Luciano earned his nickname “Lucky” when he survived being beaten by Maranzano to get him to kill Masseria (Gosch,
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7.5 It was at this time that Maranzano gave Luciano the scar that stretched across his right cheek (Gosch, 1975).
7.6 Luciano was cut down and thrown into a trunk to be dropped off in the street (Gosch,
1975).
7.7 He was discovered by police and taken to the hospital (A&E Television Networks,
n.d.).
8. Tides were turning in the war. 8.1 Luciano wanted Masseria and Maranzano dead, but he couldn’t kill them himself, it would end his time at the top (Gosch, 1975). 8.2 He decided that he would get the two bosses to kill each other (Gosch, 1975). 8.3 Plans changed when Luciano discovered that Masseria was going to kill two of
Maranzano’s top men and put the blame on Luciano (Gosch, 1975) . 8.4 Luciano knew that Masseria had to be knocked-off first (Gosch, 1975).
8.5 In april of 1931, Luciano formed connections with second-tier leaders who helped in
Masseria meeting a grisly end (A+E Networks,