August Mafia Timeline of Events

1st August

Vincent Caci

On this day‬ in 1925 one of the Capo’s in the Los Angeles Crime Family was born. Vincent Caci, who was also known as Jimmy, ran several bookmaking operation throughout the 1970’s and 80’s. He managed to duck out of a few charges in the 1980’s, including an attempted $1 million-a-week bookmaking operation take-over, due to lack of evidence. Finally his luck ran out in 1996 when he was sentenced to just under 2 years for fraud and conspiracy. He died in Palm Springs at the grand age of 86, in 2011.

2nd August

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3rd August

Frank Wortman

On this day in 1968 the former member of the Prohibition era gang, called the Shelton Brothers, passed away at the age of 63. Frank Wortman worked his way up to takeover gambling operations in St Louis. He had connections in the political arena on both sides of the Missouri-Illinois border and held control of his operations up to the time of his death, when financial losses and ill health started to take its toll. In 1968 he died from complications from surgery for laryngeal cancer.

4th August

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5th August

Frank Costello

On this day mob boss Frank Costello was convicted on contempt of Senate charges in August 1952 for the famous hearings walkout, and was sentenced to 18 months behind bars. Released after 14 months, Costello was also charged with tax evasion in 1954 and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. He only served 11 months of this sentence before it was overturned on appeal.

6th August

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7th August

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8th August

Carmine Persico

On this day‬ in 1933 the alleged boss of the Colombo Crime Family, Carmine Persico was born. During his time at the top of the Colombo empire he has overseen successful loansharking, racketeering, extortion and gambling operations. Not to mention giving the orders to many contracted hits. In his earlier life in the mob, he was said to have participated in the 1957 hit on Albert Anastasia, and was caught up in the Colombo vs Gallo war. He is due to be released in 2050, when he reaches the age of 117. http://thencs.org/2uyaJbO

9th August

Johnny Roselli

On this day in 1976 one of the main players in the Chicago Outfit, Johnny Roselli, died at the age of 71. Johnny helped the Outfit control the Las Vegas strip during the 40’s and 50’s, and by the time the 60’s had come around he found himself being unknowingly recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency in a plot to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro. In 1975 and in 1976 he stood before a US Senate Committee to testify in the plan to kill Castro, and then another committee to testify about the conspiracy to kill President Kennedy. During this period Roselli went missing, and would later be found rotting in a 55-gallon drum that was floating in a bay near Miami.

10th August

Frankie Carbo

On this day in 1904 a solider in the Lucchese family was born. Frankie Carbo was a member of the Murder, Inc. crew during the 1930’s, working for Lepke Buchalter. During the end of the 1930’s he had been charged with over 5 murders, and had 17 arrest records on file. During this era Abe Reles had turned informant and testified against many Murder, Inc. members but luckily for Carbo, Reles “committed suicide” before he could take the stand. It was also Frankie Carbo who had allegedly masterminded the Bugsy Siegel hit in 1947. In 1950 he was subpoenaed to appear in-front of the US Senate Committee where he took the Fifth more than 25 times, and he was eventually sentenced to 25 years at Alcatraz when he was charged with conspiracy and extortion. He died at the age of 72, in 1976. http://thencs.org/2vde0Lz

11th August

Umberto Valenti

On this day in 1922 the New York mobster Umberto Valenti who was part of the D’Aquila Crime Family in the 1910’s was gunned down on the corner of Second Avenue and E. 12th Street. The hit on Valenti was provoked due to the Valenti vs Masseria war in the early 1920’s. 48 hours before Valenti’s death he and his man drew fire on Joe Masseria as he was leaving his apartment at 80 2nd Avenue, Masseria managed to dive into a nearby store at 82 2nd Avenue as the gunmen chased after him. Read more: http://thencs.org/1DFaA6V

12th August

Frank DeMayo

On this day‬ in 1949 the crime boss of the Kansas City Crime Family, Frank DeMayo passed away at the age of 64 (although some sources state he died 10 days earlier). He was such a successful boss during the Prohibition era of America that Prohibition Agents had discovered that he was grossing more than $1 million a year from bootlegging operations. He had also started involving himself in narcotics during this era which brought a lot of hit from Bureau of Narcotics. Read more: http://thencs.org/1UCnd6S

13th August

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14th August

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15th August

Giuseppe Morello

On this day‬ in 1930 the first boss of the Morello Crime Family, Giuseppe Morello, was killed as one of the first victims of the Castellammarese War that raged between 1929 and 1931. Morello was a top adviser and enforcer to Joe the Boss and he was famous for having a one-fingered deformed right hand that resembled a claw. In the 1890’s, Giuseppe founded a gang known as the 107th Street Mob and which would later evolve into the Morello crime family. Today the Morello crime family is known as the Genovese crime family and is the oldest of the Five Families in New York City. Morello was killed along with associate Joseph Perriano on August 15, 1930 while collecting cash receipts in his East Harlem office. http://thencs.org/2tb38fK

16th August

Vincent Caci

Vincent Caci died on this day in 2011, who was also known as Jimmy, ran several bookmaking operation throughout the 1970’s and 80’s. He managed to duck out of a few charges in the 1980’s, including an attempted $1 million-a-week bookmaking operation take-over, due to lack of evidence. Finally his luck ran out in 1996 when he was sentenced to just under 2 years for fraud and conspiracy.
Read more: http://thencs.org/1KjU3WW

17th August

Dominick Napolitano

On this day in 1981 Dominick Napolitano, better known as Sonny Black was killed by order of the mob for allowing an FBI agent to breach Mafia security. He of course is well known to many through the film Donnie Brasco, in which he allowed FBI Agent Joe Pistone to become an associate in the Bonanno Crime Family during the 1970’s, and nearly getting him made. Read more: http://thencs.org/1E3zZXR

18th August

Harold Rothman

On this day‬ in 1948 the enforcement arm to Mickey Cohen during the Battle of Sunset Strip was killed. Known to many as Harry or Hooky, Harold Rothman was one of Cohen’s trusted bodyguards.
His death was pretty unlucky. Read more: http://thencs.org/1JoOxnb

19th August

Joey Naples

On this day in 1991 Joey Naples, a capo in the Pittsburgh Crime Family (Youngstown, Ohio faction) was killed in a contracted mob hit at the age of 59. Joey was killed by a single bullet from a high-powered sniper rifle, and the hit was said to have been orchestrated by Lenny Strollo in a power move to take over the Youngstown operations. Read more: http://thencs.org/1KvrEsM

20th August

Edward Cummiskey

On this day in 1976  the New York mobster who served as a mentor to Jimmy Coonan, Edward Cummiskey was shot and killed at point blank range by Joe Sullivan while drinking at a bar. The hit was ordered by Genovese acting boss Fat Tony Salerno who was looking to take out high ranking members of Mickey Spillane’s crew in Hell’s Kitchen. Cummiskey is also reputed to have shown Jimmy Coonan how to dismember and dispose of murder victims by scattering their remains into New York’s waterfronts, notably in the Hudson River.

21st August

Bugs Moran

On this day in 1893 one of the future North Side Gang leaders was born. Adelard Cunin was a Prohibition mobster who was known better by his name Bugs Moran. He was arrested and jailed three times before he turned 21, mainly for his part in robberies and an incident which involved the death of a police officer. It was during his early career that he would join a gang led by Charles Reiser, and it was here where he met with the likes of Dean O’Banion, Hymie Weiss and Vincent Drucci. Read more: http://thencs.org/1ESSsS0

22nd August

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23rd August

Tony Corallo

On this day in 2000 the former boss of the Lucchese Crime Family, Tony Corallo passed away at the Federal Medical Center for prisoners in Missouri. At the time of his death Corallo had been in prison for 13 years. On January 13, 1987, he was sentenced to 100 years in federal prison when he was convicted under the Mafia Commission Trial of the 1980’s. Read more: http://thencs.org/1WPAvi9

24th August

Carlo Gambino

On this day‬ in 1902 one of the most notorious Mafia leaders was born in Palermo, Sicily. Carlo Gambino was one of the mobs most notable bosses and the largest crime family in the US still goes by the name of the Gambino Crime Family, the family that Carlo took over from Albert Anastasia after his assassination in 1957.
Read more: http://thencs.org/1ETxqCx

25th August

Cesare Terranova

On this day‬ in 1921 the magistrate Cesare Terranova was born.
He would go on to become one of the first to seriously investigate the operations of the Mafia and identify any connections between politicians, bankers and the mob. The Mafia soon caught up with him however…Read more: http://thencs.org/1WPummb

26th August

Virginia Hill

On this day in 1916 we would see the birth of the Queen of the Gangsters’ Molls, Virginia Hill. Hill was a Chicago Outfit courier who was famous for being the mistress, and then girlfriend of Murder Inc mobster Bugsy Siegel, following the breakdown of his marriage.
Read more: http://thencs.org/1UcNlmt

27th August

Tony Salerno

On this day in 1933 the protegee of Fat Tony Salerno would be born. Vincent Cafaro was a high-ranking member of the Genovese Crime Family during the 70’s and 80’s.

28th August

Peter Casella

On this day in 1908 the underboss to Philip Testa in the Philadelphia Crime Family was born. Peter Casella was a prime suspect in the eventual death of Testa as he planned to takeover the family with assistance from Frank Narducci and Rocco Marinucci. Read more about Peter Casella: http://thencs.org/1VgBypE

29th August

Willie Boy Johnson

On this day in 1988 the FBI informant, Willie Boy Johnson was ambushed as he made his way to his car, which was parked outside his Brooklyn home. Bonanno hitmen Thomas Pitera and Vincent Giattino shot him 19 times at point blank range in the back, thighs, and head. Read more: http://thencs.org/1JCTjr4

30th August

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31st August

Craig Anthony Fiato

On this day in 1949 Craig Anthony Fiato who went by the name Tony Rome or The Animal, was born. He is a former Los Angeles Crime Family mobster who later went on to become an FBI informant in which he testified against some 70 other mobsters.