On this day in 1921 eight men were acquitted in the Black Sox Scandal, a scandal which would cement its place in history as one of the biggest Major League Baseball match fixing incidents to have ever happened. Behind it all was one man, Arnold Rothstein,who would never be indicted for his part in the fix. Arnold Rothstein So What Happened? Eight Chicago White Sox players were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series…
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Philip Carlo Testa was born on April 21st 1924 in Mistretta, Sicily, and immigrated to New York City. Whilst in the States he befriended mob boss Angelo Bruno, who would soon become an opening into the Mafia world for Testa. It was believed that Testa’s income was solely from winnings as a common gambler, seeing himself as a statesman similar to Julius Caesar gaining him the nickname ‘The Julius Cesar of the Philadelphia Mob’. He…
Vincenzo Giovanni Mangano was born March 28th 1888 in Palermo, Sicily, he was nicknamed by the Brooklyn newspaper ‘The Executioner‘ and was the head of the Mangano Crime family (Mineo Family in 1931, then more commonly known as the Gambino’s from the mid 1950’s). He reigned as family boss from 1931 until his death in 1951. His brother, Philip, was a capo/consigliere during this period. Vincent was one of the bosses who retained the old…
James “Jimmy the Gent” Burke was one of the most notorious Irish-American gangsters of all time, a violent, ruthless criminal responsible for countless murders and one of the largest cash robberies in American history. Ironically Burke was never a member of the Mafia, but did spend most of his career working closely with made mafia men and the associates of two of the New York Crime Families. Born James Conway on July 5, 1931, in…
Aniello “Mr. Neil” Dellacroce was born March 15th 1914 in New York City, being 5’10 and broad shouldered, Dellacroce was often seen with organized crime figures such as the likes of Carlo Gambino, Tommy Lucchese and Albert Anastasia. His stare was menacing, NYPD detective Ralph Salerno once told the media “You looked at Dellacroce’s eyes and you could see how frightening they were, the frigid glare of a killer.” In the 1930s, Dellacroce joined the…
Nicodemo ‘Little Nicky’ Scarfo was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1929, the child of mob connected parents. Scarfo had his first major run-in with the law in 1963. During a fight at a Philadelphia restaurant, he reportedly stabbed a man to death. He and his associates fled the scene, but Scarfo later pled guilty to manslaughter. In 1964 Scarfo was released after serving less than a year in prison. After his release, Scarfo was…