A Brief History Of Organized Crime

Origins of the organized crime in Pittsburgh, and elsewhere in the United States, is largely the story of immigrants and alcohol. Like other big industrialized cities, Pittsburgh had its own bloody mob history. If Chicago had Al Capone and New York had Lucky Luciano, the Western Pennsylvania mob had 24 traditional Mafia families, that rose and decline parallel to the rise and decline of the mob families in other cities in United States. In general, mob grew from the bootlegging years of the 1920s as immigrants seized economic opportunity and the outlawing of alcohol in 1920, which created the first large-scale criminal organizations as Irish, Jewish and Italian immigrants took control of the bootlegging industry. All three groups had flocked to the industrial cities for jobs. And Pittsburgh was one of them. All three groups found themselves at the bottom of the economic food chain, their prospects hindered by poverty and discrimination, and ethnicity. Under those circumstances, the urban landscape was a breeding ground for crime. Stefano Monastero, was the first true boss. He run bootleg supply warehouses on the North Side since 1925, survived several murder attempts, however, he was killed on Aug. 6, 1929. He was succeeded by Siragusa, an illegal immigrant from Sicily that arrived to Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1910,

An estimated 50,000 people visited the Volpe home to pay their respects -- including judges, prosecutors, police and politicians. This turnout illustrates another reality of mob power. Despite its criminal nature, the Mafia was respected by the public as much as feared. That respect is one of the main reasons for the longevity of organized crime. By paying off police, judges and politicians, gangsters had the power to keep the peace, convey favors, sell jobs and take care of neighborhood problems. Sometimes, however, killing was also