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HISTORY OF THE LUCCHESE CRIME FAMILY Tom Reina Gaetano "Tom" Reina was the first leader of what would eventually become known as the Lucchese crime family. Reina had risen to prominence in the organisation run by Joe Masseria , who had taken control of the Lower East Side of New York from the Morello family during the 1920s, and spread his influence across the entire city. Reina was well liked among his Italian American colleagues in the criminal underworld, but not enough to prevent him falling foul of the first of the many killings of the Castellammarese War between Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano . He was shot to death outside his aunt's home on Sheridan Avenue, on February 26 , 1930 , by Vito Genovese , the future leader of the Genovese Crime Family but at that time a hitman for Masseria and close associate of Charles "Lucky" Luciano , who had organised the killing. Luciano knew that Reina was close to switching sides and joining Maranzano, and this threatened to make Maranzano too powerful and scupper Luciano's plans. Masseria's choice to replace Reina as head of the Bronx branch of his organisation was Joe Pinzolo - a man roundly hated by most of his subordinates to the extent that he was murdered not long after his appointment, possibly by future boss Tommy Lucchese (though other names have been suggested as culprits). Lucchese, along with Tommy Gagliano , were at that time also thinking of switching allegiances to Maranzano, but Luciano convinced them that the future lay with him, and following the well-orchestrated killings of both Masseria and Maranzano, Luciano and the "Two Tommys" joined a number of other top Mafia figures in reorganising the structure of the mob. The Two Tommys take charge Thus were the Five Families to become the pillars on which the strength of the American Mafia was based, and the new head of the branch previously led by Reina and Pinzolo was Tommy Gagliano, with Tommy Lucchese as his underboss. The pair led the family into profitable areas of the trucking and clothing industries, and looked after their men in a way that other mob bosses would have done well to replicate. When Gagliano died in 1953, Lucchese, who had been loyal to his boss from beginning to end, took over as boss, and carried on the traditions Gagliano had established, making the family which now bore his name one of the most profitable in New York. Lucchese further developed the family's interests by controlling Teamsters unions, workers' co-operatives and trade associations, and racketeering at the new Idlewild Airport . He also developed close relationships with politicians and members of the judiciary, which aided the family on numerous occasions. All this while keeping the low profile for which he became lauded in Mafia circles. Lucchese spent 44 years in the mafia without receiving a single criminal conviction. Towards the end of his life, Lucchese suffered various health problems and his heart finally gave up July 13, 1967. The man who took over at the head of the family was Carmine "Gribbs" Tramunti . At the time, Tramunti was almost 70 years old and himself suffering from ill health, but with boss-in-waiting Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo in prison , Tramunti was chosen as caretaker boss while Corallo served out his sentence. Tramunti faced a number of criminal charges during his time at the head of the family and was eventually convicted of financing a large heroin smuggling operation. Corallo took over upon Tramunti's incarceration in 1974. Tony Ducks With a reputation for 'ducking' criminal conviction, Corallo was a boss squarely in the Tommy Lucchese mold. He was heavily involved in union control and worked closely with Jimmy Hoffa , the international president of the Teamsters union. The family prospered under Corallo's leadership, particularly in the trafficking of narcotics, but the authorities had him in their sights. The FBI had managed to plant a bug in Corallo's car in the early 1980s - this was where he conducted most of his meetings and he was duly overheard talking at great length about mob affairs. The RICO trial that followed saw Corallo convicted on numerous charges and sent to prison, where he would spend the rest of his life (he died in 2000). Corallo's choice as successor was Vittorio "Vic" Amuso . The iron fist of Amuso and Casso The period that followed was one of the most turbulent the Lucchese family had seen, given the relative calm under previous bosses. Amuso and his underboss, Anthony "Gaspipes" Casso were implicated in a case involving the fitting of thousands of windows in New York at over-inflated prices, and the pair went into hiding in 1990, ruling the family from afar and ordering the execution of anyone they deemed troublesome, including the entire New Jersey branch of the family run by Michael Taccetta , who had allegedly been withholding payment from Amuso. What followed was a series of botched hits leading to members of the family turning informant to save their own lives. The planned executions went as high as Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco , the acting boss while Amuso was in hiding, who had little choice but to turn himself over to the authorities to spare him and his family from Amuso and Casso and their increasingly erratic demands. On July 29, 1991, the FBI captured Amuso in Pennsylvania, and two years later Casso was caught in New Jersey. Amuso had resisted all attempts by the police to turn on the mob, but Casso wasted little time in doing so. Unfortunately for Casso, his testimony proved so inconsistent that he was ultimately accused of having gone back on his deal to help the authorities and refused leniency in sentencing for his various crimes. Acting bosses Joseph "Little Joe" Defede was chosen as the acting boss of the Lucchese family, though Amuso continued to pull the strings from behind bars. When Amuso came to the belief that Defede was stealing money from his own family, Defede decided to turn state's witness to spare himself the boss' wrath. Steven Crea was the next man to take charge, but he lasted no more than a few months before being sent down on racketeering charges, though with his release likely in 2006 he is considered most likely to take over long-term. To complete a fairly hapless trio of acting bosses, Louis Daidone , was convicted of murder following testimony from D'Arco in September 2004. BOSSES OF THE LUCCHESE CRIME FAMILY
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