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IMPACT OF THE GENOVESE CRIME FAMILY The Genovese Crime family is known as the "Ivy League" of New York Organized Crime. Genovese Family interests are estimated at least $500 million per year and the amount of government informants from within the family can be counted on one hand. There are at least 300 ' Made ' members and at least a thousand associates in the Family. HISTORY OF THE GENOVESE CRIME FAMILY Early history The rackets that are today controlled by the Genovese family of American ''La Cosa Nostra'' were originally contolled by Salvatore Maranzano , a ruthless Mustache Pete who came over from Sicily in the mid 1920s. Educated and erudite, Maranzano at first impressed the embryonic New York underworld. However, with his penchant for histrionics and a healthy appetite for greed and power, Maranzano provoked Joe "The Boss" Masseria (also called "Joe Boss"), a Bronx underworld powerhouse, into a war. While Maranzano won (and in doing so, established the nascent Five Family system of organized crime in New York), his reign was brief. An ambitious gangster named Lucky Luciano would soon rise to the top of the family. The Castellammarese Era to Luciano After Maranzano and Masseria were assassinated at the behest of Luciano, he took over the largest and most profitable family. Vito Genovese served as his underboss. However in 1936 Luciano was sent to prison for and Genovese fled to Italy escaping a murder charge. Frank Costello took control of the family. The Costello Era During the reign of Frank Costello, the Genoveses controlled much of the bookmaking, loansharking, labor rackets and the garment industry in New York City. Costello also controlled much of the docks in New York, New Jersey and Florida. Known as the Prime Minister of the Underworld, Costello was said to have so many political and judicial contacts that no state judge could be appointed without his consent. Costello believed in diplomacy and discipline, and also started the Family's interests in Las Vegas. Costello ruled for 20 years until his underboss, Vito Genovese, attemped to have him assassinated in 1957 (the trigger man was Vincente "The Chin" Gigante , future boss of the Family). Having survived the bullet wound, Costello retired quietly. THE GIGANTE ERA When Genovese was sent to prison he set up a "Ruling Committee" which included Jerry Catena and his Protege Phillip Lombardo who decided to rule the family with complete secrecy. Started creating "Front Bosses" in the purpose to distract Law Enforcement. when Vincent Gigante took over the Genovese Family he created a more elaborate Family Administration only speaking to a few close associates and through sons Vincent Esposito and Andrew Gigante,Also creating a fourth(Messagario/messenger) and fifth position(Street Boss) into the family. The Position of Messagario/messenger is to relay messages to and from the family soldiers and above also to talk with other families. Also this position is to insulate the Boss from Law-Enforcement Investigations. The Position of Street Boss is to operate family activities on behalf of the Administration(Boss,Underboss,Consigliere). During the 1970s , the Genovese Family was aligned with the Gambino Family , but the two Families moved apart in the 1980s , primarily because the then-boss of the Genovese, Vincent "the Chin" Gigante , despised the flamboyant and swaggering Gambino boss, John Gotti . Gigante passed away from heart disease on December 19, 2005. He was 77 years of age. At his time of death he was incarcerated at the federal prison in Springfield, MO. Since his incarceration in July of 1997, a panel of several ''caporegimi'' took care of day-to-day business. Since late 2004 a series of prosecutions against high ranking Genovese capos has weakened the Family. Liborio 'Barney' Bellomo, already incarcerated for racketeering, was hit with murder charges. Dominick Cirillo, Lawrence Dentico and Mario Gigante, all senior capos, have also been indicted on broad RICO enterprise charges. On February 23 , 2006 , 32 known members and associates (as well as their acting boss) were indicted. Similar to the large scale Operation Family Secrets which indicted many mobsters part of the Chicago Outfit . For individuals indicted and news go to these websites In Mafia parlance the hierarchy of the Genovese crime family is referred to as the "west side". SEE ALSO
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